ipl-logo

All Quiet On The Western Front Cowardliness Quotes

1410 Words6 Pages

The Courage of Cowardice
Two things humans often view to be the opposite are being a coward and being courageous. However, in war, they may be more similar than at first glance. In All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, the First World War rages throughout Europe in its final years. The war is wreaking havoc on the soldiers and civilians. One of the German soldiers, Paul, is on the western front along with his comrades who are like family. For Paul, it is necessary to be courageous to survive the terror and be cowardly to find a balance: Not to be too brazen to make foolish decisions. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the author reveals that survival in war requires courageousness, but that cowardliness can also be …show more content…

The ruthless killing brings a toll on the people who will remember that the enemies are men just like them, as Paul does when he instantly regrets his actions, saying that he would not kill him if he could redo the situation. Thus Paul sees value in being a coward, as he thinks it would be more courageous not to kill him than to go by the standards he learns. The German soldiers train as if they were animals acting upon their instincts to do so, which bears similarity to the human nature of war. Paul is at the stage where he lacks any hope for the war and does not see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is in the winter and at the time when Paul is so accustomed to the war that it is just another day for him. Paul reaches this stage when he returns to the front after staying at the hospital due to a leg injury. In a moment of deep thought, Paul ponders, “...life is simply one continual watch against the menace of death;--It has transformed us into unthinking animals to give us the weapon of instinct...“ (Remarque 273-274). The soldiers may be courageous for their spontaneous acts but are thoughtless, controlled creatures. In this case, it is a negative as they are sacrificing their wits to

Show More
Related

  • Who Is The Character Chart For All Quiet On The Western Front

    857 Words  | 4 Pages

    On their way to the front, Paul and his comrades hear the distinct sound of a mortar firing towards them, but the “animal instinct that is awakened in us we are led and protected” (56). Unknowingly, the second company dodge all the shrapnel and escape with their lives. When one’s life is in danger, the primitive instincts are able to make split-second decisions that can save one’s life. While reflecting on his time in the front line, Paul realizes that all the soldiers “turn into animals when we go up to the line, because that is the only thing which brings us through safely” (139). Instead of reflecting on the happier times before the war, Paul can only think about the front line.

    Read More

  • Emotional Burdens In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1739 Words  | 7 Pages

    The author expresses mild courage in the American soldiers who ought to be stronger and

    Read More

  • All Quiet On The Western Front Character Analysis Essay

    743 Words  | 3 Pages

    In addition, the entire situation that Paul goes through when his father “drags [him] along to a table with a lot of others. ”(p. 166) He sees that they don’t understand what war is like at all, as when “a head-master shakes hands with [him] and says: ‘So you come from the front? What is the spirit like out there? Excellent, eh?

    Read More

  • What Is The Conflict In All Quiet On The Western Front Dehumanize Remarque

    626 Words  | 3 Pages

    In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque, Paul, a 19 year old German soldier in World War 1 struggles when confronted with the realities of war. He finds that war is quite unlike the tales of heroism that he and his young classmates were told at enlistment and instead drives each soldier down to the animalistic core of humanity that is unknown to most. The brutality of death in the book demonstrates Pauls's development into a shell of the man he once was. The death of Gerard Duval, in particular, reveals the soldier's transformation to instinctual living and how that affects a person.

    Read More

  • All Quiet On The Western Front Sparknotes

    1737 Words  | 7 Pages

    All Quiet on the Western Front is a very largely anti war book. Erich Maria Remarque bases the story off of some of his experiences in World War 1. Remarque writes about soldiers from the German perspective in World War 1. This discusses the brutality and senseless portion of war which really takes a toll on soldiers’ lives. It also broaches the idea of how world leaders are so disconnected from what atrocities that these soldiers are committing and how this is slowly ruining their life.

    Read More

  • All Quiet On The Western Paul's Influence On War

    583 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel All Quiet on The Western by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul and his fellow soldiers are forced to fight for their lives. This lasting trauma seriously influences how he views his life back home and during the war. Although these soldiers were strongly influenced by higher authority, in the war they became aware of the harsh reality and soon felt disconnected from their previous life. These young men originally decide to join the war to show their patriotism.

    Read More

  • What Are The Effects Of Paul's Transformation In All Quiet On The Western Front

    557 Words  | 3 Pages

    He becomes unaware to violence and death, a common occurrence for soldiers during war. Paul's experiences on the front line, such as watching his friend die slowly and painfully, also contribute to his mental breakdown. Paul becomes very upset with the war, knowing that the leaders who started the war didn't experience the same suffering as soldiers on the front line. He feels betrayed, as he realizes that normal people do not understand the reality and weight of war. "We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial—I believe we are lost.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of War In Night And All Quiet On The Western Front

    1161 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front an enemy soldier jumped into the shell hole with Paul causing him to stab the soldier. Paul states, “The body is still perfectly still, without a sound, the gurgle has ceased, but the eyes cry out, yell,” (Remarque 219). This isn’t showing the loss of family or friends but the loss of Paul himself. He is sacrificing his hopes and dreams by being in the war. He is young and killing someone is taking away any kind of hope for a future.

    Read More

  • All Quiet On The Western Front: A Character Analysis

    1245 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the story Paul shows that he cares about his comrades by protecting them from the dangers of war, and he also displays that he will guide them in war. Paul uses his skills of intelligence to guide his team in the trenches and at the front, and he passes on his knowledge and tricks of war to the new recruits. Not many soldiers have all of these qualities, which makes Paul stand out more than his comrades. Even today some men don't express the passion and leadership Paul shows in All Quiet on the Western Front, which brings up the fact that the war needs more men like Paul. To sum up, Paul is an honest and true man who will always be there for his comrades when needed, and he is a man the troops are proud to say is a patriotic

    Read More

  • How Does All Quiet On The Western Front Affect Humanity

    602 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque gives us a good understanding of what war was like for the people fighting on the front. When reading this book people can get a front hand experience of what it is like being in battle. Remarque wrote this book so well that often times you picture yourself actually with Paul and all his friends. The one thing you specifically get to see is how humanity affects warfare. Humanity affects our decisions in warfare because humans are selfish, have fear, and seek revenge.

    Read More

  • Cowardice In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    952 Words  | 4 Pages

    In fact, he makes it seem like in some cases courageous act is the same as cowardly act in other cases. Author contradicts himself, since he implies that the same action can be both courageous, and cowardly. “They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture. ”(p.21) This quote clearly describes how running, and hiding are the displays of cowardice.

    Read More

  • Cowardice In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    1306 Words  | 6 Pages

    Cowardice is defined as the lack of courage or firmness of purpose. Soldiers are some of the last people that people would think of as “cowards”. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, he tells several war stories about the men in war and how their cowardice got them to where they were in war and in life. Cowardice, to the soldiers, was seen as going to war, rather than avoiding and escaping war. Tim O’Brien, Norman Bowker, and Jimmy Cross exemplify the notion that men went to war and risked their lives out of the fear that they would be ridiculed if they did not, through their actions, attitudes, and beliefs.

    Read More

  • All Quiet On The Western Front Quotes

    1193 Words  | 5 Pages

    The war has destroyed their old life and they must grasp onto the reality that as much as they fight and push, they will never have what they had nor who they truly were before the war. After Paul is the only 1 of the 7 people in his class remaining alive he is granted 14 days of rest due to swallowing a small quantity of gas. While Paul is outside being attacked by his thoughts, he concludes that, “Let the months and years come, they can bring me nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear. The life that has borne me through these years is still in my hands and eyes.

    Read More

  • Paul's Insanity In All Quiet On The Western Front

    670 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because how Paul and his comrades were so young. They started to see the world differently after joining the war to the point, they start to feel saddened in living their life. “We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world, and we had to shoot it to pieces. ”,(pg 87). During the war, Paul loses so much, even control of himself that all he felt in the war was mostly

    Read More

  • Book Summary: All Quiet On The Western Front

    1218 Words  | 5 Pages

    Esteban Gonzalez Professor Voth Humanities Oct 7, 2014 All Quiet on the Western Front Paper This story wastes no time getting into the hardships and devastation that war has on a young soul. Our protagonist Paul, a young man who has voluntarily joined the war out of amongst many of his friends and classmates have undergone 10 weeks of mentally and physically exhausting both in training and on the front lines.

    Read More

More about All Quiet On The Western Front Cowardliness Quotes

Open Document