Irony of War Exposed in Dulce et Decorum, Regeneration, and Quiet on the Western Front Many of the young officers who fought in the Great War enlisted in the army with glowing enthusiasm, believing that war was played in fancy uniforms with shiny swords. They considered war as a noble task, an exuberant journey filled with honor and glory. Yet, after a short period on the front, they discovered that they had been disillusioned by the war: fighting earned them nothing but hopelessness, death and terror. They had lost their lives to the lost cause of war, which also killed their innocence and youth. They were no longer boys but callous men. Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est", Pat Barker's novel Regeneration, and Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, all portray the irony between the delusive glory of war and the gruesome reality of it, but whereas Owen and Sassoon treat the theme from a British point of view, Remarque allows us to look at it from the enemy's. The poem "Dulce et Decorum Est", an anti-war poem by Wilfred Owen who was an English footsoldier, states that it is not sweet and fitting to die a hero's death for a country. Right off in the first line, Owen describes the troops as being "like old beggars under sacks" (1). This metaphor indicates that the men are battle weary and suggests reluctance. They also have been on their feet for days and appear to be drained of youth as they "marched asleep" (5) and "limped on, blood-shod" (6). Overall, in the first stanza, Oundjian 2 there seems to be a tension between old and young because it shows how the impact of an endless war has reduced these once energetic young men to the point where they could be referred to as "old" (1), "lame" (6) and... ... middle of paper ... ...s, demonstrated through the author's talent, are denouncing the authority figures who were supposed to guide his generation into adulthood but instead turned the youth against each other in the pursuit of superficial ideals. The soldiers were simply the victims of a meaningless war. In conclusion, Remarque's firsthand encounters with trench warfare, Owen's vivid descriptions of the soldiers' experiences and Baker's touching accounts of the lives of historical figures, all state that there were no victors in war, only losers in a hopeless battle for territorial supremacy. Works Cited Barker, Pat. Regeneration. Toronto: Plume, 1993. Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." The Faber Book of War Poetry. Ed. Kenneth Baker. London: Faber, 1997. 3-4. Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Trans. A. W. Wheen. New York: Ballantine, 1982.
Lewis Milestone’s “All’s Quiet on the Western Front”, based on Erich Remarque’s novel, is an incredibly disturbing and effective anti-war film. The grainy black and white film is still not outdated and carries a breathtaking initial impact. The prologue that introduces the film gives its anti-war intentions immediately and beautifully.
Everyone knows what war is. It's a nation taking all of its men, resources, weapons and most of its money and bearing all malignantly towards another nation. War is about death, destruction, disease, loss, pain, suffering and hate. I often think to myself why grown and intelligent individuals cannot resolve matters any better than to take up arms and crawl around, wrestle and fight like animals. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque puts all of these aspects of war into a vivid story which tells the horrors of World War 1 through a soldier's eyes. The idea that he conveys most throughout this book is the idea of destruction, the destruction of bodies, minds and innocence.
Remarque, Erich Maria, and A. W. Wheen. All Quiet on the Western Front. Boston: Little, Brown, 1929. Print.
One idea that Remarque uses to de-glamorize the magnificence of war is that in a war, many innocent people die needlessly. In the novel, Paul Baumer, the main character and narrator, states that the war is not fun and heroic at all, but horrific and gruesome. “While [teachers] taught that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger.” (Remarque 13) Wars just kill innocent, youthful men and bring nothing but trouble for the country. Men who led their own pleasant life before the war and held nothing against the enemy, died mercilessly just because Chance was not on their side at that particular moment. Franz Kemmerich, a close friend of Paul, has his foot amputated, and pretty soon afterwards, he dies because of an infection in the leg without the foot. Before joining the war, Kemmerich was an ordinar...
In “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Erich Maria Remarque tells the a story of six young German men who volunteer as soldiers in World War I. Remarque himself fought in World War I, but because of injuries that he sustained in battle, he was forced to withdraw from the war zone. He spent the rest of the war in the hospital, where he reflected upon the true nature of war. The novel is told from the viewpoint of one young soldier named Paul Baumer. Through the character of Baumer, Remarque portrays his innocence, childhood, and glory; it also portrays his horror, fears, and experiences in the war.
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 Poem “Dulce et Decorum Est” attempts to make war seem as repulsive as possible. The author’s goal is to discourage people from joining the war or any future conflicts by shattering the romantic image people have of the fighting. The setting of this poem helps
In this essay you will notice the differences and similarities between ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’. ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ was written in nineteenth century by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In contrast, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ was written in the twentieth century by Wilfred Owen. The main similarity we have observed is that they both capture war time experiences. However, the poets’ present these events using their own style, and the effect is two completely different observations of war.
A war novel that gives its reader an insight into the lives of soldiers during WWI, All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, is considered the greatest war novel of all time. This book brings its readers into the personal life of Paul Baumer and the horrors he had to encounter as a young German s...
Just War to a much larger extent than a Holy War. This is because it
Remarque accurately portrays all aspects of the war. However Remarque is best able to portray the effects the war has on the soldiers and the rest of the people and the scene of the battlefield compared to home.
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.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque tells the story of young German soldiers in World War I. Often, war novels tell intentionally exciting tales of triumph or purposefully agonizing accounts of defeat, but Remarque refuses to veil the tragic reality of war in order to make the story more entertaining for the reader. The book is meant to be “least of all an adventure.” Remarque served for the German army during World War I, and he therefore repeatedly encountered death, much like his narrator, Paul, and “death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it.” In his novel, Remarque tells a story that explains how home and identity were lost for many young men during the war. Philosophical ideas on the value of war fade
Owen, Wilfred. “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” World War I British Poets. Ed. Candace Ward. Dover Publications, Inc; New York, 1997.
The poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen portrays the horrors of World War I with the horrific imagery and the startling use of words he uses. He describes his experience of a gas attack where he lost a member of his squadron and the lasting impact it had on him. He describes how terrible the conditions were for the soldiers and just how bad it was. By doing this he is trying to help stop other soldiers from experiencing what happened in a shortage of time.