Millions of people have gone through life-altering experiences in their time in World War I. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer, a 19-year-old German soldier, narrates his personal memoirs of this war. He describes the mental change and suffering he goes through as he is forced to mature from a young boy to a soldier in order to survive, leaving him permanently scarred from the throes of war. By employing juxtaposition to contrast Paul’s mindset, before and after the war, Remarque demonstrates how the mental health of the World War I soldiers is damaged because of the abrupt loss of their youth, leaving them in a state of survival and mental instability. In order to emphasize the degree to which the soldiers in World War I changed emotionally, Paul juxtaposes the innocence of his youth with a primal instinct of desperate survival that forms from the brutality of the war.
The other thought Victor had about suicide was, “In that hour I should die and at once satisfy and extinguish his malice.”(Shelley 158). He wanted to live no longer because the monster threatened him and he was just done with life. “Feels very sad, down, empty or hopeless.’(NIMH). Victor felt sad during this time because “I thought of Elizabeth, of my father, and of Clerval.”(Shelley 162). Victor was long away from his “sister”, his dad and his friend, he just wanted to see his family and friend.
Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come” (p. 296). This happens when all his friends are dead, and he is left in the war. Until this point, he had been fighting in the war, but now he wants it to end already, and it is going to end for him. He is very calm about it, which also shows that he is giving
The cruelty of life can change one’s perspective of the world. When people experience difficulties in life, like loss and grief, they sometimes struggle to come to terms with the sadness and the truths of reality. Some may become traumatized and tempted to get a revenge due to the sudden loss in order to cope with the sadness within oneself and sometimes may become stuck. In the anti-war film Platoon written by Oliver Stone, Chris Taylor is a naive adolescent, who volunteers to go to war to fight for his country due to his moral obligation. The death of his mentor named Elias completely ends the remainder of the innocence that Chris once had, but additionally, he has become the reluctant to leave the war at the end of the film.
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.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits Thanked him; and then enquired about his soul.”He knew people liked the idea of a hero as they cheered him when he went to war, but as he returned injured and hurt people didn't thank him or cheered him instead they didn't look at him . As he reminded others about war. In the final stanza we know that the boy is hurt a waiting to die.“Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes, And do what things the rules consider wise, And take whatever pity they may dole.How cold and late it is! Why don't they come And put him into bed? Why don't they come?” When the soldier says “How cold and late it is!
“I spent three days of that week sitting with him before he died…” (Zusak 467). Michael, depressed and melancholy, returns home to deliver the news to his mother, Frau Holtzapfel. The devastation following the loss of her son was apparent, which only causes Michael to feel guilty. The loss of his brother, on top of how guilty he feels for living while his brother died, overwhelms him. Michael deals with this by committing suicide.
Henry pondered, “He now thought that he wished he was dead. He believed that he envied those men whose bodies lay strewn…” (65). He was very paranoid of what would happen to him in the future and he feared that he will become a body on the ground. Although Henry was doubtful at the beginning of the novel, he soon became certain that he could do it. He has realized that he has been through tough situations and became mature about his problems.
In chapter 10, Siddhartha admitted to this misery, “He felt deep love for the runaway boy, like a wound, and yet felt at the same time that this wound was not intended to fester in him, but that it should heal.” (Hesse 126). Siddhartha experiences true suffering for the first time in these chapters. When Kamala died, he was sad, but not as much as the pain of losing his son. One of the hardest things for him to do was for him to let his son go. He knew he didn’t belong.
Even though he loves his daughter deeply that doesn 't stop him from talking about how much he wishes she was a boy instead of a girl. He tells his sons story of how he killed in battles, in gruesome details how he drunk from their heads. This story put a wedge between him and his kids, especially Nwoye, he hated these stories, but he listened because he did not want the wrath of his father. Nwoye