Front Dialectical Journal

Quickwrite #1- AQWF
In this part of the book, Paul and his friends are out on the front re-wiring the front line with new barbed and communication wires when they hear the shrill cries of injured and badly wounded horses. Additionally, during the bombing, one of their soldiers becomes badly wounded in his leg and will most likely die or never be able to walk again. There is a similarity between this young soldier and the injured horses, made apparent by the comparison the author makes between the two. The young soldier, while human, is helpless after getting injured and will likely die if he is not helped soon. In the case of the horses, they too are at risk of dying if they are not medically attended to quickly. The difference between the

Similarly, when Paul says, “We are not youth any longer. We don’t want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing. We fly from ourselves.” (87), he is saying that not only was their youth and innocence compromised when they entered the war, but also the drive and motivation to be adventurous also has fled. In chapter two, we see Paul reminiscing over his poems and plays that he wrote abundantly while at home. Paul and the other soldiers have lost their zeal and human need for curiosity and growth as a person. When out on the front, the risk of them dying is high and survival is of utmost priority. The men are currently living at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a psychological theory, in the Physiological section. This means that the top priorities of the men are eating, sleeping, and basic bodily functions while they did not spend time or energy focusing on meeting their personal potential or “self-actualization”, which is at the top of the pyramid. Until the soldiers can live without worrying about their survival, they cannot focus on their personal growth and