Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes brought by the war onto one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarques protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent romantic young man to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. The story also focuses on the lives of Baumers comrades. They all begin by patriotically marching off to join the army. However, their visions of the glories of war are soon swept away with horror as true friends die in the battlefield. The soldiers go in fresh from school, knowing nothing except the environment of hopeful youth. At nineteen and twenty, they come to a premature and distorted maturity with the war...their only home. Throughout the length of the novel, Paul learns of the hardship war brings. He learns the destructiveness of war. During the course of his experience with war, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons--parents, elders, school, and religion--that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days, in order to mature. His new society, then, becomes the company, his fellow trench soldiers. They are a group who understands the truth as Baumer has experienced it. A period of leave when he visits his hometown is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front. His military experiences and the home front settlers limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war do not allow for a discussion. When he arrives home and greetings are exchanged, he realizes immediately that he has nothing to say to his mother. We say very little and I am thankful that she asks nothing (Ch. 7 P.141). The fact that he does not wish to speak with his parents shows Baumers movement away from the traditional institution of the family. His mother finally speaks to him and asks, was it very bad out there, Paul? (Ch.7 P. 143) However, Baumer cannot respond to his mothers question: he understands that the experiences he has had are so overwhelming that civilian language, or any language at all, would be ineffective in describing them. Trying to replicate the experience and horrors of the war via words is impossible, Baumer realizes this and so he lies, and is able to restore his familys faith in him. Any attempt at telling the truth would, in fact, trivialize its reality. However, family destruction is not all that Baumer sees, he experiences the physical destructiveness of the war, as well. As in any well prepared and fought war, human casualties and destruction is unavoidable. However, in a war where soldiers are not sufficiently trained, weapons are used too frequently, and hospitals are under developed, death is inevitable. Baumer witnesses death and the pain that accompanies it all too much. Leer groans as he supports himself on his arm, he bleeds quickly no one can help him (Ch.11 P.240). This is not the first time Paul has observed death. He has watched it numerous times before. It is unfeasible to contemplate that these sights have had no affect on Paul. Death is one of the most feared things in the world today, and Paul, at only 20 years old, has seen it all too often. However, Paul has also had an encounter with death that hit more closely to home-- his own. He fell in October 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front...All Quiet on the Western Front (Ch. 12 P. 248). It was said in the book that Paul had fallen as if he was sleeping--he had no sign of suffering on his face. This is exactly how Paul wanted to leave. Paul was tired of life. It had nothing in store for him. However, it came too late for Paul for he had already experienced the misfortunes of war. During times of war, physical ruin is not the only thing that is felt; mental deterioration is also encountered. Contrary to most beliefs, mental deterioration occurs when rage builds up inside. Rage against the enemy for murdering your comrades, or demolishing you homeland. However when the truth is revealed, that we are all brothers, true mental struggle is seen. Comrade, I did not want to kill you...Why do they never tell us you are poor devils like us... and that you have the same fear of death...If we could just throw away these riffles and this uniform you could be my brother... (Ch.9 P. 191). This passage shows one main thing... Paul evolving from a boy to a man. Pauls maturity is truly seen in this one comment. Paul has grasped the concept that all men are created equally. A concept that todays society has not fully understood. When Baumer explains to Frau Kemmerichs mother that her son is dead, another example of such metal destruction is seen. He assures Kemmerichs mother that her son died immediately. He felt absolutely nothing at all. His face was quite calm ( Ch. 7 P. 160). Frau Kemmerich does not believe him, or , at least chooses not to. She asks him to swear by everything that is sacred to him, that what he says is true ( Ch. 7 P. 160) He does it easily because he realizes that nothing is sacred to him. By breaking this oath, Baumer shows both his unwillingness to communicate honestly with a member of the home front, and his rejection to God. It reveals that Baumer has no respect for anything anymore. As seen throughout the entire book, the destruction of war is great, on not only lives and property, but also on the human spirit. The young men in this book and of those of the times were subject to physical torment. Eyes were blinded from such sights as, limbs being blown off, blood flowing everywhere, and innocent men dying in agony. When soldiers take shelter in the graveyard, bombs explode all around them; the living hide in coffins and the dead are thrown from their graves. The destructive power is so great that even the fundamental differences between life and death become blurred. I personally know of someone who has been impacted by war. My uncle served three years in the Iran-Iraq war, and from his stories, he hated every minute of it. He has told me of the villages lost and the lives ruined. He told me of the devastating impact war has on the human spirit; how those experiencing the wrath of war find themselves unable to return to civilian life. Its very ironic if you analyze war closely, how so many people give up their own lives and freedom to preserve the freedoms of their fellow countrymen. War. It just does not make sense. This perception is seen in the book where, hundreds of thousands of young men gave up their lives for a fight that did not involve them. They died, in pain and agony, not realizing the reason they were fighting. For this reason war, both in the book and real life, does not make sense.
Throughout the middle of the book Baumer saw many actions that were pointless acts of war. His company was ordered to guard an abandoned village, which happened to have a few supplies but still a large waste of manpower. When Baumer was at the front the officers had the troops charge the enemies trenches, only to have the soldiers mowed down by machine gun fire. Baumer makes a trip home, but while he is there he feels lost and also feels like he doesn’t belong there
All quiet On the Western Front, a book written by Erich Maria Remarque tells of the harrowing experiences of the First World War as seen through the eyes of a young German soldier. I think that this novel is a classic anti-war novel that provides an extremely realistic portrayal of war. The novel focuses on a group of German soldiers and follows their experiences. Life for the soldiers in the beginning is a dramatic one as they are ordered up to the frontline to wire fences. The frontline makes Paul feel immediately different, as described here. "
People who have actually been through war know how horrible it is. Society on the other hand, while it believes it knows the horrors of war, can never understand or sympathize with a soldier’s situation. The only people who can understand war is those who have been through it so they can often feel alone if they are out of the military. Paul cannot even give a straight answer to his own father about his dad’s inquiries about war. Paul’s dad does not understand that people who have been in the war can in no way truly express the horrible things that that have seen and experienced. Nor can Paul fit in with the society who does not understand him. Paul and so many others were brought into the war so young that they know of nothing else other than war. Paul held these views on society as he said, “We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered;-the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall in to ruin.
World War I had a great effect on the lives of Paul Baumer and the young men of his generation. These boys’ lives were dramatically changed by the war, and “even though they may have escaped its shells, [they] were destroyed by the war” (preface). In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer and the rest of his generation feel separated from the other men, lose their innocence, and experience comradeship as a result of the war.
Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader insights into the realities of war. In this genre, the author is free to develop the characters in a way that brings the reader into the life of Paul Baumer and his comrades. The novel frees the author from recounting only cold, sterile facts. This approach allows the reader to experience what might have been irrelevant facts if presented in a textbook. This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans.
Everyone has a slightly different interpretation of the supernatural but the interpretation which we can start with is Shakespeare’s. Everyone of Shakespeare’s time found the supernatural fascinating. Shakespeare interpreted the supernatural as witches, magic, unnatural and evil and he expressed his beliefs in the play, “Macbeth” very clearly, as he portrayed the three deformed women with control over the weather and the ability to predict the future. These three evil witches with magical powers were the creation of Shakespeare’s interpretation of the supernatural. Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in the supernatural very strongly and a majority of them were frightened of it, including the king of that time, King James I of England.
one side and won by another and so Macbeth's fate is that he will win
The use of the supernatural occurs at the beginning of the play, with three witches predicting the fate of Macbeth. This gives the audience a clue to what the future holds for Macbeth. "When the battle's lost and won" (1.1.4), is said by the second witch, stating that the battle is lost by one side, and won by another. Macbeth's fate is that he will win the battle, but will lose his soul. After the witches reveal the destiny of Macbeth, the plan to gain the power of the throne is brought up. The only way to gain the power of the throne is for Macbeth to work his way to the throne, or to murder King Duncan. Murdering the king is an easier plan.
Paul believed the older generation "...ought to be mediators and guides to the world... to the future. / The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in [their] minds with greater insight and a more humane wisdom." Paul, his classmates, and a majority of their vulnerable generation completely trusted their role models and because of that trust were influenced and pressured into joining the war. They believed the older generation understood the truth behind war and would never send them to a dangerous or inhumane situation, "...but the first death [they] saw shattered this belief." The death caused the soldiers to realize that the experiences of their generation were more in line with reality than those of the older generation and that created a gap between the two. "While [the older generation] continued to write and talk, [Paul's generation] saw the wounded and dying. / While [the older generation] taught that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, [Paul's] already knew that death-throes are stronger."
is everything to him; he thinks of love as if it were a religion to
the war” (Remarque 88). What Paul is saying is that soldiers no longer have ambition; they are forever changed by the war. Perhaps the worst effect of war is the distance between a veteran and his family. A
rolled down the steps and kept on rolling down the driveway, and stopped by the
Writers of the Renaissance often wrote about supernatural elements. William Shakespeare is a writer during this period, and he is also the author of The Tragedy of Macbeth. The supernatural elements are the key contributors to the play. They add fear and mystery to the novel. Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, displays many supernatural elements: the nature, ghosts, and the witches are the most significant.
It took every urge in my body to persuade my muscles to start moving. Slowly i got closer and closer to the corner of the building where Josh had turned. Finally I turn the corner and see…
In our society the supernatural and paranormal influences are not reliable. A core part of William Shakespeare’s plays Macbeth is the supernatural influence. The protagonist Macbeth is influenced by three main supernatural elements. The witches are the inciting incident in Macbeth they reveal his darkest desires, next Macbeth sees the dagger on the night of Duncan’s murder, and the last supernatural element the Macbeth encounters is the apparitions and prophecies.