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All Quiet On The Western Front Effects Of War

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Recommended: Emotional and psychological effects of war on soldiers

Disconnect from society War has shown to affect plenty of veterans in many different ways. Some mental effects that are commonly seen amongst soldiers are PTSD, anxiety, and even self-harm. Many of the soldiers that survived WWI experienced these effects. A very common effect that many WWI veterans experienced was feeling disconnected from society once they had returned home from war. In All Quiet on the Western Front Paul, the main character, didn’t have any shortage of this psychological effect. There were many moments throughout the book where he found it difficult to interact with people back at home, or at times he felt isolated. Also, at times he was not thinking as rationally as he would have before the war. These are all effects …show more content…

In the novel, we see this on some occasions with Paul. For example, he goes into a state of panic when a doctor wants to give him gas to make him fall asleep due to an injury that he sustained to his leg, which requires surgery. Paul has lost so much trust in everyone else that he immediately thinks that the doctor is trying to inflict harm. In the moment, Paul's violent reaction seems completely unnecessary and unwarranted, "I break loose with one of them and try to crash into the surgeon's spectacles just as he notices and springs back. ‘Chloroform the scoundrel,’ he (the surgeon) roars madly." Paul, in this traumatic moment shows how he has gotten to the point where he is losing his mind. He has lost trust in people so much that he thinks a doctor who has no reason to hurt him is trying to intentionally amputate his leg. He then comes to the conclusion that he has to attack the surgeon because they would gas him if he weren’t to resist. Prior to this, Paul most likely wouldn’t have reacted this way. For example, before incurring the trauma of war, Paul was seemingly capable of keeping his emotions under control even under extraordinary circumstances. For example, when he was in training, he was physically pushed to limits that he couldn’t reach, and despite being hghly frustrated with the punishments he would receive, he did not overreact when his good friend Kemmrich had his leg amputated and was dying despite neglect from the doctors that Paul felt could have saved

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Book Summary: All Quiet On The Western Front

1218 Words | 5 Pages

The more fighting there is the worse Paul and the men’s moral become. Paul can not see an end to the war and even if it were to end, he doesn’t believe that he can ever return back to normal. He experiences this when he first visits home during the war. “A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up in me. I can not find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength.”

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Summary Of All Quiet On The Western Front

319 Words | 2 Pages

He cared for him and attempted to make him feel comfortable. Paul made himself aware of the man's humanity and he apologizes to the dead soldier. 2- We always realize something big in life when it's way too late and it has already affected our life. Pg 833 #3-6

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Paul's Insanity In All Quiet On The Western Front

670 Words | 3 Pages

He has buried his face in his hands, his helmet has fallen off. I fish hold of it and try to put it back on his head. He looks up, pushes the helmet off, and as a child creeps under my arm,”(pg61). Paul experiences death like it’s an everyday occurrence. This contributes to Paul’s insanity by giving him the thought that he might die very soon.

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Paul's Choices In Tangerine By Edward Bloor

849 Words | 4 Pages

The reason Paul makes this choice is because he has witnessed so many horrific things Erik has done and he couldn’t let him get away with this one, so that’s why he told the police. For example, when Paul tells this to the policeman in front of the Bauer Family and his family, both of the families are devastated at what Erik and Arthur have done. This shows that both of the families had such high expectations for the both of them and when they found this out, it just basically killed them inside. In addition, after Paul told the police, he felt like he was set free of holding in the truth to tell people about Erik. For instance, this helped Paul learn a lesson about standing up for himself and telling the truth.

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Summary Of All Quiet On The Western Front

702 Words | 3 Pages

All Quiet on the Western Front taught me many new lessons about the war. The book had showed everything from good to bad. I found the book very interesting and a good resource to learn more about the war. Paul had been the longest soldier who had fought out of his group. Paul had overcome many challenges and had experienced many different events.

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Examples Of Heroism In Tangerine

166 Words | 1 Pages

I yelled back. ' Come On!' " This illustrates, that Paul was altruistic during this scene, which shows how much of a heroic character he is. Although he might have a slight problem with his eyes, in addition he's intimated by his brother, Erik. Paul saved many lives.

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All Quiet On The Westward Front By Erich Maria Remarque

436 Words | 2 Pages

Also, Paul pulled out his dagger to protect himself from any soldiers trying to attack him. Paul killing a man shows that the brutality of war has affected him and his humanity. Another example of when Paul loses his humanity is when he says he only knows about death and despair. “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 people are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.

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Unsympathetic Character In Paul's Character

1717 Words | 7 Pages

“His teachers felt this afternoon that his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower, and they fell upon him without mercy . . .” (Cather 92). Paul is a character in the short story “Paul’s Case,” which was written by Willa Cather, who was not living a life that he wanted to. Cather did give me the impression that we should view Paul in an unsympathetic way in the beginning of the story, but by the end of it, my whole view on him changed. Throughout the story, Paul is someone who the readers need to take time to think about to fully understand him.

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'All American Boys': Is Paul Ultimately A Bad Guy?

917 Words | 4 Pages

This shows how careless Paul is to others because of how he decides to handle the situation. He could have very easily handled the situation a lot differently. Most people would have taken the time to hear all sides of the story before jumping to conclusions. Instead he decided that instead of hearing what Rashad had to say that he would rather go straight to violence and forcefully abuse Rashad.

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Essay On All Quiet On The Western Front

796 Words | 4 Pages

Paul sees that the soldier is not dying immediately and forces dirt into his mouth to try and suffocate him. Paul is crying and very distraught. He begins to feel bad for stabbing him and tries to save the soldier by putting pressure on the wound. Paul goes through the soldier's personal belongings and pictures and sees that he has his own family. This breaks Paul a lot.

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All Quiet On The Western Front Futility Of War

2516 Words | 11 Pages

Paradize Martell 05/10/2023 English 1 Mr.Schipper All Quiet on the Western Front Assessment Paul's multifaceted perspective of the war serves to develop themes of the dehumanization of soldiers and the power dynamics embedded in war, illustrating the devastating consequences of warfare on the individual soldier and their views of society. The novel “All Quiet On the Western Front'' by Enrich Maria Remarque and the documentary film “They Shall Not Grow Old; showcase the futility of war and the challenges this affects due to boundaries the human psyche must endure to survive. Moreover, the psychological toll of war acts as a conduit for its destructive force, leading to the deindividuation

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All Quiet On The Western Front By Eric Remarque

823 Words | 4 Pages

Traumatic experiences in life can cause any person to lose hope. In addition, it can affect someone to lose trust and determination. After being affected by something dramatic, going home is not something to look forward to. All a person wishes is that the experience never happened because now they have to suffer for the rest of their life. In the war novel, All Quiet on The Western Front, by Eric Remarque, Eric exemplifies how the war has affected himself and his loved ones.

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How The First World War Affects The German Soldiers In All Quiet On The Western Front

1958 Words | 8 Pages

Going to war is one of those decisions that can change one’s life forever. It is a dreadful decision and has some long-lasting negative effects on a soldier’s life. The soldiers in the novel are only nineteen-to-twenty years young, and they leave everything behind to fight for their country, not knowing that they will never be able to live a normal life again. They are broken and can never relate to anyone their age, except for soldiers like them who go through the same hardship as them. Just as stated in a critical overview of All Quiet on the Western Front, the soldiers “have been cut off from their roots by the traumatic experiences of war, and have been stripped of their youth… the war has cut them off from the values of a cultured civilization, reducing them to animals with nothing to exist for but the present moment, and no philosophy save that of pure chance, which determines from one moment to the next whether or not they survive” (Last, para.

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All Quiet On The Western Front Effects Of War Essay

1064 Words | 5 Pages

However, when they were sent out into the midst of the war many of them realised the misconceptions they had and were led to believe. They became disillusioned as they realized that the war was much more brutal and horrific than they had previously believed. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque effectively comments on the horrors of war from Paul’s perspective, especially when Paul comments on injuries the soldiers endure and witness by stating “We see men go on living with the top of their skulls missing; we see soldiers go on running when both their feet have been shot away…Another man…with his guts spilling out over his hands as he holds them in.” (Remarque,

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Character Analysis: All Quiet On The Western Front

804 Words | 4 Pages

After experiencing the horrors of World War I, Paul believes he is “nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end” (Remarque 185). Paul is in fact guilty for his involvement in the violence of the war. He realizes this fact and becomes dispirited because he bemoans allowing himself to get involved in such cruelty. Despite the fact that Paul experiences adverse emotions because of it, he learns from his past blemishes. Even though he can never really rescind his previous actions, he still uses them as a guide towards refraining from repeating the same missteps.

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