Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier is a work notable not only for its vivid and uncompromising account of his experience as a member of the Wehrmacht in World War II, but also for its subtle and incisive commentary about the very nature of war itself. What is perhaps most intriguing about Sajer’s novel is his treatment of the supposedly “universal” virtues present within war such as professionalism, patriotism, camaraderie, and self-sacrifice. Sajer introduces a break between how war is thought about in the abstract and how it has actually been conducted historically. Sajer’s depiction of professionalism in the Wehrmacht is perhaps the most likely place where mainstream thought concerning war comports with its actual practice. Sajer notes that even in the twilight of World War II when his unit, …show more content…
Sajer describes the pride he felt at Chemnitz—and continues to feel—but struggles to reconcile with the ragged image of himself and his comrades under such incredible duress (Sajer 49-50). Sajer recounts how, soaked in rain and mud and subjected to ongoing artillery fire, he felt “like nothing.” (Sajer 50) This description exposes a break in the sense of significance he felt in the eyes of Germany while at Chemnitz, a significance that seemed to abandon him as he traveled deeper into Russia. Sajer’s sense of patriotism was even further undermined while trying to hold the Dnieper River in Russia. Fellow soldier Lensen, drunk from imbibing medical alcohol in the wake of a minor victory against the Russians, announces his distaste for Sajer’s mixed-heritage and, as a result, makes Sajer realize that his companions have “rejected him” in spite of all of their shared miseries and hardships (Sajer 207). Sajer questions his own worthiness to fight for Germany and ultimately concludes that he will never again find joy in reciting the German songs he once loved so much (Sajer
In the history of modern western civilization, there have been few incidents of war, famine, and other calamities that severely affected the modern European society. The First World War was one such incident which served as a reflection of modern European society in its industrial age, altering mankind’s perception of war into catastrophic levels of carnage and violence. As a transition to modern warfare, the experiences of the Great War were entirely new and unfamiliar. In this anomalous environment, a range of first hand accounts have emerged, detailing the events and experiences of the authors. For instance, both the works of Ernst Junger and Erich Maria Remarque emphasize the frightening and inhumane nature of war to some degree – more explicit in Jünger’s than in Remarque’s – but the sense of glorification, heroism, and nationalism in Jünger’s The Storm of Steel is absent in Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Instead, they are replaced by psychological damage caused by the war – the internalization of loss and pain, coupled with a sense of helplessness and disconnectedness with the past and the future. As such, the accounts of Jünger and Remarque reveal the similar experiences of extreme violence and danger of World War I shared by soldiers but draw from their experiences differing ideologies and perception of war.
The Young People of Today, a series of opinion polls conducted among young educated Frenchmen by Henri Massis and Alfred de Tarde find romantic sentiments for war much like von Treitschke. The two authors interviewed a professor who tried to explain that there were in fact unjust wars, however, according to the professor, “the class obviously did not follow me; they rejected that distinction” (Massis and de Tarde 224). Massis and de Tarde go on to write about the many young men who left their high studies to pursue lives as soldiers because for them “it is not enough, for them to learn history: they are making it” (Massis and de Tarde 224).
The contradictions imposed by the demands of conscience on the one hand and the norms of the battalion on the other are discussed. Ordinary Men provides a graphic portrayal of Police Battalion 101's involvement in the Holocaust. The major focus of the book focuses on reconstruction of the events this group of men participated in. According to Browning, the men of Police Battalion 101 were just that—ordinary. They were five hundred middle-aged, working-class men of German descent.
In his book, My Fellow Soldiers, Andrew Carroll tells the story of World War I through the eyes of the American participants. He uses quotes, personal letters and diaries, from an array of characters, to depict a day in the life of a WWI warrior. Though, he narrows his focus on the untold story of General John J. Pershing, a US army leader. He uniquely talks about the General's vulnerable and emotional side. "Pershing was notoriously strong-willed, to the point of seeming cold, rigid, and humorless, almost more machine than man" (p.XVIII). Pershing is commonly recognized for his accomplishments during the war and remembered for his sternness. He was "…especially unforgiving when it came to matters of discipline" (p. XVIII). Nicknamed "Black Jack" due to his mercilessness towards his soldiers, in this book, Pershing is portrayed as a General with much determination and devotion to his troops, family, and close friends.
A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain ...
Storm of Steel provides a memoir of the savagery and periods of beauty that Ernst Jünger’s experienced while serving the German army during the First World War. Though the account does not take a clear stand, it lacks any embedded emotional effects or horrors of the Great War that left so few soldiers who survived unaffected. Jünger is very straightforward and does remorse over any of his recollections. The darkness of the hallucinations Jünger reports to have experienced provides subtle anti-war sentiment. However, in light of the descriptive adventures he sought during the brief moments of peace, the darkness seems to be rationalized as a sacrifice any soldier would make for duty and honor in a vain attempt for his nation’s victory. The overall lack of darkness and Jünger’s nonchalance about the brutality of war is enough to conclude that the account in Storm of Steel should be interpreted as a “pro” war novel; however, it should not be interpreted as “pro” violence or death.
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a constant battle between death and love.
While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing future, reducing the quality of his life.
The original title of the book, Storm of Steel was “Im Stahlgewittern”, which means in the middle of steel storm. Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel is written in a form of a diary that describes his life as a soldier of the First World War from January 1, 1915 to August 1918. In this book, Jünger described the horrors of war without any falsity and rarely wrote political reasons for the war or criticism of war. Jünger’s focus was on detailedly describing the daily life of the battlefield and expressing the ability of the soldiers to cope with the crisis and the saga of survival struggle. However, I discovered in this book that he had strong nationalism, believed in male-heroism, and had somewhat psychopathic mindset. In this paper, I analyzed Ernst
The Forgotten Soldier is not a book concerning the tactics and strategy of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. Nor does it analyze Nazi ideology and philosophy. Instead, it describes the life of a typical teenage German soldier on the Eastern Front. And through this examined life, the reader receives a first hand account of the atrocious nature of war. Sajer's book portrays the reality of combat in relation to the human physical, psychological, and physiological condition.
During World War, I (WWI) nationalism was the fuel that kept the war among Europe. Germans were fighting for their country as French would also do it. The pride of fighting for one's country was the major achievement a young man could get. The book “All Quiet on The Western Front” depicts the adventures of a group of German young men when they are off to the war. In this book instead of depicting what really happens in the war, the author focuses on the depressing and harsh journey that this group of young men faced to serve their country. The book describes explicitly how the main characters risk their lives and even lose it because of the war, and even in many instances many of the characters show where they stand regarding the war and the
Citizens pushed to the side, through streams of proud troops. Women draped in long dresses with the sun bearing down on them, smiling in aspiration of these ‘heroes’ marching through Germany. Impeccable attired men, looking witty and smart, marched with these troops. Frocking little boys and girls on their way home from school. All accompanied by the Nazi band who were playing music. A rich and visual symphony defined the streets of berlin, Germany, 1933. Juxtaposed to his familiar surroundings, a lone 12-year-old boy a sauntered in congruously through the jostling crowds. A 12-year-old boy who was more interested in football, card games and family time, not ‘nationalism’ nor ‘the father land’. Far different to the boys attitude around him, He wore a simple brand of clothes, again different to the Schwartz sticker on many boys around him. Tomas Muller’s strong features; mirrored by seventy million who were part of this pulsating nation. He did not grow up here, but having listened with great fascination to a plethora of myths and stories about Germany from a young age, you would think he would be more excited. He wasn’t. Around him was German propaganda of bringing back to the fatherland.
Narrated by nineteen-year-old German soldier Paul Bäumer, All Quiet on the Western Front details the time Paul spent at the French front during World War Two. Through his eyes, author Erich Maria Remarque makes it clear that humans are not built for war. The untapped, bottomless strength advertised as something one possesses by enlisting does not exist – there is only so much a person can take before total collapse. This explains why comradery is valued so highly among Paul and his regiment; the constant suffering of warfare can be distributed between many to reduce the burden of the individual, to an extent. But during the interims in which one is left alone, and in order to sustain the greater body with an explicit contribution of will, survival
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co...