Essay On Imagery And Irony In All Quiet On The Western Front

Many soldiers who come back from the war need to express how they feel. Many do it in the way of writing. Many soldiers die in war, but the ones who come back are just as “dead.” Many cadets come back with shell shock, amputated arms and legs, and sometimes even their friends aren’t there with them. So during World War I, there was a burst of new art and writings come from the soldiers. Many express in the way of books, poems, short stories and art itself. Most soldiers are just trying to escape. A lot of these soldiers are trying to show what war is really like, and people respond. They finally might think war might not be the answer. This is why writers use imagery, irony and structure to protest war.

In literature authors use imagery to

protest war. Early in the book All Quiet On The Western Front, the main character, Paul and his friends are at the front and they see horses that are injured in war. “Some gallop away in the distance, fall down, and then run on father. The belly of one is ripped open, the guts trail out. He becomes tangled in them and falls, then he stands up again” (63). Remarque is using imagery in this hard to read chapter to show its not just the humans are getting hurt. These nice, gentle animals are crying out because they are the ones that people throw away like nothing happened. Remarque is using sick, gruesome words to really push imagery that he's trying to show. To even think of thoughts like that make you think if he himself went through it. But that was the usual for them. Poems were also a popular way of writing. In the poem war is kind, “Because your father tumbles; in the yellow trenches raged at his breast, gulped and died,” (Doc D). This poem is describing to a mother and child exactly went through, poison gas. To the mother and child, they thought the father was doing great while he was there. Fighting for his country and finally fighting a war. In reality, it's not, and to a mother and child, is sickening. This author uses horrenous words to show that war is not all that and a bag of chips. War is bloodcurdling and unnerving to the mind and the body. Especially the mind. So these authors use these spine-chilling words to creep people out so that they won't join the war.
Authors like to use a little literary device called irony to show how bad war is.

But don't directly say it. Irony is the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. So ironically, these authors show irony. In All the Quiet On The Western Front, Paul gets a letter from his old school teacher raving about how great it is to join the war. Paul is enraged he says, “Iron Youth. Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk” (106). Paul gets almost offended by his teacher writing this to them. His teacher is praising them for their actions. Paul and his friends know they’re killing people, and it's making them age rapidly in their heads. No person who kills is young. It's ironic because all these kids are no less than twenty years old. No twenty year old is killing the French for their country, and no French man is twenty when they’re killing Germans. No one on either side is living like any twenty year old. In another poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, our author says, “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.” (Doc B) This French quote means that its sweet and honorable to die for your country. But the context of the poem says otherwise. The poem states all these stanzas of sick words that are telling you the complete opposite. This ironic poem is also stating that your country and family will love you for what you did. But they will be blind for what actually happened. These

soldiers are getting honor for killing a differents countries people but they're family is just happy these soldiers come home. Not on what they did.