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.
The Civil War was a brutal time in American history, pinning neighbor against neighbor. Many families were broken up and soldiers often the went wandering into battle aimlessly. Frustrated by this war, an American author, Stephen Crane shows his distaste for this war by his ironic works: the poem “War is kind” and the short story “The Mystery of Heroism” by bringing the loss of family and pointless deaths to advocate against the war.
With all of these soul-shattering, life-changing conditions, it is less of a war and more of a test of strength for the soldiers, here at Valley Forge. Some men were going home and not returning. Other men just completely deserted. Even George Washington’s position was uncertain, the members of congress didn’t trust him. Life at Valley Forge was obviously horrible, and the ugly truth is that it wouldn’t get much better. Cold was one problem, smoke was another. Hopefully, the soldiers will have the courage to make it through this devastating time. Lack of food, living conditions, and horrid climate are some reasons of why a soldier would quit Valley Forge.
In life people try to comfort others in times of grieving. Leonard Pitts comforts his readers in his article, “We will go forward from this moment ” by trying to make since of the 9/11 attack. Pitts uses emotion and logic to persuade the Americans that the terrorists can do what they want to America, but America is tough enough to handle it.
War is a harsh reality that is inflicted upon the unwilling through the “need” of it’s predecessors and those whom wish it. All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about 19 year old Paul and his friends in the “Second Company”. Even though they are just out of school age, they have already seen things that many could not bear to even think about. Eventually, all of his friends die, and even Paul too, dies. Remarque uses diction and syntax as literary devices to express his anti-war theme, or lesson.
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 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the young men in battle quickly learn that the war is a awful, destructive force that ruins lives. The boys, who are pressured by their teacher to join the army for glory, soon discover that the war is not glorious, but rather devastating. Paul, the narrator of this novel, goes through a lot of pain as a result of this war. The war destroys Paul and his friends’ lives, both physically and mentally.
The war forces people into situations where the pressure is too much and the environment forces a change on how one views himself. Curt Lemon and Norman Bowker held themselves to standards that they couldn’t reach. They let the war determine how they live and who they would become. The war causes the human spirit to change so vastly that it leads to a demise, so quick and drastic, that it is hard to
In Scott Russel’s response to an essay by Salam Rushdie, Russel makes an effort to show his audience that Rushdie’s thoughts and ideas on migration are not the entire population’s stance by referencing to the united states of America. By using devices and history, Russel is able to support his argument through the United State’s past, as well as using certain words and phrases to evoke emotion in the reader.
From the Revolutionary War and the beginning of America’s independence to the conflict we face today combatting terrorism, American civilians have been at war. In today’s society, war headlines our newspapers and is broadcasted and televised daily on the news for the world to see. Through the media, we Americans are placed into the shoes of a soldier’s daily life and are able to witness the experiences and firsthand accounts of what fighting on the front lines is like. Due to this, Americans have become immune to the troubles and violence of war we are shown by news anchors and told by journalists today and therefore neglect the long term effects such as post-traumatic stress disorder, defined as “a complex and chronic disorder caused by exposure
When asked the question of what would you tell young people today, Wojciechowski recalls, “I went out to the bank one day on December 7th, and I went to one of the tellers. It was a young gal who’d just gotten out of high school, and I said, “Today’s December 7th. What happened December 7th, 1941?” She looked at me, and she said, “Did Columbus discover America?” And I thought, “Oh, my goodness sakes.” And this is what happening, and especially with Korea. They say it’s the “forgotten war.” Yeah, it is”(Wojciechowski). Wojciechowski is saddened by the fact that young people don’t remember about the important events in history, especially the Korean War. However, there a reason why young people don’t remember history is due to to the fact that they choose not to. In an interview with history instructor, Melinda Pash, she explains, “When the war first broke out, people worried that American involvement would usher in the same type of rationing and full mobilization that had characterized the Second World War. That failed to occur and within a few months, most Americans turned back to their own lives, ignoring the conflict raging half a world away”(Pash). The fact that even in when the war was happening, people still choose to forget about the Korean War, if the first generation chooses to ignore the war, then later generations after will never know about the
As Hillenbrand lays out these themes for the reader it is easy to apply them to their own life. The book helps younger generations understand World War II and wars so they understand the consequences. This will help the future leaders of the United States make educated decisions on war. Fighting wars not for personal gain but rather the betterment of a people.
In order to prevent Nazi Germany and its allies from conquering the world, Winston Churchill strongly argues that United states should summon military forces with those of Britain. Churchill makes an effective argument by using sentimental terms to first get empathy or the support from the Americans, and then to highlight the significance of the issue. Furthermore, with the simultaneous use of logical reasoning, the author even more strengthens his argument.
In everyday life, there is a disconnect between the past and the present. We focus on what is happening now and in the near future, which is necessary for survival. That gap is starting to close, with resources to study history becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on. We seem to view events that happened in the past as finite dates and times, and we do not take into account how actions of the past reverberate in the present. As World War II veterans become older and become less able to pass on their stories, it may seem like the book is closed on that part of time, when the repercussions still affect many countries today. The same goes for the Child Migrants Programme that
Sights you see, events you take part in, people you kill never really seem to leave your conscious and sometimes haunt you. This eats away at the sanity of many soldiers who’ve seen the face of the the fight. Joseph Robertson, a WWII veteran, clearly recalls a time from the war when he killed a young german boy. He described the boy he killed as a “blonde, blue eyes, fair skin, so handsome he was like a little angel(German in the Woods). Joseph, at the age of eighty six, still would wake up during the night crying over the german boy he killed and claimed that specific memory the saddest in his lifetime. In the war in those woods he slowly lost his sanity and it haunted him till he pass away. “Dallaire left Rwanda...He returned to Canada, where he was promoted...but the spirits followed him...he was too afraid even to go into his bedroom. He moved office furniture into his living room” and Dallaire states,‘“I’m not the same man I was, the man my wife married”’(Lawson). After Rwanda and seeing so many people die, Dallaire is no longer who he used to be which slowly destroys his home and work environment. Joseph and Dallaire have both lost their ability to be normal due to the gruesomeness of war.