Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
All quiet on the western front literary criticism
Literary criticism of all things quiet on the western front
The emotional effects of war on soldiers
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: All quiet on the western front literary criticism
“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another” (Erich Maria Remarque). 1914 and the barbaric, brutal World War 1 has just began. Young, adolescent men face the life changing war, molding them to become, no longer an average civilian, yet a man fighting for the safety of his own self. Erich Maria Remarque, whom has encountered the war front first hand, at the young age of 18, articulates the cruel, harsh times of the war which changes a man, for the worse, rather than the better. In Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, he portrays exactly how war affects an individual not just physically yet rather on a much deeper scale, that cannot be resolved.
First, war destroys a man on a more noticeable level, physically. As one looks at the outcome of war through soldiers eyes, they see the physical damage that they are put through. Such as Kemmerich, after he has lost his leg in the war he explains that he “wanted to become a head-forester once”, and now he is unable to do such an act (Remarque 28). In the 1914’s a man’s job was to provide for and support his family, but with a missing limb, one was no longer able to support, rather become dependent upon the others that surrounded them. Another example of how war destroys an individual physically is when both Paul and Albert are shot in the leg. When Paul and Albert are put on the train to go to Cologne, Paul tries to get out of bed to use the “latrine”, but his “foot finds no support” because “the plaster leg is no help” and he finds himself crashed on ...
... middle of paper ...
...hears the sound of bullets rushing past him. The men have lost all sense of “considerations” because “only the facts are real and important” (Remarque 21). They live in the state of mind of survival and know nothing else. When Paul goes on leave and returns home he only wishes he could “weep and be comforted” by his mother, but he is aware that he must be “strong and self-controlled” (Remarque 183). War destroys an individual mentally and emotionally by riding them of emotion and causing one to fear, even in the most innocent of places, for the safety of one’s life.
Works Cited
Remarque, Erich Maria, and A. W. Wheen. All Quiet on the Western Front. Boston: Little, Brown, and, 1929. Print.
Stramm, August. "Battlefield." N.p., n.d. Web.
Winter, Jay. "The Great War in European Cultrual History." Pembroke College, Cambridge, n.d. Web
object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” This man obviously had the destruction of other people on his mind at the time. War includes much destruction in different ways. Along with the destruction of people is the destruction of items. All wars take place somewhere and always destroy the surrounding buildings and possessions. Self destruction is also a main part of war due to killing other people. War causes three different types of destruction: destruction
Different Attitudes Toward World War II in Society During the Romantic period war was portrayed as being honourable and often wars where fought for religion and to be patriotic and loyal to your country. In more modern day views however you can begin to see how these ideas have faded and how war is not heroic anymore, it is seen more as a last resort and has no honour. Poetry from past times concentrated on the heroism of war and rarely included any gruesome details of civilians being
perspective of Death himself. Throughout this book, Death points out the destruction humanity causes, and this destruction comes in two forms: both physical, as well as emotional. Since this book is set in World War II, and physical destruction is a common occurrence during this time, Death frequently discusses its different forms, which include Jewish internment camps, bullets, bombs, as well as fires. These physical forms of destruction lead to deaths, as well as injuries that can take a toll on the emotional
the Wormsley Common Gang in a neighborhood ravaged by the second world war in London. This particularly group of adolescent delinquents enjoy committing crimes such as stealing bus tickets from unsuspecting individuals. They meet everyday to plan their misdeeds, but their focus changes upon the arrival of their new recruit and leader, Trevor, who has devised a plan to destroy the last standing artifacts of beauty in their war torn community.
Kiahna Brown 12/2/2015 Grinder American Novel Literary Analysis II The Evil in War Blood Meridian was not simply written for the thrill of reading another gory and gruesome novel, but to show through a third person omniscient perspective the true and entirely evil reality of war and destruction. “The good book does indeed count war an evil... Yet there's many a bloody tale of war inside it” (22). This novel implies that the bodies of those in our way is the only road to expansion and progress
imagery to emphasise the carnage and destruction of war. His use of imagery does this by helping to recreate some of the sounds, visuals, emotions, and impacts of armed combat. Specifically, in his poems Dulce Et Decorum Est (Dulce) and Strange Meeting, Owen highlights the gore on the battlefield, and the detrimental effects on soldiers after being there. He uses religious references to further his points. Owen also shows the broader loss in society as a result of war. Owen draws attention to the carnage
Pandemic of War in On the Beach” Imagine being trapped in a world where every other country and civilization is destroyed by nuclear radiation and completely uninhabitable. Australia is the only civilization left for human beings in the now radiation covered world. The people there are from all walks of life but are running out of supplies; food, water, and gasoline. On top of running out of these necessities those people are facing not only physical conflicts but also mental conflicts. The man vs man
as one of the many young men who join the military during World War I, has his own misconceptions of war, but it does not take him long to realize what war is all about. Owen’s position quickly becomes an anti-war because of his personal experiences and observations during the Great War. Owen uses poetry to inform the public that war is not just about patriotism, gallantry, and glory but also about atrocity, cruelty, and destruction. Through his poetry, Owen critiques government officials, religious
to mass destruction and the loss of thousands of lives when detonated, they are the optimal solution to the conflicts between countries in the future. The actual use of the nuclear weapon is not the deterrent, but rather just the mere fact that a country could use it against another country which avoids the large scale conflict. Thus, nuclear deterrence presents itself as a preferred security option. Firstly, based on deterrence theory, nuclear weapons will lead to Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
the second World War. Through the meticulous use of narrative voice and having Death as the narrator, then incorporating analepsis, prolepsis, motif, symbolism and figurative language, Zusak is able to highlight these key ideas by successfully taking an innovative approach to creating a captivating and complex text. Zusak portrays the key ideas of the power of words to be used for good or destruction, Through Death’s narrative voice, he provides an unbiased perspective of the war, he also highlights
The War of the Worlds vs Never Let Me GO H.G. Well’s The War of the Worlds and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go are two sensational pieces of writing of Science Fiction done by their Authors. These two Novels write in a great manner by two significant authors which convey a different Purpose through the story and make a compare and contrast in the story. H.G. Wells and Kazuo Ishiguro use the character, conflict, and Form to show their message to readers. On one side where Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let
created both man and woman. Although both men and women was created by a god, a woman’s obligations were different from a man’s. Since the beginning of mankind, women were viewed as secondary citizens. Even the word “mankind” uses the word man rather than woman. Women are the objects of men, owned by their fathers and husbands. They follow the tasks given to them. They stay home, clean, cook, and take care of children, in essence, they are housewives. While the men worked, fought in wars, and were the
want to conquer territory and be the very best, they want to be someone others are jealous of. In Mark Millar’s Superman: Red Son, Millar demonstrates this desire for power and the consequences of these actions. The comic takes place during the Cold War and tells the tale of what would happen if Superman had landed in the Soviet Union instead of Smallville, Kansas. The comic takes place in the Superman elseworld, where different stories or events occur to pre-existing characters, which are not related
running and keep on killing.” During World War One, the amount of devastation was massive. The human welfare declined as well as progress in Europe. James Whale formed his surroundings during this time period into his personal adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. The monster created by Whale is symbolic of a wounded soldier who has been forgotten and cast out or pushed to the side by an economy in depression. This film is characteristic of the post war years with hopefulness of reconstruction
In their poetry, Wordsworth and Smith both instilled the point that humanity has lost the connection to the beauty of nature; thus a detachment to divinity, because of the need for destruction in society. Wordsworth is plagued by societies inability to conform to his beliefs on nature, in “The World is Too Much With Us”. In the octave of the poem he states, “late and soon / Getting and spending, we lay waste to our powers (ll. 1-2)”