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Professional literary review of all things quiet on the western front
Literary devices in all quiet on the western front
All quiet on the western front analytical essay
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Since man has walked on earth, he had always been in conflict with himself. For centuries, there have been many fierce battles fought among rival groups over big issues such as land, to silly arguments over pride. Over time we have seen the end result of these wars, the mass deaths and destruction of civilizations, and the deterioration of the individuals left to live with the horrors they had encountered. In the books All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and The Wars by Timothy Findley, there is clear evidence of the nature of war. The propaganda and disciplinary training to convince naïve young men to go to battle to fight for their country, the death of their comrades, and the physical breakdown are all part of twentieth century warfare. With all the effort of preparation, discipline, and anticipation, false hopes were created for the young individuals, which leave the battlefields with numerous emotional and physical scars. Paul Baumer is the main character in All Quiet on the Western Front, and Robert Ross is the main character in The Wars. Both boys were at a very young age when they were exposed to World War 1. The war was getting worse as the days went by, and the soldiers were dying quickly. The commanding officers felt it was best to convince young men to enter the war to support and fight for their country. They were not told whom they were really fighting for, or the cause. In Pauls case, Germany was under attack from many sides, and it was best for him to head for the front lines and defend his fatherland. Paul was almost brainwashed and was completely convinced that he was doing the right thing. Once it was different. When we went to the district commandant to enlist, we were a class of twenty young men, many of whom proudly shaved for the first time before going to the barracks. We had no definite plans for our future. Our thoughts of a career and occupation were as yet of too unpractical a character to furnish any scheme of life. We were still crammed full of vague ideas which gave to life, and to the war also an ideal and almost romantic character. We were trained in the army for ten weeks and in this time more profoundly influenced than by ten years at school (All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Pg. 25) However, in Roberts case, he felt neglected by his family, and sought refuge in the war as a way of escaping his family and the death of his sister. Robert envied him because he could go away when this was over and surround himself with space. (It was then, perhaps, the first inkling came that it was time for Robert to join the army). (The Wars by Timothy Findley Pg. 24) You think Rowena belonged to you. Well Im here to tell you, Robert, no one belongs to anyone. Were all cut off at birth with a knife and left at the mercy of strangers. You hear that? Strangers. I know what you want to do. I know youre going to go away and be a soldier. Well you can go to hell. Im not responsible (The Wars by Timothy Findley Pg. 28) As eager as the boys were, they were never really prepared for what they would encounter on the battlefield. At such a young age, neither Paul or Robert had ever killed anyone; much less stare death in the face. This was the emotional breakdown that the characters endured. Suffering the loss of a companion or watching him or her die before you was the most torturous event. An hour passes. I sit tensely and watch his every movement in case he may perhaps say something. What if he were to open his mouth and cry out! But he only weeps, his head turned aside. He does not speak of his mother or his brothers and sisters. He says nothing; all that lies behind him; he is entirely alone now with his little life of nineteen years, and cries because it leaves him. This is the most disturbing and hardest parting that I ever have seen, although it was pretty bad too with Tiedjen, who called for his mother a big bear of a fellow who, with wild eyes full of terror, held off the doctor from his bed with a dagger until he collapsed. (All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Pg. 33) Not only witnessing the death of his friends, Paul himself, was forced to witness the death of and enemy by his own hands. There are three stabs. My field dressing covers them, the blood runs out under it, I press it tighter; there; he groans. That is all I can do. Now we must wait, wait. These hours The gurgling starts again but how slowly a man dies. (All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Pg. 193) At such a young age, Pauls emotional condition had worsened due to these experiences. It had made him confused about all the unnecessary killings, and it was the first sign that Paul was questioning his decision when he entered the army. Robert was also faced with the tragedies of the Front lines. However, because of the previous problems before the war and the constant bombardment during the war, Robert snapped. He freed some horses that he was responsible for and when running away, Robert encountered some of his fellow soldiers that he shot and killed. These actions did not go unnoticed, and Robert was a wanted man. But just as the walls began to fall in on top of the fifty horses all of them standing in their places while they burned -Robert turned the mare and she leapt through the flames already falling with Robert on her back on fire. And then he lost consciousness. (The Wars by Timothy Findley Pg. 186) Roberts actions due to his unstable mind eventually led to his physical breakdown. Like Robert, Pauls condition had deteriorated as well. He was injured on the battlefield but recovered quickly only to return to the front lines once again. All his friends had died and left him alone, but it was not long before Paul had joined them as one of the minor casualties of war. He had fallen forward and lay on the earth as though sleeping. Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come. (All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Pg. 256) Paul and Robert had lived a short life through a torturous path. All their dreams concluded at the last breath each one had taken due to the slow process in which they died. Their physical scars had caused them their lives. Even though Robert had died after the war it was evident that at the time of death, the war and misery was fresh on his mind. All these young men were drawn into a battle started by their fatherland leaders. Their expectation of warfare was far from reality until they came face to face with death on the battlefield. Because of their tender age, it was difficult for them to deal with the constant bombardments and attacks from the enemy, along with watching the death of the companions. These images flashed continuously in their heads until they could not bear it any longer. Robert was so troubled that he turned against his own people. Paul had stabbed a Frenchman with intent on killing him, but later on, tried to save him. The final physical breakdown was the eventual death of both characters. Even though many had survived the war, like Robert, they continued to live with the fear of a possible gas attack or raid every night. This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try to simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.
All Quiet on the Western Front takes place in Germany where a group of young boys are first encouraged to join the military. Thinking that it would be a great adventure, they enlisted, not knowing the fate that lies before them. At first, the group is sent to training. They aren’t in a serious mood, thinking that war conditions aren’t as bad as they really are. When the boys are sent to the front, it is only then when they start to realize how war is not great. This is when the boys are cramped into the trenches. Some of the soldiers were shell-shocked because of the constant bombardment. When one of the boys was wounded, he was taken to a hospital where there were many wounded soldiers. Some soldiers had to have parts of their bodies amputated in order to survive. When Kemmerich was in the hospital, Müller asked for his pair of boots. The boots was a visible reminder to the boys of the cost of war. Paul then has to face his own conscience when he kills one of the Frenchmen. He doesn’t see the face of an enemy but just a face of another human being. He tries to comfort himself by promising to help the fallen soldier's family. After Paul is relieved from the front line, he decides to go on leave and return home. But when he tries to tell every one of the horrible conditions of the trenches, everybody either laughs him off or calls him a coward. Paul returns before his leave actually ended, wishing that he had never come home. In the end, when Paul loses Kat, Paul realizes that the war has destroyed his way of life.
Life for the soldiers in the beginning is a dramatic one as they are ordered up to the frontline to wire fences. The frontline makes Paul feel immediately different as described here. "As if something is inside us, in our blood, has been switched on." The front makes Paul more aware and switched on as if his senses and reactions are sharpened. I think Paul and his friends are frightened when they are near the front line. After they wire the fences and they are heading to the barracks their group start to be fired at by the enemy. They manage to get through the shelling unscathed but they hear a horse that has been shot. The horse makes a terrible noise of anguish and is in terrible pain and it has been shot as the author describes here. "The belly of one of the horses has been ripped open and it guts are trailing out." This shows that there are not just human casualties of war; the innocent lives of animals can be affected as much as humans who fight in wars. Detering-one soldier in Pauls group-says." It is the most despicable thing of all to drag animals into a war." I agree with Detering, as animals had no choice about going to war. On the way back to the trucks that would take them back to the barracks Paul Baumers company are hit again by heavy shelling and they have to take cover in a military graveyard. The shells blow huge holes in the graveyard and create large...
War can destroy a young man mentally and physically. One might say that nothing good comes out of war, but in Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, there is one positive characteristic: comradeship. Paul and his friends give Himmelstoss a beating in which he deserves due to his training tactics. This starts the brotherhood of this tiny group. As explosions and gunfire sound off a young recruit in his first battle is gun-shy and seeks reassurance in Paul's chest and arms, and Paul gently tells him that he will get used to it. The relationship between Paul and Kat is only found during war, in which nothing can break them apart. The comradeship between soldiers at war is what keeps them alive, that being the only good quality to come out of war.
The emotions of the average young man are lost at war as their entire lives are put into perspective. Paul's young adulthood is lost and he does not feel shame in frivolous things any longer. His emotions are not the only thing he loses, as he also disconnects from his past, present and future.
4) However, at the start of the war there had been a sudden rise of
Paul and Henry both have different expectations going into war. Henry is enthusiastic about joining the army until his mother says, “The Lord’s will be done” (page 5). He didn’t expect a good bye speech like this before he set off to fight the south. Paul on the other hand was convinced by his friends to join the army as their school teacher encouraged them that “dying for their country was the greatest honor” (scene in the school at the beginning of the movie). This mindset was put into these young schoolboy’s heads as they headed off to the front. Both the book and the movie give an extremely realistic idea of what war was like. They showed how terrifying, bloody, and chaotic battle was. They did not know what they were getting themselves into before they had their first battle, “On the way to Washington his spirit had soared. The regiment was fed and caressed at station after station until the youth had believed that he must be a hero. There was a lavish expenditure of bread and cold meats, coffee, and pickles and cheese.” (page 6). During...
you: if she were to turn you off, you would have to go to the
The war scarred the soldiers permanently, if not physically then mentally. After the war the soldiers usually never recovered from the war. Two of the most common side affects of the war were shell shock and stir crazy. When suffering from shell shock a soldier’s brain doesn’t function properly and the man is a “vegetable”. This means the man is alive but he can’t do anything because he is in a state of shock because of the war. Stir crazy is a mental illness caused by the firing of so many bullets that when no bullets are heard by the victim he goes insane. Everyone was scared to go to war when it started. Young recruits were first sent because the veterans knew they were going to come back dead. "When we run out again, although I am very excited, I suddenly think: “where’s Himmelstoss?” Quickly I jump back into the dug-out and find him with a small scratch lying in a corner pretending to be wounded.” (P 131) Even the big men like Himmelstoss are scared to go fight. They too go through the mental illnesses like stir crazy and shell shock. “He is in a panic; he is new to it too.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul is morphed from an innocent child into a war veteran who has a new look on society. Paul used to have a carefree life where he was able to be a kid, but when he enlisted into the army it all changed. Paul became a person whose beliefs were changed because of the war. Paul doesn't believe in society anymore especially parents, elders, and school, which used to play a big part in his life. He changed his beliefs because society does not really understand how bad war really is and pushed many young men, who were not ready, into the army. Paul connects with his fellow soldiers because they are going through the same situation and feel the same emotions. Paul's beliefs were changed by the lies that were told to him.
After entering the war in young adulthood, the soldiers lost their innocence. Paul’s generation is called the Lost Generation because they have lost their childhood while in the war. When Paul visits home on leave he realizes that he will never be the same person who enlisted in the army. His pre-war life contains a boy who is now dead to him. While home on leave Paul says “I used to live in this room before I was a soldier” (170).
...the battlefield by one of his comrades, Robert experiences difficulty trying to get to sleep. All he wanted was a dream. Escape. But nobody dreams on a Battlefield. There isn’t any sleep that long. War is something soldiers go to in hopes of escaping or leaving their lives back in their home land. For some people relatable to Robert, trying to “find” who you are in war is considered to be an option. Going to war does not mean that you are a man, and sadly is viewed upon as a “manly” duty. Roberts struggles are based on his personal and family life, which he is unable to find his true calling or meaning in life throughout all of the chaos within his life. War should not be a result of a person trying to find who they are. War can only cause more mental and physical problems that can be traumatic for the soldier themselves just as Robert had experienced first-hand.
modern day audience, do find it amusing as we are not used to this way
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...
They are many ways to approach a conflict in order to find a resolution. For minimal actions people are often willing to talk about it, but for major actions the solutions to those problems are usually acted out by violence thus, the creation of war. For many centuries countries have been going to war over disagreements. However, it is not any type of disagreements; it is usually about the political beliefs of certain countries. In fact, World War 1 was caused by the disagreements of the European countries in power which were Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary. Some of the countries had a difference of opinion concerning political values on ruling the country. Some were in favour of nationalism, imperialism, or militarism which caused physical conflict and created war. (Duffy) Many soldiers had to go fight to represent their country and make them proud. Many novels have been written to explain to the people how the war had a psychological impact on the soldiers who participated in The Great War, but in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque he explains the true depth of war by implicating his knowledge of his days as a German soldier fighting on the western front. Remarque’s awful war experience influenced him to write his novel to show the realistic brutality of war by graphic violence, the emotional impacts on the privates as well as the impact of nationalism by the Germans.
World War I caused devastation for millions of people around the globe and was one of the most brutal wars ever in history. All Quiet on the Western Front, an account of the atrocity of World War I by Erich Maria Remarque, shows the trials and tribulations faced by soldiers each and every day. Much like it is today, war was glorified, and many young men, including the naïve 19year old German Paul Bauman, around the globe enlisted in the army, only to find out what a dreadful mistake it was later on. After seeing the mindless killings of millions, it makes the human race question whether war is really the logical way to solve the problems that plague the war today. What did the killing of over a million young men in the World War I accomplish? What has the murdering of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan so far accomplished? The answer is, unfortunately, nothing. Throughout the history of mankind, war has rarely managed to solve a problem, so it would make sense to try and adopt a different technique to resolve disagreements. Yet, for whatever reason, the human race continues to dive headfirst into wars repeatedly. World War I was a particularly brutal war and was one of the most expensive in terms of human lives in history. Very few soldiers on the front made it out alive, and Paul Bauman was no different. In Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul’s fate of death is decided by the beginning due to the physical and mental dangers.