Literary Analysis Of Otto Dix's Self Portrait Of A Soldier

At the commencement of the war, the general view of the civilians and soldiers was excitement and joy. To the general public, war had “become legendary, and distance had made it seem romantic and heroic” (Zweig). The romanticized tone of the war inspired a festive attitude that permeated through each nation. Soon the “...average men and women were delighted at the prospect of war” (Russell). Otto Dix, an esteemed German painter, painted a portrait of himself before he went into the war titled, “Self Portrait of a Soldier”. Through the vibrant colors that Dix utilizes, he conveyed the message that participating in the war is an honorable act. This contributes to the overall tone of soldiers, who believed that they would gain glory and pride

Paul, a character in “All Quiet on the Western Front”, stated that, “Modern trench warfare demands knowledge and experience; a man must have a feeling… for the ground” (Remarque), demonstrating how the battle field experience of soldiers in this war was different than past ones, since trenches being used on such a large scale was an unprecedented event.. Within trenches, a host of possible diseases, such as trench foot, were possible, due to the proximity of the soldiers. In addition, this war had the highest number of fatalities of any war up to this point in time, playing a part in the severe psychological scarring that the men in the war received. Otto Dix’s painting “Self Portrait of a Gunner”, illustrated one year after the his pre-war portrait, portrays Dix with much darker colors, and a less visible face. This obvious change in color and mood of the paintings of Dix’s pre war and post war paintings demonstrates how the war had changed him for the

The war far surpassed the initial time frame set by the population, and soon the glory of war wore out, leading to people tiring of the war. In fact, many people believed that they had a worse time at home than the soldiers, as seen in “All Quiet on the Western Front”, where a civilian states, “Naturally, it’s worse here [than at the front]” (Remarque, 166). This belief was caused due to the governments waging a total war, meaning that “countries devoted all their resources to the war effort” (Beck, 419). As a result, the government controlled the economy, rationed out supplies, and made sure most factories were converted into munition factories. When soldiers returned to the home front on leave, they often downplayed the war in order to avoid talking about the tragedies they faced on the