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Essay on importance of books
Literature And Society
Literature And Society
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All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review Professor’s Comments: This is a good example of a book review typically required in history classes. It is unbiased and thoughtful. The Student explains the book and the time in which it was written in great detail, without retelling the entire story… a pitfall that many first time reviewers may experience. All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death-- together. Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader insights into the realities of war. In this genre, the author is free to develop the characters in a way that brings the reader into the life of Paul Baumer and his comrades. The novel frees the author from recounting only cold, sterile facts. This approach allows the reader to experience what might have been only irrelevant facts if presented in a textbook. This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...e preceding reasons, all college students should read the book. The book will captivate the educated mind, and most importantly, will cause that mind to think and to question why things happen as they do. Remarque also tried to teach his audience. Written within a decade of the end of the war, the book calls on those who forfeited their youth to the war not to allow time to hide what had happened. Time may heal all wounds, but the cause of those wounds must not be forgotten, nor allowed to repeat itself. The author is; however, pragmatic enough to realize that all will not learn the lesson; nevertheless, those who are willing to learn it will discover that the story has been told before, and without their intervention, it is doomed to be told again. Works Cited Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine Books, 1984.
All quiet On the Western Front, a book written by Erich Maria Remarque tells of the harrowing experiences of the First World War as seen through the eyes of a young German soldier. I think that this novel is a classic anti-war novel that provides an extremely realistic portrayal of war. The novel focuses on a group of German soldiers and follows their experiences. 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. "
Events are the basis on which the audience is given a comprehensive insight into a society. They highlight what the population’s perceptions are and contribute to displaying certain themes. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, written by the esteemed Erich Maria Remarque, an insight unlike other books, of the war genre, is given. This novel is an accurate representation of the actuality of war. How lives are seen as dispensable and how the soldiers are emotionally and physically destroyed by it. Through these events the theme of the hypocrisy of the elder generation arises, as a constituent of this society. Specifically in this novel Kantorek, a school master, is the epitome of hypocrisy. Paul recalls his words this from his current
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons-parents, elders, school, religion-that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does understand the truth as Baumer has experienced it.
Erich Maria Remarque’s literary breakthrough, All Quiet on the Western Front, describes two stories. It meticulously chronicles the thoughts of a soldier in World War I while simultaneously detailing the horrors of all wars; each tale is not only a separate experience for the soldier, but is also a new representation of the fighting. The war is seen through the eyes of Paul Baumer whose mindset is far better developed in comparison to his comrades’. His true purpose in the novel is not to serve as a representation of the common soldier, but to take on a godly and omniscient role so that he may serve as the connection between WWI and all past and future melees of the kind. Baumer becomes the representation of all men, and, through him, the reader comes to see the true essence of such a human struggle.
World War I was a fascinating, yet dramatic war for which there are a lot of different points of view. Some people argue that it was only Germanys fault, where-as others think that it had to do with the pressure put upon them by the other leading powers. Some of the things which triggered the war were the enormous rise in population, which happened very rapidly, caused by the Industrial Revolution. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the population of Europe was roughly 50 million; by 1820 it was about 100 million, and by 1870 it had reached the 200-million mark. By 1914 it had topped 300 million. (Stokesbury 11-12). With all the leading powers focused on the Balkans, war, to many, seemed inevitable. The new countries abused their power which was given to them by their major allies, causing enormous problems, and unnecessary tension to be built up. Alliances also caused a lot of problems like the one between Japan and England, where-after the Russians suffered a humiliating defeat against the Japanese in the East. This did not exactly improve the chances for England to ally with Russia, but luckily did not interfere too much in their relationships, and after some time they even turned out becoming allies, together with France, at the end even making military plans together. They also shared the responsibilities of protecting areas, just like England and France who protected both the Mediterranean as well as the Channel separately, making it easier for each country to focus on one area.
...ntrol what. This led to competition to try to control the most foreign colonies, and in turn, sustain their economy. And whenever there is competition, there are tensions formed, as was the case between the powers prior to WW1, driving the nations to war.
War can be as damaging to the human body as it is to the mind. In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, this idea that war causes psychological disorders is represented throughout the book through the main character, Paul Baumer. This book follows the lives of young soldiers in World War I. Together, these men create powerful bonds. They go through terrifying experiences that continue to strengthen their bonds, but also destroy their mental state. Through Paul’s eyes, Remarque shows the devastation that war has on the mind.
Militarism was also an underlying cause of World War I. As the alliance system divided Europe into opposing groups, each nation began to increase spending on its military. This set a belligerent mood in Europe as each nation was prepared to fight a war. A German officer once said "in time of peace, prepare for war," and that is exactly what European nations did, eventually leading to the Great War.
Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that takes you through the life of a soldier in World War I. Remarque is accurately able to portray the episodes soldiers go through. All Quiet on the Western Front shows the change in attitudes of the men before and during the war. This novel is able to show the great change war has evolved to be. From lining your men up and charging in the eighteenth century, to digging and “living” in the trenches with rapid-fire machine guns, bombs, and flame-throwers being exposed in your trench a short five meters away. Remarque makes one actually feel the fun and then the tragedy of warfare. At the beginning of the novel Remarque gives you nationalist feelings through pride of Paul and the rest of the boys. However at the end of the war Remarque shows how pointless war really is. This is felt when everyone starts to die as the war progresses.
All Quiet on the Western Front details the time spent by a group of young German soldiers on the front lines of the Great War. The protagonist, Paul Baumer, along with his schoolmates, Muller Leer and Albert Kropp, enlist in the army at the ripe age of eighteen. Their fellow soldiers: Tjaden, Haier Westhus, Detering, and Katczinsky (Kat), whom they quickly form a bond of comradeship with, experience the same hopelessness as Paul and his schoolmates. Remarque introduces Paul and the other characters as cynical soldiers lacking the ability to reconnect with humanity because of the harshness of combat. Due to their current emotional state, the young soldiers are alienated from memories of their past. Upon his return home on leave, Paul discovers that he is not only disconnected from the world he left behind, but also incapable of regenerating a desire to live life. As a...
In a deep, muddy trench, a lone soldier lies, a silver bullet embedded in his abdomen. He clutches his side, screaming in pain, crying for help -- but no one is listening. The sky slowly darkens, and his voice becomes no more than a faint rasping, until it fades into nothingness. Millions of soldiers found themselves in similar situations during World War I, also known as the Great War, which involved multiple European powers; most notably, Germany, France, Britain, and Russia. Written from the perspective of Paul Baumer, a 19-year-old German soldier, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque follows his journey as he is thrown into the chaos of World War I. At the warfront, Paul witnesses countless horrors that
...ion, to help their subject as with Chagnon and Kaobawä; this could be something as minimal as offering a ride to providing financial rewards for their help. However, this may raise the ethical question of involving oneself in a situation and its effect on the study. Moreover, as demonstrated by Sterk, engaging the subject in a two-way dialogue – as opposed to a formal, questionnaire-based conversation – usually proves beneficial for the study because it lets the subject feel like they have something substantial to offer, like an opinion that is valued. Another aspect that I found intriguing in Sterk’s case is removing oneself from the field; an anthropologist must be able to find a balance to not let emotional baggage of a case interfere with their own life but keeping a specific part of it to emotionally engage with the subject during the process of the research.
People who have actually been through war know how horrible it is. Society on the other hand, while it believes it knows the horrors of war, can never understand or sympathize with a soldier’s situation. The only people who can understand war is those who have been through it so they can often feel alone if they are out of the military. Paul cannot even give a straight answer to his own father about his dad’s inquiries about war. Paul’s dad does not understand that people who have been in the war can in no way truly express the horrible things that that have seen and experienced. Nor can Paul fit in with the society who does not understand him. Paul and so many others were brought into the war so young that they know of nothing else other than war. Paul held these views on society as he said, “We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered;-the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall in to ruin.
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).
In Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front, Paul Baumer encounters many inner struggles. Through examining the changes occurring within himself, he finds he can no longer relate to his own past. His present thoughts and feelings are quite reclusive in nature and as he looks ahead, he finds himself fearing how the repercussions of the war will affect him in th...