eCheat.com RSS Feedhttps://www.echeat.com/ The Unimportance of Closure in The Lovely Bones 2014-05-04T03:28:33.16-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Unimportance-of-Closure-in-The-Lovely-Bones-35028.aspx A Handful of Dates Director Tayeb Salih “A handful of dates” is one of the works of the famous director Tayeb Salih. The work is a short story published, originally in Arabic in 1964, in a collection of stories "The Wedding of Zein". The story is told by the young boy who lives in the village of Wad Hamid, which is in Central Sudan. The main idea is about the change in perception of the boy’s life which is expressed most in his cognizance and sentiment towards his grandfather. Through the work, the boy expressed the huge love and admiration for his grandfather. In his mind, he described his grandfather’s appearance as his idol, as the man he wanted to become in the future. He loved his grandfather and he believed he was loved because he was the most intelligent grandchild. “I used to know when my grandfather wanted me to laugh, when to be silent; also I would remember the times for his prayers and would bring him his prayer rug and fill the ewer for his ablutions without his having to ask me.” This quote fully expressed the thorough understanding between him and his grandfather in his acts. In additions, he knew that his grandfather loved him. However, two quotes which were mentioned in the topic expressed the temporary disgust of the boy towards his grandfather. Through the work, the boy temporarily realized the love of Masood for the dates and how gracious and kind – hearted he was. Besides, the boy admitted his grandfather’s trade with Masood was greedy and avaricious, the personalities which he believed his grandfather did not have. Therefore, he temporarily felt disgust towards his grandfather. The boy said: “Quickening my pace, it was as though I carried within me a secret I wanted to rid myself of.” The secret was simply the hatred and disgust he suddenly felt. He believed his grandfather was the good man, maybe the best man he had ever seen. The disgust he suddenly felt was the breaking down in his grandfather’s idolization. Feeling disgust towards the one he loved the most was the terrible thought. Therefore, by the time he felt the disgust, he immediately wanted to id himself of it, to be free from this thought. “Then, without knowing why, I put my finger into my throat and spewed up the dates I'd eaten.” The disgust he felt for his grandfather made him to spew up the 2008-12-20T09:25:33-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/A-Handful-of-Dates-Director-Tayeb-Salih-33927.aspx War is Like Love Easy to Begin Hard to End and Impossible to Forget Luigi Pirandello “War is like love, easy to begin, hard to end and impossible to forget”, a famous saying about war can express almost of the loss which wars cause for human being. From the very past of history to the present, even though many wars have proven to us the cruel, inhuman and violent they were, more and more wars still happen with more barbarous and fiendish. The higher in techniques we reach, the deeper we sink in wars. In the end, wars do not bring any efforts, benefits or rights and interest for people. To get matters worse, the truth is war only take countries lower, poorer and deeper in the circle of sin. “War” of author Luigi Pirandello is one of many works which is against wars, especially World War I. The story takes place on a train in Italy during World War I (1914 – 1918). Italy entered the war in 1915. Using indirect description by telling the whole story in the third-person perspective and defining clearly the emotions of characters, Luigi easily helped readers to understand the cruelty and fierceness of the war. At the very beginning of the story, the background itself brings us the sad and gloomy atmosphere of the “night express” which “stopped at the small station of Fabriano and continue their journey by the small-fashioned local joining the main line with Sulmona”. Even when the dawn came, it only made the view more clearly for us to see how tragic the passengers became. By using such words like “mourning, moaning, weakly, death-white, shy, uneasy, hide her face”, the author completely directly defined how disastrous their situations even though we readers have not known yet. By accident, all of the passengers “in this stuffy and smoky second-class carriage” were the parents of soldiers who sent to the front in war. Their sons were died or wounded, which made the parents suffered the sadness, loneliness, bitterness and wretchedness inside each of them. Definitely because of suffering from that hurt, the man in the story muttered “Nasty world!” After all the description, we can assume that this partially reflect the feelings of each passengers, whose emotions were tried to be kept inside although they were so enormous to hide. The woman in the story felt so sorry, exhausted and tired to explain to another passenger her own situation. After her husband’s story, the passengers understood and tried 2008-12-20T09:23:52-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/War-is-Like-Love-Easy-to-Begin-Hard-to-End-and-Impossible-to-Forget-Luigi-Pirandello-33926.aspx All Quiet on the Western Front vs The Wars (theme: war) This is a comparison between Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and Timothy Findley's The Wars on the theme of war/realities of war. GR 12 course essay. Hope this helps Thesis: War dehumanizes us, where we become like animals in order to survive, which leads to our destruction. The theme of war is a clear aspect in both The Wars and All Quiet on the Western Front. Significantly, these two novels are based on World War I, however each tells a story from different sides of the battlefield. On one hand, The Wars written by Timothy Findlay, focuses on the protagonist Robert Ross, a Canadian soldier who joins the war for the Allies after his sister’s death as a way of isolating himself, and on the other hand, we have All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, in which the story is told by Paul Bäumer, a German soldier who has been convinced by his misguided teacher to volunteers for war as a courageous act. War dehumanizes us, where we become like animals in order to survive, which leads to our destruction. What this means is that war takes all our feelings and moral values thus replacing it with just instincts like an animal to survive. But in the end life becomes difficult to cope with therefore leads to our destruction. An aspect that touches both these novels is about a generation of “men who were destroyed by war” (Wagner 12) even though they escaped its shells. Findley and Remarque both imply that they do not want to tell us about the war experiences of young people, at least not solely, but rather the destructive impact it has on a soldier; such as the inability of young people to successfully cope with their life after war. Remarque uses his war experiences to justify his own lack of professional success after the war, his inability to choose a solid career, and particularly his initial lack of success as a writer immediately following the war years (Wagner 12). There is no doubt that an entire generation ruined by war and unable to function contribute to the book’s success. Many readers were readily able to identify with the novel’s heroes and found a readymade justification for their own inability 2007-12-20T07:36:58-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-vs-The-Wars-theme-war-33476.aspx Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front The hardships of the first World War are present in the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque. He demonstrates the struggles and hardships that a typical soldier of that war must endure to stay alive or just keep his sanity. There are many factors that can attribute to the problems the soldiers had to face. First were the raging emotions the soldiers felt during the war. They felt patriotism in the beginning and then slowly it broke down to heartache and despair. Another key factor that made this war particularly stressful for the soldiers was the horrible trenches in which they had to reside in. They were full of germs and feces and also reeked of dead bodies. The third and most tragic factor was the heartache the soldiers had to suffer when they saw their friends being mutilated by heavy artillery used by the opposing forces. The war had raging emotions, terrible trenches, and numerous unbearable deaths. First off the war was filled with numerous emotions which were too much to handle for many soldiers. At the beginning of the war the soldiers felt glorious and proud that they would be defending the honor of their country. After they saw the terrible sights of the war they quickly changed their minds. Their feelings of patriotism and pride quickly turned to fear and despair. Due to all of this chaos soldiers seemed to loose their sense of humanity. “ ...Woe betide anyone who fell into the hands of the enemy alive; all sense of humanity had disappeared. Soldiers, wounded, stretcher-bearers- a distinction was no longer made...” A quote by Louis Barthas a soldier in the war. This quote shows how people had lost their sense of mercy and humanity when faced with a soldier of an opposing side. This is true of many soldiers, but not all. When Paul Baumer was forced to stab and kill a French soldier he felt upset and heart broken after he read through the man’s pocket book. The soldiers also felt afraid of whether they would survive the next attack by the enemy. The chances were so high for death that there were bodies literally floating all around. “...Numerous people still young 2006-12-13T01:12:05-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Analysis-of-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-31981.aspx Analysis of Themes in All Quiet on the Western Front Analysis of Themes in All Quiet on the Western Front A Disease or famine can be an awful thing. It can spread throughout towns and cities quickly, leaving thousands dead and the city in catastrophe. This spread of death and decay can be compared to situation Paul and the other soldiers face in All Quiet On The Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque. In this book the author shows strong feelings of despair towards war. This is done using the theme of decay, showing how Paul and the men become corrupted forever by the war. It also uses the theme of Death is Useless, by presenting the suffering of the wounded and killed men as meaningless and useless. Lastly, this book displays the theme of Bestiality, by showing how the situation of war brings out the worst and most blood-thirsty side of the soldiers. Decay is probably the biggest theme in the book and is the way the author most displays despair of war. The author shows how the war and the death and destruction around is deteriorating the condition of the soldiers, and how the soldiers become numb to the horrors or war. One example of this is “He does not stir, his lips quiver, his mustache twitches.” (p.131). This shows how the men have decayed past the point of no return. They are totally desensitized to the war, so they simply do not react to it at all. All they hear is “monotonous cry” (p.74) of the wounded. Another example of decay is how Paul reacts to his leave with his mother. “What is leave? A pause that only makes everything after it so much worse.” (p. ). Paul is still in a state of Decay even though he should be happy, on leave with his mother. The war has affected him such that he cannot put it out of his mind, even for a few days. “Monotonously the lorries sway, monotonously come the calls, monotonously falls the rain.” (p.74). This is another example of how Paul feels total apathy for everything around him, because if he did not he would go mad. “They can no longer distinguish whence in this now quiet silvery landscape it comes.” (p. ). The soldiers are decayed to the point where they do not hear the pain and suffering of wounded men, only an anonymous screaming 2006-11-11T18:57:20-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Analysis-of-Themes-in-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-31720.aspx World War I History in All Quiet on the Western Front World War I History in "All Quiet on the Western Front" Paul Baumer and his classmates had volunteered to enlist in the war or at least that what the story told. But that is not true, they were forced in to volunteer. Their school master Kantorek had filled their heads up with views of nationalism which glorified the war. Some students were even pressured by their parents to enlist. If they did not enlist it would be like turning their back on their country. The teachers and school masters thought going to war was the best thing a man could do for his country. When Baumer and his friends get to boot camp, they found out that it was not so great. In boot camp they were taught to be soldiers. They found out that what they learned in school had no meaning in the war. It was also in the front line where Baumer and his friends saw the contradictions made by people at home. Paul and his comrades all saw the true horror of the war in the front. Each one of them experienced the wounded and death of other soldiers. They also experienced hunger and fear. They saw how destructive the new war technology could be, the use of machine guns, gas, flamethrowers, bombing planes, and the tanks used by the British. Despite all this, they stilled continued to stay loyal to the war. The German soldiers continued to fight because of the training they received. Baumer and his group had one of the strictness drill instructors, Corporal Himmelstoss. It seemed like abuse but his training actually helped the soldiers. His training made the soldiers bitter and made them more aware. They had to be bitter and sharper if they were to survive the war. The will to survive is another reason why the German soldiers kept fighting. Baumer says that they become like wild beasts in a field while under attack. They had to defend themselves against annihilation. The solders also felt angry from within, which allowed them to kill, and to save them selves. Paul says that when they are in this rage, they kill. If the soldiers don't kill, their enemies will kill them. The German soldiers have no choice; you either kill or be killed. Comradeship is another reason the Germans soldiers keep fighting. Baumer's group is made up of a variety of people. 2006-07-30T20:19:13-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/World-War-I-History-in-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-30818.aspx Complete Summary of All Quiet on the Western Front Complete Summary of All Quiet on the Western Front In what ways did Paul Baumer’s participation in the First World War change him as a person? Franz Kemmerich was Paul’s first classmate to die in the war. His death shattered Paul’s belief in authority. He admits to himself that he trusted and listened to them. They were supposed to have greater insight and wisdom yet they were the ones who had encouraged the boys to enlist instead of protecting them from the horrors of war. The 10 weeks of army training before going to the front had more profound influence on Paul than 10 years of school ever did. And after the 10 weeks, Paul could no longer recall his early life as a student-as if it no longer existed-what he once thought was important. His emotions went through stages: first was astonishment, then he became embittered and finally what emerged was indifference. All eagerness and enthusiasm was knocked out of them, the soldiers. “We were trained for heroism’s as though we were circus ponies.” But he points out that without this training, they would have gone insane in the trenches. Paul explains, in chapter 6 how indifferent their attitudes became because the chance of getting hit was just that-a matter of chance, of being alive or dead. Paul eventually gets 6 weeks leave only to come home and find himself a stranger in his own home. Questions from his father, his teachers, make him realize they know nothing of war, which surprises him. They all have an opinion they’d like to share and he has conflicting emotions of envy and despair. He can see that he has changed, his innocence is lost. He sits in his room hoping for familiarity and emotion to return as before but it doesn’t. When he goes to Kemmerich’s mother, he swears to all that is sacred that Franz died instantly, not that it was true but what is sacred changes for Paul. So after saying goodbye to his sick mother, he wished he had never come home because feeling indifference was better than how he felt when he left. What were the horrors of war, which Paul experienced? In chapter1 Paul and his friends had a windfall of double food and cigarette rations due to high casualty of German soldiers. Out 2006-07-26T12:16:26-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Complete-Summary-of-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-30674.aspx Themes of War in All Quiet on the Western Front Themes of War in All Quiet on the Western Front The destructiveness of war can be understood upon several levels. Primarily, war exposes innocent lives to violence so unforgiving that it leaves physical and mental scarring to the victims for the rest of their existence. War destroys the bonds that soldiers have built with their family, friends and former lives in their pre-enlistment years. War strips all the baggage of life away from the participant, leaving only the raw emotion to be endured by the soldier. Fear, hate, passion, confusion, ecstasy, love, pain, agony, delusion, delirium, aggression and death are the hot and cold impulses felt by the soldiers. This simple and basic makeup of life for the soldiers makes it too hard to adapt to the complex social nature of traditional life and as such the soldiers become alienated. Although the black and white image of the trenches is so simple in nature, it is complex in detail and soldiers find it hard to communicate to society their experiences for lack of words and language to embellish, and are further alienated from society. This alienation of soldiers through the inability of the English language to express their feelings to people other than their beloved comrades is the destruction described in the novel All Quiet On The Western Front..... Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, set in World War I, centres around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier, Paul. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent youth to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this change, Paul alienates himself from the very people who encouraged him to enlist originally. Parents, elders, school and religion had been the foundation of Paul’s young days, he rejects these influences as he discoveries that the society he once lived in could not possibly understand the reality of the “Great War”. His new world then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because they are a group which can understand the truth of war without words, simply by experiencing it also. Remarque demonstrates Paul’s alienation from his previous world by emphasising the language barrier between Paul and his non-war relatives. Paul cannot communicate truthfully with his former life and this eventually leads to the loss 2006-07-18T12:57:47-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Themes-of-War-in-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-30349.aspx Summary and Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front Summary and Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front is about the German warfront during World War I. The story of the battle is narrated by Paul Baumer, a young soldier in the German army. He and his school friends have been urged to enlist in the fighting by Kantorek. The story is set on the front lines where Baumer and his friends are fighting for survival. When the book opens, one of their mates, Josef Behm, has already been killed. Another of the group, Kemmerich, has had his leg amputated. He never fully recovers from the amputation and soon dies. His leather boots, which were envied by all, pass on to Muller. As a result of the tragedies and deaths that they see all around them, Baumer and his friends are completely disillusioned by the war, even though they had all eagerly enlisted. Now they believe that war is a big waste and question whether there is a just cause for the fighting. They have also realized that it is the ordinary people, the little guys not the generals or captains, who actually fight the war and suffers the devastation. They fear for their own lives. One night during basic training, they took out their frustrations by beating up Corporal Himmelstoss, their drillmaster and a true bully. Of all his soldier friends, Kat is the most resourceful. He is always trying to locate food, find easy jobs, and gather supplies for the group. Baumer thinks of him as his best friend; but even this closeness does not lessen the horror of the war. Baumer's troop is often bombarded, and Baumer constantly sees death and destruction all around him. He feels relieved in the fall when he and his friends are allowed to leave the front and take a rest in the rear. Baumer is even granted a leave to go home. When Baumer goes home, he realizes he is a changed man. He feels totally lost when he puts on civilian clothes; he finds he has no interest in the things that previously entertained him. He cannot even relate to his family and resents that everybody in his small hometown acts as if the war were a game or a wonderful thing. He wishes that they understood the true horrors of fighting. Baumer meets some 2006-07-09T15:07:24-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Summary-and-Analysis-of-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-30147.aspx Historic Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front Historic Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front World War I was the first total war. Once the war began, the countries involved mobilized their entire populations and economic resources to achieve victory on the battlefield. The term home front, which was widely employed for the first time during World War I, perfectly symbolized this new concept of a war in which the civilian population behind the lines was directly and critically involved in the war effort. The war began as a clash between two coalitions of European countries. The first coalition, known as the Allied Powers, included the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Serbia and the Russian Empire. The Central Powers, which opposed them, consisted of the empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Although the United States originally was neutral, it joined the Allies in 1917. The immediate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by a Serbian nationalist. The fundamental causes of the conflict, however, were rooted deeply in the European history of the previous century, By the end of 1914 the war entered a stalemate. Both sides became mired in two main, stationary fronts—the western front, primarily in northeastern France, and the eastern front, mainly in western Russia. At the fronts, the troops fought each other from numerous parallel lines of interconnected trenches. Each side laid siege to the other’s system of trenches and endeavored to break through their lines. When the war finally came to an end on November 11, 1918, and the Central Powers were defeated, the political order of Europe had been transformed beyond recognition. The German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman empires had collapsed. The war also helped precipitate the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which established the ideology of Communism in Russia. The war also had important long-term consequences. The enormous cost of the war undermined the financial stability of all of the countries involved, and they had to bear an onerous burden of debt for many years to come. These financial losses, combined with the battlefield deaths and physical destruction, severely weakened the European powers. .Erich Maria Remarque created with his novel All Quiet on the Western Front an amazingly good picture how World War I was like. He shows the world a life created by the front in a fictive character, that could have existed everywhere on the German-French front. Remarque opens the book with the main 2006-06-13T03:05:44-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Historic-Analysis-of-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-29393.aspx Thematic Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front Thematic Analysis of All Quiet on the Western Front Have you ever wondered what the actual horrors of WWI are like? Erich Maria Remarque depicts these horrors through the eyes of a soldier named Paul Bäumer. Paul Bäumer, the narrator and protagonist in All Quiet on the Western Front, is a character who develops extensively within the course of the novel. As a young man, he is persuaded to join the German Army during World War I. Paul quickly learns that it is not as glorious as the military leader say it is. This three-year ordeal is marked by Paul's short, but tragic trek into adulthood as he learns to cope with the trials and tribulations of war. In the wake of a struggle, which claims millions, Paul loses his precious innocence as he is further isolated from society and engulfed by bloodshed. Sadly, the book ends with the death of Paul, but not before he witnesses the painful death of his entire classmates who enlisted with him. Paul's evolution throughout Remarque’s novel is a result of Man’s ability to adapt through the most horrific experiences. Paul's experiences in combat shatter his former misconceptions of war; consequently, he gains the ability to reflect on events with his own accord. His naive ideas are severely challenged when he first witnesses the ugly truth of war. "The first bombardment showed us our mistake, and under it the world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces"(13). Paul's first engagement in combat reveals that everything he was taught as a young recruit were lies; consequently, he can now form his own conclusions. Through the ongoing course of the war, Paul comes to grips with the reality of the situation. "They are strong and our desire is strong-but they are unattainable, and we know it"(121). Paul realizes that the soldiers’ former lives are all but distant memories. His maturing personality gives him the insight to see past the facade of war and expose it for what it truly is. Paul loses his innocence and childhood during the war; as a result, he becomes a man. When Paul and his companions encounter some French women, they exchange food for sexual intercourse. "We unwrap our parcels and hand them over to the women. Their eyes shine, it is obvious they are hungry"(148). Through this transaction, Paul uses the women as an outlet for 2006-06-01T19:10:55-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Thematic-Analysis-of-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-28987.aspx Report on All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front, an action packed novel that conveys the hardships of war, while demeaning the violence, was written by Erich Maria Remarque. The story recounts first hand the experiences of Paul Bäumer in the First World War. The novel depicts Paul’s progression from a young carefree private to the experienced veteran he becomes by the end. It takes place during World War I and is set for the majority of the novel on the Western Front. Through his experiences in the War, Paul makes new friends with his fellow soldiers and becomes closer to his childhood school chums, who have enlisted along with Paul. Not only does Paul develop his friendships during the wartime, he also develops his thoughts and opinions, mostly those directed towards the War. Near the end of the story, one clearly sees that Paul has taken a negative standpoint on the War. This is not just because of the lack of supplies or rest, but also because he has come to the realization that the men whom he is fighting against are not his enemies, but really his brethren. All Quiet on the Western Front is an extremely accurate account of the First World War and provides a truthful in depth look into the mind and emotions of a soldier. In order to begin the support of the historical accuracy of this book, one must first look at author, Erich Maria Remarque. Born Erich Paul Remark, he grew up in Osnabrück, Germany. At the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the German Army to fight in the First World War. He was quickly sent to the front lines. While serving, he was wounded five times, the last severely, and because of this he was discharged. He wrote the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, in 1929, at the age of 33. It was entitled “Im Westen nichts Neues” (In the West Nothing New). Later, in 1933, the Nazis banned and burned Remarque's works, including All Quiet on the Western Front, and issued propaganda falsely stating that he was a descendant of French Jews and that his real last name was Kramer, Remark spelled backwards. This is still listed in some biographies, although there is no evidence to confirm it. These actions taken by the Nazis show that the book must contain very true accounts of warfare of 2006-04-03T22:57:04-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Report-on-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-28657.aspx Hospital as a Symbol of War in All Quiet on the Western Front The Battle Between Hope and Hopelessness While most war novels before All Quiet on the Western Front tended to idealize war, making it seem like an honorable and glorified adventure, All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, discredits these conceptions by bringing the reader through a first person account of what war really is like. The novel is set during World War I, amid the horrific military innovations such as chemical gas, tanks, and machine guns that made killing much easier and remote. Remarque shows how all of these horrors not only have an effect on a soldier’s physical well being, but also take a large toll on a soldier’s psychological state too. Remarque writes that “A hospital alone shows what war is” in order to show how the hospital in chapter ten serves as a microcosm of war (263). Along with the apparent suffering that “shows” what war is really like, there are much more subtle yet distinct symbols in the hospital. These symbols illustrate the dreadful feeling of hopelessness that the soldiers so often feel when fighting on the battlefront as well as the brief, yet beautiful feeling of optimism that the soldiers so rarely feel when fighting such an emotionally devastating war. There is the self-explanatory, “dying room,” which symbolizes death and hopelessness. Then there is the cheerful Sister Libertine that symbolizes the joys of life and optimism. Instead of these symbols portraying the war as solely a physical battle, they represent the psychological battle between despair and hope. The curtaining sense of hopelessness and death that sweeps across all of the soldiers during war is symbolized profoundly by the “dying room.” The “dying room,” whose function is spelled out in the name, is notorious for its hopelessness and definite fatality. Everyone in the hospital knows that if “they have put him in the dying room,” then “[they] shan’t see him again” (256). This shows how for the soldiers in the war, the chance of getting through the war seems nonexistent. Remarque proves this by exterminating every main character by the end of the novel. In the dying room, there are two beds, which represent the Allies and the Germans. For both armies, whether it is the Germans who are fighting for the greed of one man or the allies, who are fighting to protect their countries, war holds no future for the soldiers. Peter, 2006-02-24T01:20:04-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Hospital-as-a-Symbol-of-War-in-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-28518.aspx All Quiet on Western Front A Pacifist View on World War I All Quiet on The Western Front, a pacifist view on world War One. Erich Maria Remarque wrote "All Quiet On The western Front". The book focuses on the hardships of soldiers fighting on the Western Front in France in World War One in order to show that war was futile. The book is written in first person and it is written from a German's point of view because the author, Remarque, was a German. It is a story of comradeship, of young soldiers fresh from school enrolling in the German army. I thought the book was excellent as a portrayal of how hard it was to be a soldier in World War One, how Baumer, the narrator of this book, and his friends had to grow up so quickly. It was very sad when his friends died one by one and he finally died as well at the end of the book. In this study I am going to look at the relationships between the characters, the main character him-self, and the themes present in this novel. The main character in this book is the narrator, Paul Baumer. Paul Baumer comes from a small town in Germany. After school his classmates and he signed up for the War. They did not have much choice; they would have been conscripted anyway. Baumer has become resigned to the war. Although at the start he probably thought the war glamorous he soon realises that the only thing keeping him sane was thinking about the end of the war. Paul shows great courage in the face of death; in a very short time he has grown up a lot and does things he would not have done before the war. He is always ready to help new recruits, to give them tips on how to survive on the front. For instance, "Close by us there is a recruit, a blonde lad, and he is terrified. He has pressed his face into his hands. His helmet has rolled off. I reach for it and try to put it on his head. He looks up, pushes the helmet away and huddles in under my arm like a child, his head against my chest. His narrow shoulders are shaking, shoulders just like Kemmerich had. I let him stay there. But to get some use out of his helmet I shove it over his backside, not as some kind of a joke, 2005-10-02T17:37:02-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-Western-Front-A-Pacifist-View-on-World-War-I-28037.aspx Through the Eyes of a German All Quiet on the Western Front, by German writer Eriq Maria Remarque, explores the horrors of World War I through the eyes of a German solider named Paul. Remarque transforms this tale of a young recruit who is thrown head first into a raging war into a lesson about life. Remarque attempts to teach the reader to understand the horror of war, the value of friendship and the absurdity of traditional values. Remarque includes discussions among Paul's group, and Paul's own thoughts while he observes Russian prisoners of war to show that no ordinary people benefit from a war. No matter what side a man is on, he is killing other men just like himself, people with whom he might even be friends at another time. But Remarque doesn't just tell us war is horrible: he vividly supports his point by assaulting all of the reader's senses. Remarque uses the sight of newly dead soldiers, unearthly screaming of the wounded horses, the smell of three layers of bodies to hammer home the atrocity of war. The crying of the horses is especially terrible. Horses are innocent bystanders, their bodies shining beautifully before being cut down by shellfire. To Paul, their dying cries represent all of nature accusing Man, the great destroyer. Another message that Remarque attempts to convey to the reader is the value of enduring friendship. The theme of comradeship occurs often and gives the novel both lighthearted and sad moments. Away from battle, the soldiers formed deep bonds, showing not only the importance, but also the strength of the camaraderie between the men. Friendship emerges as an even more important theme at the front. Throughout the book, the reader sees men helping wounded comrades at great personal risk, often with tragic results. The reader can understand how hearing the voices of friends when one is lost or even just hearing their breathing during the night can keep a soldier going. The reader grieves with Paul and almost puts down the book when his dearest friend dies. Friendship was often the last thing keeping a soldier from giving up, and, when it was lost, life seemed to lose its meaning. Remarque also preaches a rejection of traditional values. In his introductory note, Remarque said that his novel was "not an accusation". Rather, it is a rejection of traditional militaristic values of Western civilization. This denunciation is impressed on the reader through the 2005-06-19T04:56:43-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Through-the-Eyes-of-a-German-26930.aspx In War we are all the Same Originally banned and burned in Germany by the Nazi's in 1933 (five years after it was first published) because of it's antinationalist, pacifist, and dissident sentiment, All Quiet on the Western Front by Enrich Maria Remarque reached acclaim across the world as an intimate portrayal of life during the war from the "enemy's" point of view. It was translated to over twenty-five languages, two movies have been made, and it has sold many million copies. As a result of its popularity across the world and its subsequent distaste to the Nazi's, Enrich Maria Remarque was exiled in 1938, and his citizenship in Germany was revoked. All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel written from the point of view of a German soldier, Paul Baumer, fighting on the western front during 1917 & 1918 (the last two years of WWI). Through Paul's experiences we can see the similarities between all men in war. From detailed descriptions given by Paul of the food soldiers ate, the boots and clothes they wore, and the conditions under which they lived and fought to the corpse rats, the war field graveyards were the bodies of buried soldiers were unearthed during battle, and life under the rules of the German army, Remarque leaves no stone unturned about the conditions and subsequent effects of war upon it's soldiers. Closely paralleling Hemingway's "Soldier's Home," an account of the effects of WWI on an American soldier, All Quiet on the Western Front displays the universal effects of the war upon those who fought heroically - disillusionment with war and facing the reality of a country who, upon the soldier's return, cannot identify with his life. Estrangement and distance grows with society as the men realize that "the world they (girls & those in society) were in was not the world that he was in" ("Soldier's Home") and "men will not understand us and ... [they will] push us aside; ... the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall into ruin"(All Quiet on the Western Front 294). The similarity between men on both sides of the war reveals the universal result of war - death (if not physical then social or emotional). When, upon entering the war, Paul Baumer says, " Our early life is cut off from the moment we came here, and that without even lifting a hand" (AQWF 19), he foreshadows 2005-06-19T04:54:46-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/In-War-we-are-all-the-Same--26929.aspx War What is it Good for? On the first page of this novel is a message: This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even thought they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. A group of boys (Lead by Paul Baumer) has enlisted into the German army during the First World War. Believing that they will find glory and having the honor of serving the Fatherland (Germany in this case), the boys go to war. What they find however is no adventure, but rather a hell. Paul and his schoolboy friends are broken up on their first bombardment, as they find out that war will be far different from what their schoolmaster told them. But Paul is able to survive and get the strength to carry on from his friend "Kat" Katczinsky. Paul seems to look up at Kat as a role model. He is tough, hard-nosed and has been around for a long time. He and Paul are best of friends. We feel Paul's sorrow as he loses friend after friend in the trenches, with Kat being the last to go. One of the book's best parts is when Paul is caught in a shell crater with a French Soldier. When the French soldier jumps in, Paul immediately stabs him. But, as the soldier lays dying, Paul is overcome with sorrow. He comforts the soldier and gives him water. He also begs for forgiveness for his killing of another brother. Sure, Paul was in a uniform different from the other man. But this doesn't mean he is different from the soldier he killed. Another part deals when Paul goes on leave to home. He has become removed from the rest of civilization. He feels uncomfortable at his home with his mother and sister because they are so interested in the war. When Paul goes for a beer along with his father and friends, he is shown around as a tough warrior. He is also told to press on. Paul remarks at the end of this chapter "I should have never gone on leave". He realizes that the only place he feels comfortable at is the front, along with Kat and his other buddies. A good point 2005-06-19T04:52:48-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/War-What-is-it-Good-for-26928.aspx The Ugly Reality of War This remarkable novel conveys the true face of war in ways that no memoirs, no academic monographs, and no movies can. There is no romance in war, only mud, blood, starvation, and death. World War I was the war to end all wars, and it is quite appropriate that the Great War is the setting of this novel. Any idealism was quickly torn asunder by month after month, year after year of trench warfare. This is the story of one German soldier, a boy who was talked into joining the German army along with all of his classmates. At the front lines, Paul Baumer becomes a soldier. He and his buddies become primitive and animalistic because it is the only way to survive in that environment; thoughts of home or "the war" deprive them of the instincts they must rely on to avoid being killed. Baumer is philosophical enough to realize that he has essentially died inside, that every member of his generation has died spiritually if not physically and been robbed of a future. His trips home are perhaps the most painful days he spends; his family is living in poverty and his mother is dying of cancer. The emotions and feelings he takes back with him to the front are dangerous because they distract him. As for the fighting, the men seem to have no reason for being there. They speak of the fact that the enemy is just like them, young and scared. The French are fighting and believe that their cause is right, just as the Germans are. When he is guarding Russian prisoners, he sees them as men just like himself. There is a noticeable absence of commanders in the novel. What middling superior officers there are come across as cruel, cowardly pretenders. Himmelstoss, the "drill sergeant" type who trained these men to fight is a sickeningly cruel man who deserves the revenge the men are able to exact upon him when he finds himself sent to the front. When the Kaiser comes to review the troops, the men cannot understand why he let the war happen--after all, he supposedly did not want war, the German people did not want war, the French did not want war, yet there is war. Remarque pulls no punches in describing man's inhumanity to man. The mud, the lice, the rats, the blood and gore, the gas attacks--that is 2005-06-19T04:49:47-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Ugly-Reality-of-War--26927.aspx All Quiet on Western Front Anti-War Novel Erich Maria Remarque's timeless novel against war, All Quiet On The Western Front, tells the war from the private's point of view rather than from the general's point of view. The former point of view is grimmer, filled with the everyday terror of war. And this war was unlike any other fought before, as there were no major advances or retreats, and the war was fought on a limited sector of ground, between two lines of trenches, one French and British, the other German, with both sides giving no quarter, throwing thousands of young lives at each other and away. The new technology and weaponry didn't improve the situation. In that context, there were two possible outcomes for the private: death at the front, or the worse, psychological death. What kind of war was it where the survivors were better off dead, killed instantly by being annihilated by a shell, asphyxiated by mustard and chlorine gas, or slower and more painful, by gangrene? The "Great War" have transformed Paul and his company into semi-living blobs of fear on the front, and in the case of Paul, alienated him from civilian life, such as his books, family, and the older people who his father takes him to meet. And the older generation, completely disconnected with what Paul has undergone at the front, shallowly tells him to "shove ahead a bit out there with your everlasting trench warfare--Smash through the johnnies and then there will be peace." One can imagine Paul wanting to grab the old fool by the collar and shaking him silly. They also become wild beasts defending themselves against Death, as Paul mentions in Chapter Six. When the French soldiers attack, the Germans do not think of them as men. They have had it with being attacked by faceless artillery and gas and can take their revenge by flinging grenades at them. Their fear, madness, and drive for life is multiplied in concert to the point that if their own father came in front of them, they wouldn't hesitate to lob a grenade at them. To summarize the common denominator of the people the soldiers hate, it is people who are not in their world. What do the recruits, non-commissioned and commissioned officers, the older generation at home, or the sisters know of their life, their world? During war, things take on multiple meanings that alienate the soldiers from humanity. Death is signified 2005-06-19T04:47:29-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-Western-Front-Anti-War-Novel-26926.aspx All Quiet on Western Front Even Better Than Johnny On the cover of my All Quiet on the Western Front is printed "the greatest war novel of all time." In a time when it seems like every book bears on its cover either "New York Times Bestseller," "Best-Selling Author" or "Book of the Year Award Finalist," this one lives up to its billing. All Quiet is a masterpiece, a page turning one-nighter, the literary Saving Private Ryan. The story follows the war experiences of Paul Baumer, young German enlisted, and those of his friends, all of whom Remarque does a remarkable job acquainting the reader with on a personal, almost intimate level. The book becomes increasingly sobering as one by one Paul's friends get snuffed out, or, even worse, die slow and painful deaths. The reader will laugh as Paul and Co. do battle with the ever-present rat(s) of a novel of this sort; be quietly satisfied as they settle the score with the awful Himmeltoss; cheer for them as they find semblence of a normal life for a night with the French women; cry as a pair of boots, something as simple as quality combat boots, become a symbol of all that is lost in war; and cringe, despair of and weep throughout at the true costs of war. It seems to be as close as one can get to battle without actually being in the trenches. Remarque obviously lived it all, describing in detail the horrors of trench warfare, the inhumanity of throwing fresh, new recruits literally into the fire, the utter terror of the bombing raids, the awful wails of dying men, the maddening shrieks of dying animals. Through the course of the novel, one notices a gradual change in Paul the rookie and Paul the veteran. The turning point -- perhaps one small facet of what Remarque was alluding to in his paragraph-long introduction when he notes, "It (the book) will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war." -- happens as Paul encounters a French soldier, killing him with, as I remember it, a knife. For a time Paul is deeply shocked by the horror of what he has done, seeing this man not as the enemy, but as a fellow human being, a husband, and vowing to write to his wife one day. And then it fades, as Paul becomes 2005-06-19T04:44:31-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-Western-Front-Even-Better-Than-Johnny-26925.aspx Book Review All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is a powerful novel about the disillusionment brought on by World War I. Before the Great War, many countries in Europe had been extending their powers and establishing empires and strong trade developments. Many in these countries saw these strengths as signs of their nations' greatness. Also before World War I, there had never been a war that used so much fire power in the form of grenades, mortar shells, machine guns, etc. Wars were also seen as a moral activity and the winning country often attributed its success to its own virtue. World War I changed all of these opinions and Remarque (who fought in WWI himself) does an excellent job of portraying the horrors of war and the awakening experienced by so many of the young men who fought on the front. Before the novel opens, there is a short explanation which states: "This book is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war."(dedication page) The book's point of view is that of a German foot soldier who spends much of his time fighting on the front. While other nationalities are mentioned and questioned, Remarque at no time says anything that would offend a reader's personal loyalties. He simply states what every soldier from each side of the war must have felt as they faced each other in such inhuman circumstances. The main thing I appreciated in this book was Remarque's ability to instill in the reader the grotesque images and events that men face in a war. Remarque was able to do this without painting complicated and graphic pictures. The few words he did use sufficed to give the reader enough information to fill in the blanks and see for himself the terrors that Remarque was describing. Remarque is also able to avoid the obscene language that inevitably flows through a soldier's vocabulary. He does not try to cover the fact that such words were spoken, he merely leaves the language out and tells the reader that such an answer or statement was given. As well as giving a report on life on the front line, this book 2005-06-19T04:41:09-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Book-Review-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-by-Erich-Maria-Remarque-26924.aspx Man Made Hell Often touted as the classic war novel of all time, All is Quiet on the Western Front is a profound look at the nature of war and its effect on men. Yes, it is an anti-war novel, but that is not the theme I would like to explore in this review; rather, I would want to look at Remarques insight on both the dehumanizing effect of war on man, and surprisingly how war brings out the best men can offer. Do not get me wrong- Remarque does not make the case for war, but in the midst of the utter brutality of war when men are being dehumanized, our heroes find humanity. The dehumanizing of the soldiers begins in boot camp. It is there that the process of dehumanization begins. Remarque writes: At first astonished, then embittered, and finally indifferent, we recognized that what a matter is not the mind, but the boot brush, not intelligence but the system, not freedom but drill. As Paul and his friends are being drawn into the maelstrom of war a place where reason and intellect give way to the brutal instincts of survival. Paul comments: We reach the zone where the front begins and become in the instant animals. We have become wild beasts- we defend ourselves against annihilation. They kill not for country, nor for ideology, but for survival. Paul has nothing against his enemies- he realizes that they are men just as he. He kills to survive. He kills out of fear. Nowhere is this more dramatically demonstrated than when Paul kills the French solider in the shell hole in no-mans land where he took shelter. As the French soldier lies dying, Paul regrets what he has done; he promises the dying soldier that he will look up his family after the war. This is perhaps the most poignant moment in the novel. At this moment our protagonist Paul is remarkable like the Apostle Paul of the New Testament wishing himself accursed if only his country men could be saved. The difference between enemy and friend is the command they receive. He does not hate his enemy; it is self-preservation, nothing more. He kills so he may live. What is astonishing is that when Paul has opportunity to free himself from this man-made hell, he chooses to return to the front. Why? He cannot abandon his friends. But in the end this 2005-06-19T04:37:15-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Man-Made-Hell-26923.aspx All Quiet on Western Front War Sucks! Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) served in World War I, where he received wounds five times in battle. The searing images of trench warfare left indelible scars on Remarque, who then attempted to exorcize his demons through the writing of literature. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is Remarque's most memorable book, although he wrote nine others dealing with the miseries of war. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is the story of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier serving in the trenches in France. Baumer's story is not a pleasant one; he volunteered for the war when his instructor in school, Kantorek, urged the class to join up for the glory of Germany. After a rigorous period of military training (where Paul and his buddies meet the hated drill instructor Himmelstoss, a recurring character throughout the book), Baumer and his friends go to the front as infantrymen. Filled with glorious ideas about war by authority figures back home, Baumer quickly discovers that the blood-drenched trenches of the Western Front are a quagmire of misery and violent death. As soon as the first shells explode in the mud Paul and his friends realize everyone back home is a liar, that war is not the glorious transformation of boys into men but rather the systematic destruction of all that is decent and healthy. As Paul's friends slip away one by one through death, desertion, and injury, Paul begins to wonder about his own life and whether he will survive not only the war but also a world without war. Remarque's book exposes all of the insanities of war. The incongruities of violent battle versus long periods of boredom repeatedly appear throughout the book. On one day, Paul and his friends sit around discussing mundane topics; the next day they are bashing French skulls during an offensive. It is these extremes that caused so many problems with the psychological disposition of the men. In one chapter of the book, Paul and several new recruits, hunkered down in a dugout, withstand hour upon hour of continuous shellfire until one of the green recruits snaps and tries to make a run for freedom. Where else but in a war could one walk through a sea of corpses while enjoying the sunshine and the gentle cadences of the birds in the trees? That such an unnatural activity as mass murder takes place surrounded by the natural beauty 2005-06-19T04:30:50-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-Western-Front-War-Sucks-26921.aspx World War I as Portrayed in All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons-parents, elders, school, religion-that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not underezd the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does understand the truth as Baumer has experienced it. Remarque demonstrates Baumer's disaffiliation from the traditional by emphasizing the language of Baumer's pre- and post-enlistment societies. Baumer either can not, or chooses not to, communicate truthfully with those representatives of his pre-enlistment and innocent days. Further, he is repulsed by the banal and meaningless language that is used by members of that society. As he becomes alienated from his former, traditional, society, Baumer simultaneously is able to communicate effectively only with his military comrades. Since the novel is told from the first person point of view, the reader can see how the words Baumer speaks are at variance with his true feelings. In his preface to the novel, Remarque maintains that "a generation of men ... were destroyed by the war" (Remarque, All Quiet Preface). Indeed, in All Quiet on the Western Front, the meaning of language itself is, to a great extent, destroyed. Early in the novel, Baumer notes how his elders had been facile with words prior to his enlistment. Specifically, teachers and parents had used words, passionately at times, to persuade him and other young men to enlist in the war effort. After relating the tale of a teacher who exhorted his students to enlist, Baumer states that "teachers always carry their feelings ready in their waistcoat pockets, and trot them out by the hour" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Baumer admits that he, and others, were fooled by this rhetorical trickery. Parents, too, were not averse to using words to shame their sons into enlisting. "At that time even one's parents were ready with the word 'coward'" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Remembering those days, Baumer asserts that, as 2005-03-27T10:33:03-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/World-War-I-as-Portrayed-in-All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-26410.aspx All Quiet: Deterioration of the Human Spirit Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is not about men, but of German soldiers and their hardships during World War I and how their attitudes changed throughout the war. “We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war”(p.88). This novel portrays the overwhelming effects and power war has to deteriorate the human spirit, scar physically, and scar mentally. You start out leaving you’re home and family proud and ready to fight for you country, to toward the end of the war, you become tired and scarred both physically and mentally beyond description. At the beginning of the novel nationalist feelings are present through pride of Paul and the rest of the boys. However at the end of the war many come to the realization of how pointless and horrific war really is. All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that greatly helps in the understanding the effects war. The novel best shows the attitudes of the soldiers before the war and during the war. Before the war there are high morals and growing nationalist feelings. During the war however, the soldiers discover the trauma of war. They discover that it is a waste of time and their hopes and dreams of their life fly further and further away. The remains of Paul Baumer’s company had moved behind the German front lines for a short rest at the beginning of the novel. After Behm became Paul’s first dead schoolmate, Paul viewed the older generation bitterly, particularly Kantorek, the teacher who convinced Paul and his classmates to join the military. “ While they taught that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing, we already that death-throes are stronger.... And we saw that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone; and alone we must see it through.”(P. 13) Paul felt completely betrayed. “ We will make ourselves comfortable and sleep, and eat as much as we can stuff into our bellies, and drink and smoke so that hours are not wasted. Life is short.” (P 139) Views of death and becoming more comfortable with their destiny in the war became more apparent throughout the novel. Paul loses faith in the war in each and every passing day. Throughout the novel it was evident that the war scarred the soldiers permanently mentally. 2004-10-31T02:46:05-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-Deterioration-of-the-Human-Spirit-25658.aspx All Quiet on the Western Front for Discussing the Great War At the beginning of the 20th Century, the great powers of the world engaged in the largest war concerning deaths in modern times. This war, which is often called the Great War, or World War I, had serious consequences that have affected our world today a great deal. Many great novels were written this century dealing with the Great War. One book, All Quiet on the Western Front, has been considered a classic and possibly “the greatest war novel of all time.” The story follows the adventures of a German solider, Paul Baumer, from the time he enters the military to his unfortunate death at the end. I believe this book portrays the Great War in a very accurate manner. This book could possibly be used to illuminate discussion about the Great War because of the past history of the author, the daily experiences that the soldiers encounter, and the effects of the war had on the soldier’s personal lives. The war novel All Quiet on the Western Front could be used as a source to discuss the Great War because of the past history of the author. Erich Maria Remarque, the author, was a World War I veteran for the German army. He was wounded five times in combat during the course of his time in the war. Remarque fully experienced what war was really like. His novel can probably be recognized as a highly autobiographical piece of literature. The characters in his book went through many of the same trials and tribulations that he did while being a German solider in World War I. For this reason, I believe it is very rational to assume that All Quiet on the Western Front could be used as a source for discussing the Great War. Remarque saw the battles first hand and possibly incorporated much of his own life as a solider in the book. Another reason that the novel All Quiet on the Western Front could be used as a source to discuss the Great War is because of the daily experiences that the soldiers encountered in the book. The life of a soldier in the Great War was a constant avoidance of death. The characters in the novel dealt with such problems also. This continuous evasion from death caused people to become very 2004-10-30T04:31:32-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front-for-Discussing-the-Great-War-25632.aspx All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul's War Experiences The book All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier during WWI. This novel was the first of its kind. Instead of romanticizing war it exposed it for the terrible, bloody and dirty struggle for human survival that it is. The story starts out in the middle of the conflict and continues to almost the end of the war with brief flashbacks to Paul’s youth and his initial drafting into the army. Paul joined the army directly after high school and never really experienced life. Due to his inexperience and lack of knowledge of the world, the war becomes Paul’s life and in the end, his destruction. I think there were three turning points in Paul’s experience of the war which changed his perspective - when he kills a French soldier in close combat, when he returns home, and when the war appears to be lost and coming to an end. Paul is an experienced fighter whose bullets have killed many people but he has never thought philosophically about that fact. He is fighting for a cause he doesn’t really understand but yet he continues to kill and see his friends die. He relates to the war in an “ideal and almost romantic” fashion (ch. 2, pg. 25) Although he has killed so many people I still think he was a very naïve person; someone older who had lived more of his life would probably not have been able to kill without questioning what he was doing. In many ways a person like Paul is the ideal fighter in a war, because once soldiers begin to question what they are doing they become less effective. When Paul kills a person up close for the first time he feels a surge of guilt, sadness, and remorse for what has happened. “Three hours… The gurgling starts again—but how slowly a man dies!” (ch. 8 ph. 220) I think these feelings would be similar for someone of any age group who had done a similar thing. However, as a youth these feeling are quick to fade from Paul’s consciousness and he is able to continue fighting as though nothing has happened. When he returns to the trenches after the killing, his friends who have gone through the same reactions to similar events acknowledge his feelings. After taking a few days leave and visiting 2004-02-22T20:06:12-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front,-Paul-s-War-Experiences-49.aspx