Like the concept of survival of the fittest, it is essential for the soldiers to have an animal instinct to survive on the battlefield. Many moments are shown in which the soldiers become two faced, changing from good-mannered and soft soldier to animal - like characteristics. Paul informs us that they only way to survive in battle, is to block away all your emotions, if not, it would drive you insane. Another aspect as to the book’s anti-war sentiment, is how Remarque describes the consequences of war, the loss of the young life. Paul's generation was known as the "Iron Youth", which was a group of young boys who enlisted and fought in the war as a way of showing gratitude for their country, Germany, but his age group is lost because
Imagine a world where trees are lying everywhere; there are craters in the earth as larges as busses and corpses of men lying everywhere. This is a world the past generation experienced. This is World War I. Remarque portrays the technological and military innovations in All Quiet on the Western Front as horrific, in the ways of creating mass casualties, causing psychological problems in the soldiers, and destroying nature. The technological and military innovations that remarque portrays creates mass casualties.
I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another” (263). As the war comes to a gruesome end, Paul realizes how the war aged him. And how he went into the war a young man with a hopeful life ahead of him and ended the war as an exposed, aged
Q5. The book All Quiet on the Western Front taught me everything I know on war. Before reading this book I honestly knew absolutely nothing when it came to war. The only things I had known was that the United States of America had a strong army and they would protect us. War had never been a worry to me, occasionally I would hear about it in the news, but it never bothered me.
Before World War I, all of Europe in 1914, was tense and like a bomb or a fire was waiting to erupt. Europe had not seen a major war in years, but due to Militarism, Imperialism, Alliances, and Nationalism tensions grew high. Each country was competing to be the best by gaining more territory and growing in their military size and successful economies. World War 1 was waiting to happen and the assassination of the Archduke was the spark that lit Europe up. In All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque we see the effects of the assassination.
All Quiet on the Western Front Essay World War I is one of the most influential and bloody wars in history. Soldiers did not always receive fair treatment, and often encountered harsh conditions, especially those men who were fighting on the front line. World War I took place between 1914-1919 (pbs), during which millions of lives were lost, and nearly everyone’s life was touched by the war in some way.
All Quiet on the Western Front was written to show the horrors and intensity war has and that it is inevitably hell. Author Erich Maria Remarque was an intryman during the first World War and that was his inspiration for writing this novel. The book is written in a way to impact the reader with intense emotions and confused thoughts to really understand what the soldiers were experiencing on the war field. Remarque mentions many war technologies in the novel such as explosives, rifles, and toxic gases that show how deadly the war field can be. In chapter 6, Paul Baumer mentions the “[b]ombardment, barrage, curtain-fire, mines, gas, machine-guns, [and] hand-grenades” that lie in the war field, which are things to frighten the reader and therefore
The Effects Of War War is a terrible thing, everyone can agree with that. It will leave a mark on everyone who was involved. Either physically or even worse, mentally. In the book “All Quiet on the Western Front” by a World War 1 veteran Erich Remarque describes the effects of not just WWI, but of what war in general can do to a man.
While symbolism was not supremely prevalent throughout the novel, there was some to be found. Kantorek and/or Himmelstoss were both little men that brought unhappiness into the world (p.10). These men symbolize Austria-Hungary and/or Serbia, for little countries brought unhappiness into the world in the form of World War I. On page 59, Paul recalls the geese flying through the air and correlates their symbolism to the shells being fired during the bombardment. The soldiers also became very hungry for food during the midst of the novel (p.107-108), symbolizing their hunger for German victory and an end to the war.
Ali Alzein Case Final draft 31 May 2018 A German-American Novelist WW1 had many brutal and cruel moments and many people believed that they would become a hero if they had became a soldier themselves but according to Erich Maria Remarque and his experience this is false. In the novel All Quiet on the Western front by Erich Maria Remarque talks about his WW1 experience as Paul Baumer who is the main character in this novel. Readers will be advised with Erich Maria Remarque personal background. The main purpose is to inform readers about the life of Erich Maria Remarque and his experience in WW1 as a German soldier.
The notes also explain the reason why the gas was still killing despite the numerous techniques they had to counter it. “The section changed position every night or two, so that the men had no taste for keeping themselves ready for a gas attack at any moment. So the water went stale in its containers, the canisters rusted and became unusable, the powdered bisulfite disappeared, the gasoline was used by the poilus to light up their shelters, the wood and the straw got soaked in the rain and the dew” (Barthas 223). The notes allowed me to understand the socialist influence in France and understand that it was pretty extended.
Erich Maria Remarque uses comparison to warn the militaristic people of his time period of the savageness of war for the sake of preventing more bloodshed by likening the soldiers to animals. Paul describes how when they “reach the zone where the front begins,” they “become on the instant human animals” (Remarque 56). He also says that it is “[b]y the animal instinct that is awakened in [them they] are led and protected” (Remarque 56). The first piece of evidence shows that the animal inside of man comes out during war through the fact that the soldiers become “human animals” when they reach the front lines. The need to become “human animals” is illustrated by the second piece of information as Paul states that it helped the soldiers to survive.
Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men. Many soldiers entered World War 1 as innocent young boys, but as they experienced the full effect of the war they consequently lost their innocence.
From 1914 to 1918 World War One occurred due to the murder of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by a Serbian group named the Black Hand. Additionally, several powerful countries, including Germany, France, and Britain, established a series of alliances that amplifies the size of the war. Likewise, the war expanded by the strong nationalist beliefs of each country, therefore a countless amount of men desired to fight the war, in order to support their country. This sense of nationalism is a theme explored throughout Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, through the lense of a young German Soldier. The protagonist, Paul, a 19 year old soldier, explores the horrors of war through strong comradeship, the death of companions,
Erich Maria Remarque was a man who had lived through the terrors of war, serving since he was eighteen. His first-hand experience shines through the text in his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which tells the life of young Paul Bäumer as he serves during World War 1. The book was, and still is, praised to be universal. The blatant show of brutality, and the characters’ questioning of politics and their own self often reaches into the hearts of the readers, regardless of who or where they are. Brutality and images of war are abundant in this book, giving the story a feeling of reality.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque exposes the reality of war by refuting the idea of the “Iron Youth,” revealing the mistreatment of soldiers, and showing the critical effects war imprints on them. When any war begins, young men are always the first ones to be sent into the war zones. To clarify, older generations believe young adults are the best options for fighting; these boys are strong, full of energy, and do not have anything to lose. “The chief source of this pro-war ideology were the older men of the nation: professors, publicists, politicians, and even pastors” (Literature and Its Times).