Prologue
The Death Bringer’s Gauntlet. One of the most coveted things in this war infested world. More wanted than diamonds, but only one in the entire world. It is said that the person who has the gauntlet controls the world. Abandoned in battle the owner not knowing it’s true worth, the gauntlet is ready to rise once more.
Part One
Ben put on his gauntlets. Another day of bloodshed and murder greeted him. He sighed. Was all this killing necessary to restore earth to the utopia it once was? A peaceful serene land with plants and forestry not ravaged by the remains of war with azure water falls crashing down from above and leaves that danced gently to the breeze. He fought for the next generation and beyond. He fought for the greater good.
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The ground was soiled with blood everywhere and the smell of maggot infested bodies and scavenger’s faeces were eminent everywhere. However, despite how worse this was, couldn’t even compare to what was awaiting them ahead. From that point on he would have to either commit to impaling enemies through the stomach with the abilities of his gauntlet or hear their screams as their life slowly drained out of them. As soon as Ben got the chance he would chuck it in the fire and watch it crumble to ashes.
Ben put on his gauntlet and instantly felt the calm that followed when his atoms, particles, molecules unified with that of the world.
He saw the enemies approaching emerging out as small black figures rapidly getting bigger and clearer riding on what almost seemed to be a tidal wave composed of earth. It took extreme amounts of effort and concentration to control one of such as scale which was apparent only by the sweat on their faces.
These enemies seemed to be experienced. Ben began to feel anxious. On the battle field every man was put in their places and they were all equal. All except one thing: their experience. Cold sweat began dripping down Ben's face. What if they were veterans? What if they had more experience than him. What if the only thing that gave him leverage against his enemies was taken away? What did he have
For training, the author shares the difficult task involved in the training and that went into preparing the American solider for battle in World War I from multiple levels including from Brownies’ perspective. The author gave clear and concise examples to strengthen his claim concerning the overwhelming task of training an inexperienced army. As the Snead explains, “Historians, journalists, and others have written numerous books
The narrator and four other soldiers have made their way through the city to a hospital to receive treatment. From there the patients begin training and rehabilitation using revolutionary new machine while carrying their natural doubts about the proficiency of these machines. While using these machines the American soldier is asked what he did before the war. When he replies with “play football”, the doctor says “You will be able to play football again better than ever”(Hemingway). Next he moves to the man in the second machine with “a major with a little hand like a baby’s”(Hemingway). This man was the greatest fencer in all of Italy before being scared by a industrial accident. When asked if he had confidence in this healing method, the major honestly states no. Continuing on, you come upon a scene when the American and three other boys from the Milan front, one intending to a lawyer, the other, a painter, the last a soldier. Occasionally a fifth boy walked with them, one who wore a “black silk handkerchief across his face”(Hemingway) because he had his face reconstructed after being wounded an within an hour on the front. At the beginning of the next paragraph its made know that the first four boys all have the same medals. Then the paragraph goes on to state that the tall boy intending to be a lawyer was a lieutenant of
There is a major change in the men in this novel. At first, they are excited to join the army in order to help their country. After they see the truth about war, they learn very important assets of life such as death, destruction, and suffering. These emotions are learned in places like training camp, battles, and hospitals. All the men, dead or alive, obtained knowledge on how to deal with death, which is very important to one’s life.
According to Boswell “Some writers believe that war is necessary to take off the superfluity of the human species, or at least rid the world of numbers of idle and profligate men who are a burden upon every community.” However, these writers are missing one important aspect on the issue. Not only men, but also innocent women and children have been killed in war. While these writers’ opinions may be correct, it still does not justify all the deaths of victims of war. Boswell also states, “As more beautiful material forms sometimes arise from the ashes of others.” In order to get something beneficial out of war, something else must be given; and in this case, what has been given is human
others for the violence of the war, and summarizes his view on revenge perfectly: “I joined the
This contrast in style affirms that the soldiers are human and provides emphasis to the weight these intangible objects have on the soldiers. An emotional burden that the men must carry is the longing for their loved ones. The Vietnam War forced many young men to leave their loved ones and move halfway across the world to fight a questionable war in an unfamiliar land.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Wisdom does not always relate to how many years we have lived but rather how much we have seen in this world. In All Quiet on the Western Front and They, both Erich Maria Remarque and Siegfried Sassoon created characters who were forever changed at a young age because of what they had seen. The horrors of trench warfare force men to do unimaginable things and become numb to their surroundings symbolizing the alienation of a generation. In They by Siegfried Sassoon, a story is told of how soldiers come back from war mentally and physically changed.
War is a hard thing to describe. It has benefits that can only be reaped through its respective means. Means that, while necessary, are harsh and unforgiving. William James, the author of “The Moral Equivalent of War”, speaks only of the benefits to be had and not of the horrors and sacrifices found in the turbulent times of war. James bears the title of a pacifist, but he heralds war as a necessity for society to exist. In the end of his article, James presents a “war against nature” that would, in his opinion, stand in war’s stead in bringing the proper characteristics to our people. However, my stance is that of opposition to James and his views. I believe that war, while beneficial in various ways, is unnecessary and should be avoided at all costs.
John Keegan, the author of “The Face of Battle” is allowing the reader to view different perspective of history, from the eyes of the soldier. Although by his own account, Keegan acknowledges, “I have never been in a battle. And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can be like.” Keegan scorns historians for pointing the finger of failure after an evolution occurs and not examining the soldier’s point of view while the battle is transpiring.
Have you ever thought about what it was like to live during World War 1, or what it was like to fight at war? At first glance of any war piece, you might think the author would try to portray the soldiers as mentally tough and have a smashing conscience. Many would think that fighting in a war shows how devoted you are to your country, however, that is not true. According to All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the reality of a soldier's life is despondency, carnage and eradication at every bombardment. Living every day is not knowing if they will eat, see their families, or even if they will awaken the next day. Demeaning themselves from heroes to barely men without their military garment or identity. Remarque conveyed how
...though people believe that, those on the home front have it just as a bad as the soldiers, because they have to deal with the responsibilities of their husbands, there is nothing that can compare to what these men have gone through. The war itself consumed them of their ideology of a happy life, and while some might have entered the war with the hope that they would soon return home, most men came to grips with the fact that they might never make it out alive. The biggest tragedy that follows the war is not the number of deaths and the damages done, it is the broken mindset derives from being at war. These men are all prime examples of the hardships of being out at war and the consequences, ideologies, and lifestyles that develop from it.
... Paul's strong words, demonstrated through the author's talent, are denouncing the authority figures who were supposed to guide his generation into adulthood but instead turned the youth against each other in the pursuit of superficial ideals. The soldiers were simply the victims of a meaningless war. In conclusion, Remarque's firsthand encounters with trench warfare, Owen's vivid descriptions of the soldiers' experiences and Baker's touching accounts of the lives of historical figures, all state that there were no victors in war, only losers in a hopeless battle for territorial supremacy.
War deprives soldiers of so much that there is nothing more to take. No longer afraid, they give up inside, waiting for the peace that will come with death. War not only takes adolescence, but plasters life with images of death and destruction. Seeger and Remarque demonstrate the theme of a lost generation of men in war through diction, repetition, and personification to relate to their readers that though inevitable and unpredictable, death is not something to be feared, but to calmly be accepted and perhaps anticipated. The men who fight in wars are cast out from society, due to a misunderstanding of the impact of such a dark experience in the formative years of a man’s life, thus being known as the lost generation.
While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing the future, reducing the quality of his life. At the age of nineteen, Paul naively enlists in World War 1, blind to the fact he has now taken away his own childhood.
Gaunt: “I’d try to explain as the gaunt, heavily nipped-and-tucked one-time Playmate had yet another meltdown” (Dessem 15).