Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How did paul change in all quiet on the western front
Attitudes and values in all quiet on the western front
Attitudes and values in all quiet on the western front
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The most compelling description of Paul is that he is dependable, and will always be devoted to his unit even during times of hopelessness. Some soldiers gave up at the end of the war because they thought that the war would never end, and that the Allies would not give up until all the Central Powers were defeated. Paul is not one of those soldiers; instead he was the one that remained devoted to his country. In his description of war, Paul says, “…a great brotherhood, which adds something of the good fellowship...and of the desperate loyalty to one another of men condemned to death, to a condition of life arising out of the tension and forlornness of death” (272). This displays that Paul still remains whole, and that he hasn’t been impaired by …show more content…
Paul shows his loyalty to his comrade, Kemmerich, by taking care of him when the orderlies treat him like trash, and Remarque illustrates this by saying, “I sit tensely and watch his every movement in case he may perhaps say something” (31). This displays the fact that Paul will always be with his friends and will never lead their side. The evidence clearly shows that Paul will always remain true towards his country and his comrades, and shows his devotion to his service, even when he is treated inadequately. In the novel Paul Bäumer displays many traits ranging from intelligence to leadership to loyalty, and these reasons show that Paul is quite different than the other soldiers. Throughout the novel Paul shows that he cares about his comrades by protecting and guiding them through the dangers of war. Paul uses his skills of intelligence to guide his company in the trenches and at the front. Paul also passes on his knowledge and tricks of war on to the new recruits. Not many soldiers have all of these qualities, which help Paul stand out even more than
War in the end does kill Paul, but not before his closest friends are killed. Katczinsky is hit by shrapnel and is horrifically described by the author here "Kat got a splinter of shrapnel in his head on the way. The war has ripped apart Paul's life and now his closest friend is dead. The final chapter describes Paul's last days and how he is resigned to dying. The novel goes from first person narrative to third person when Paul passes away. "He fell in October1918 on a day that was so still and quiet along the entire front." This line is important as it refers to the title of the book and how it is still and quiet on this day because it is the end of the war. The death of Paul stresses to me that war is pointless and is only a destructive force which rips apart family, friends and lives.
To Pursue Remarque’s tone farther, his tone throughout this novel was rather easy to find because of the horrific, depressing, yet at the same time a little sympathetic, scenes. Paul explains a scene after a bombardment, “In the branches dead men are hanging. A naked soldier is squatting in the fork of a tree, he still has his helmet on, otherwise he is entirely unclad. There is only half of him sitting up there, the top half, the legs are missing” (93). The bombs are killing several men at a time. Paul not only observes this in real life, he ultimately has to live through it. Once a war has been going on for a long period, the soldiers know that war is all about death.
During training Paul and his schoolmates come across Colonel Himmelstoss who teaches them the survival skills needed in the front. During training Himmelstoss tortures the recruits but is indirectly teaching them to become hard, pitiless, vicious, and tough soldiers. Althou...
Paul’s books symbolize the shadow of war that has been casted upon him through the horrid violence. Paul’s
... him. Death, which he once agonized over, is now a daily occurrence and seems commonplace to him. Life, which he once took for granted, is now cherished beyond belief, and holding on to it becomes his greatest preoccupation. These effects are not limited only to Paul Bäumer, but extend to all the millions of people that are involved, directly or indirectly, in the war. WW I has far-reaching impact. It not only touches those in combat on the front lines, but also those who support the soldiers and help to make munitions and supplies on the homefront. Bäumer, and the millions of other people involved in WW I, learn the difficult lesson that the most trying experiences in life, or in this case death, are what make us the strongest and what drive us to survive.
Paul and his friends move back and forth between their camp and the front lines and for Paul almost nothing else exists but the game of war and the ground it is played on. life is extremely horrible for the men due to constant bombing lasting for days and rations of mouldy bread, these conditions show the literal effects on the soldiers. There are also rats living with them in the trenches that crawl over them in the night and the soldiers are forced to kill them like they are the enemy. Living in the trenches at the front surrounded by constant shelling and bombing means that the men live with a lot of anxiety and fear, causing some recruits to become mentally unstable. In the book some of the newer soldiers attempt suicide, showing that the war has damaged them to the point of them not caring for their lives
Paul and his company were once aspiring youth just graduating school thinking about having a wonderful life. Sometimes things don’t always play out the way you want. The effects of war on a soldier is another big theme in the novel. Paul describes how they have changed and how death doesn’t affect them anymore. “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defen...
soldier who is afraid of war and death, but Paul tries to hide his feelings and fear deep inside. Paul has to
In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, Remarque uses comradeship throughout the book to create a theme to show how difficult the war was with countless deaths. Paul experiences comradeship various times throughout this novel. During Kemmerich’s death and Kat and Paul’s feast are times when he experiences comradeship the most.
He realizes that he has to lose feeling to survive, “That I have looked far as the only possibility of existence after this annihilation of a human emotion” (194). Paul loses all feeling, which may be one of the main factors keeping him alive in battle, so that he does not allow himself to process the violence and horror to which he is exposed. Even in the short time where he thinks about all that he has lost, he is immediately overwhelmed with feelings and there is no time for this on the battlefront. Paul has no empathy for the enemy and kills without even thinking, “We have lost all feeling for one another.
The soldiers forget about the past, with good food and rest. Paul contemplates why they forget things so quickly; he thinks that habit helps eradicate memory. When one good thing happens, everything else is forgotten. The men turn into “wags” and “loafers” while resting. They cannot burden themselves with the emotions from the consequences
Depression, one of many psychological disorders, is an illness that Paul is stricken with in the war. This disease can plummet people into a state of complete sadness and hopelessness, a common theme that
Paul believes that he was tricked into joining the army and fighting in the war. This makes him very bitter towards the people who lied to him. This is why he lost his respect and trust towards the society. Teachers and parents were the big catalysts for the ki...
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.
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 irrelevant facts if presented in a textbook. This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans.