Examples Of Graphic Violence In All Quiet On The Western Front

Aeschylus once claimed “And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our own will, comes wisdom by the awful grace of god.” Aeschylus shows that pain has incredible effects on the being. Pain plagues and diminishes the mind, body and heart, corrupting the soul itself. In Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, along with his fellow soldiers, experience these pains almost constantly throughout the story. Due to the traumatizing situations the men are put into during war, they are incapable of readjusting to humanity outside of the battlegrounds.

The Brutal Reality vs the Virtue Gained The poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen gives insight into how a soldier is beaten to the state of exhaustion in war which defeats the perception of how society has seen war as lighthearted for generations. The poem “Epitaph on a Soldier” by Cyril Tourneur depicts a soldier at a time of death, defeating the common thought of how death is seen as a negative thing and portrays the soldier as he is ready to die, welcoming his death. The critical and bitter tone in “Dulce Et Decorum Est” conveys the brutality of war to emphasize the disillusioned way society perceives war; whereas, the admiring and comforting tone in “Epitaph on a Soldier” conveys the contentment of an honorable death.

O’Brien depicts a picture in which men are required to perform as brave soldiers, but they become overwhelmed and are consumed by their environment. O’Brien states “they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said Dear Jesus and flopped around on the earth” (18). He then continues to describe that after the chaos, they must compose themselves and put on a brave façade for each other. O’Brien is trying to emphasize to his readers that the men and women who fight in war are human- they carry their own emotional baggage and still react to fulfil social expectations of their roles as infantrymen. During the violence they can be seen reacting as humans.

During his stay at the hospital, Paul processes the aftermath of war regarding to the suffering soldiers go through and concludes, “How senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible. It must be all lies and of no account when the culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood being poured out, these torture-chambers in their hundreds of thousands”(Remarque 125). Both the poem and novel question the purpose of war and mention how the overall purpose of war is considered senseless, destructive, and results in insanity for all. Paul is infuriated about what he experienced and cannot comprehend the reason why war starts in the first place. As a result, all the reasoning and answers, as mentioned in the poem, are inaccurate and senseless which creates an overall feeling of doubt and rage.

War habitually desensitizes and numbs the fighting soldiers due to the harsh, crippling events they have witnessed. War creates a feeling of endless hopelessness felt by the comrades during the war. In “All Quiet on the Western Front”, Erich Maria Remarque exposes the change of characterization of Paul Baumer from an innocent boy transformed by the monstrosities of war into a desensitized soldier by repeating the pattern of soldiers going to the front, being at the front, and then being away from the front to expose the personal destruction caused by it. On the way to the front, the comrades are experiencing rising anxiety and intimidating tension from the realization of the unavoidability death on the frontline.

Paul’s dominant personality traits revealed in chapters one through three are that he is desensitized, bitter, and loyal. These characteristics are all directly caused by the war he’s part of and without the war he would likely not have these traits. Paul’s most dominant personality trait is how desensitized he has become. This is

In the novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, Remarque retells the story of World War One from the viewpoint of the German soldier, Paul Baumer. Throughout the novel, Paul experiences the atrocities of this war, but unfortunately the effects of the war were worse than he had imagined. The war took a toll on the life of every single soldier, affecting their futures and families. However, the camaraderie the boys had formed allowed them to survive and ultimately was the only positive outcome of the war. Remarque includes sections throughout the novel that emphasize this deep bond that the soldiers share with one another.

War is one of the most controversial and fascinating aspects of human life, which includes sacrifice, argument, and worst of all human death. The argument of war is whether or not the sacrifice of human life is necessary or not. The authors of My Brother Sam Is Dead are totally against war; they are neutral and they give Tim the same idea as them in the novel. They even show the irony and cruelty of war in the book by the punishing and ironic deaths of Ned, Sam, and Life. This novel is based in Redding, Conneticut during the time of the Revolutionary War.

General Douglas Macarthur of the US Army once stated “the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war”(General Douglas MacArthur's Farewell Speech to West Point). This quote truly emphasizes the effects that war has on the men who fought in them. The mental strain that war causes can be seen in the main character of In The Lake Of The Woods, John Wade. In the novel, author Tim O’Brien utilizes constant repetition as well as violent visual imagery to depict how in times of great stress, people commit actions without realizing their haunting consequences, such as Kathy’s possible escape.

In the poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “The Bright Lights of Sarajevo” by Tony Harrison, both poems present the truths of war. However, both differ in terms of setting and contrast that help depicts the similarities between their theme. Disabled takes place within World War I as Owen vividly describes the subject’s amputation, but the poem is centered around the subject’s adjustment to civilian life after war. In The Bright Lights of Sarajevo although Harrison discusses the consequences of partaking in war in the town, he illustrates the way in which life goes on regardless the horrific impact. Through use of setting and contrast, both poets contribute to presenting the theme of the realities of war.

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.

World War I is a well-known historical event, which resulted in immense casualties and distress in the early 20th century. The war paved the way for significant political changes to occur, and entirely reshaped the European map. Propaganda of the war was published once veterans and families were comfortable enough to share their experiences subsequent to the drastic war. Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet on the Western Front and Otto Dix 's "Transporting the Wounded in Houthulst Forest" and "War Triptych," portray the notion that war dehumanizes its soldiers and strips them of their identities. Remarque demonstrates this idea by telling solemn stories about soldiers in the war, while Dix renders graphic images of the horrors of war.

The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.

In the novel All Quiet on The Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, the constant exposure to war results in devastation. The protagonist Paul Baumer, is amongst soldiers fighting in WWI along the front. A main focus in the novel is the devastating effects that war has on the soldiers who fight in it. Many soldiers are susceptible to constant physical and emotional danger, as they can be obliterated at any given moment. Throughout the story, the soldiers are living on the edge, and uncertainty overwhelms swarms their thoughts.

If anything, I think Ambrose wanted to get the point across that war was harsh, brutal and merciless. The men that could not adapt to the situation around them became callous and uncaring, human life had little meaning to