The Decision of a Lifetime
Some believe that all soldiers are extremely nationalistic, which is what causes them to enlist in the war just to support their own country. War can be a horrifying and fearful experience for most people, so what is it that makes soldiers enroll into the army year after year? The romantic anti-war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, The mournful poem, “Anthem for a Doomed Youth,” by Wilfred Owen , and the reflective military poem, “In Flanders Fields,” by John McCrae, all depict how young recruits first see that being a soldier is a fun and glorifying experience, but later realize that their assumptions were incorrect. This driving force that compels people to join the army, yet blinds
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them from their personal security, is the glory they seek through being a military soldier. All Quiet On the Western Front by Remarque, is an anti-war novel that exemplifies how men are only looking for the dignity that they are assumably granted from serving in the army.
When Paul describes his thoughts after his first taste of war, he states that “we have become a wasteland. All the same we are not often sad” (Remarque 20). By comparing a wasteland to the soldiers’ emotion, the young recruits are illustrated in a pessimistic tone. By stating that the new recruits are not often sad, the quote juxtaposes how despite the soldiers’ state of being, they will do anything to survive through the battle and receive the glory that they were ultimately seeking. Furthermore, Paul Baumer describes that “[they] were still crammed full of vague ideas which gave to life, and to the war also an ideal and almost romantic character” (Remarque 21). This demonstrates how the boys enlisting in the war were looking at only the romantic aspects of becoming a soldier, and were ignorant to the dangers they will face. By stating that the boys were in favor of the romantic character role that they will take on as a soldier, it shows how the soldiers’ ambitions in combat, are influenced mainly off of their goal to obtain glory, popularity, and an enticing character …show more content…
trait. Another example of soldiers who are looking for glory are the ones described in Wilfred Owen’s, “Anthem for a Doomed Youth.” Throughout the poem, Wilfred expresses a non stop sympathy for the young soldiers who have died without recognition. Wilfred Owen states that “No mockeries for them from prayers or bells / Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs” (Owen 5-6), which portrays that even the military leaders are looking to gain glory and respect for their soldiers. By exemplifying that there isn’t any sympathy for the soldiers, it shows that they are in fact looking for recognition because if they weren’t, and all they cared about was fighting in the war, they wouldn’t be here grieving that their fellow deceased obtained no recognition. Secondly, Wilfred proceeds to explain that the soldiers’ comrades are expressing their sympathy “not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes” (Owen 10). This shows how the soldiers are personally expressing their own recognition towards the departed soldiers not through each other but individually through their own will. By stating that they give their sympathy through the eyes and not through the hand, it exemplifies how the soldiers see the glory the men deserve, but never come down to actually demonstrating it to others. This presents how only fellow soldiers will understand the glory they deserve, which is why most people believe that soldiers only strive for nationalism, due to the fact that they aren’t seeing the war from a comradery viewpoint. Lastly, John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” illustrates the reason why soldiers join in the war for glory, heedless that their lives may be at risk.
As the poem begins, the speaker conveys that there are “[graves] that mark our place; and in the sky / The larks, still bravely singing, fly” (McCrae 3-4). Here the author is using the imagery of the free flying larks, as they resemble the soldiers singing out their wish to be glorified, and their jubilation that they are finally free from the war. This goes on to prove that the soldiers are carfree about their fatality, as long as they receive the recognition to exemplify their contributions to the war. Subsequently, later on in the poem, the soldiers mention “If ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep, though poppies grow” (McCrae 13-14). By expressing the soldier’s earnestness in others continuing on their honor, it shows how soldiers will concentrate on continuing their individual glory and prestige even if they themselves cannot continue it any longer. The numerous amount of lost lives precisely depict how soldiers who enlist in the military, will carry on a past soldier’s glory for themselves, and will risk their lives if that is what’s
needed. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” and “In Flander’s Fields,” all wind up representing why soldiers enroll in the army just for glory. Without the soldiers’ ambitious minds to carry on that glory, countries around the world would have nobody rising up to fight for them. Therefore, the choice that these soldier make to advertise their glory, is what helps to persuade the next generation of adolescents to come and join the army.
The soldiers forget about the past, with good food and rest. Paul contemplates why they forget things so quickly; he thinks that habit helps eradicate memory. When one good thing happens, everything else is forgotten. The men turn into “wags” and “loafers” while resting. They cannot burden themselves with the emotions from the consequences
The novel All Quiet On the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the poem, “In Flanders Field,” by John McCrae and the film, Gallipoli, Demonstrates how war makes men feel unimportant and, forces soldiers to make hard decisions that no one should half to make. In war people were forced to fight for their lives. Men were forced to kill one another to get their opinion across to the opposing sides. When men went home to their families they were too scared to say what had happened to them in the war. Many people had a glorified thought about how war is, Soldiers didn't tell them what had truly happened to them.
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times go by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings, especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital. Training camp was the first actuality of what war was going to be like for the men. They thought that it would be fun, and they could take pride in defending their country. Their teacher, Kantorek, told them that they should all enroll in the war. Because of this, almost all of the men in the class enrolled. It was in training camp that they met their cruel corporal, Himelstoss.&nbs most by him. They have to lie down in the mud and practice shooting and jumping up. Also, these three men must remake Himelstoss’ bed fourteen times, until it is perfect. Himelstoss puts the young men through so much horror that they yearn for their revenge. Himelstoss is humiliated when he goes to tell on Tjaden, and Tjaden only receives an easy punishment. Training camp is as death and destruction. Training camp is just a glimpse of what war really is. The men do not gain full knowledge of war until they go to the front line. The front line is the most brutal part of the war. The front line is the place in which the battles are fought. Battles can only be described in one word- chaos. Men are running around trying to protect themselves while shooting is in the trench with an unknown man from the other side. This battle begins with shells bursting as they hit the ground and machine guns that rattle as they are being fired. In order to ensure his survival, Paul must kill the other man. First, Paul stabs the man, but he struggles for his life. He dies shortly after, and Paul discovers who he has killed. The man is Gerald Duval, a printer.&n Having to deal with killing others is one of the horrors of war. The men who are killed and the people who kill them could have been friends, if only they were on the same side. The other important battle leaves both Paul and Kropp with injuries.
In Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer paints a vivid picture of the horrors of war. Many of these horrors are purely physical, such as the constant bombardments and gunshots whizzing overhead. But along with these physical horrors come mental and emotional ones. Chief among these is the "war mindset" that the soldier must acquire in order to survive war. The essence of this mindset is the total disregard for human life, and with it, human beliefs and customs. War requires a suspension of these standard human beliefs and customs. Paul outwardly appears to have acquired this "war mindset," but he does not internalize it and thus eventually dies.
Soldiers, using their instinct alone, must set aside their humanity to survive during their time on the battlefield. When Paul and his friends reach the battlefront, they find that they “become on the instant human animals” (56). Because of their desire to survive, they must surrender their morals and beliefs to their primal instinct. In this instance, they become savage beasts, making it easier to kill on the field. Their former selves effectively die in the war, becoming “insensible, dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and to kill” (116). The war takes a toll on
War can destroy a young man mentally and physically. One might say that nothing good comes out of war, but in Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, there is one positive characteristic: comradeship. Paul and his friends give Himmelstoss a beating in which he deserves due to his training tactics. This starts the brotherhood of this tiny group. As explosions and gunfire sound off a young recruit in his first battle is gun-shy and seeks reassurance in Paul's chest and arms, and Paul gently tells him that he will get used to it. The relationship between Paul and Kat is only found during war, in which nothing can break them apart. The comradeship between soldiers at war is what keeps them alive, that being the only good quality to come out of war.
In the novel All quiet on the western front by Erich Maria Remarque one of the major themes he illustrates is the effects of war on a soldier 's humanity. Paul the protagonist is a German soldier who is forced into war with his comrades that go through dehumanizing violence. War is a very horrid situation that causes soldiers like Paul to lose their innocence by stripping them from happiness and joy in life. The symbols Remarque uses to enhance this theme is Paul 's books and the potato pancakes to depict the great scar war has seared on him taking all his connections to life. Through these symbols they deepen the theme by visually depicting war’s impact on Paul. Paul’s books represent the shadow war that is casted upon Paul and his loss of innocence. This symbol helps the theme by depicting how the war locked his heart to old values by taking his innocence. The last symbol that helps the theme are the potato pancakes. The potato pancakes symbolize love and sacrifice by Paul’s mother that reveal Paul emotional state damaged by the war with his lack of happiness and gratitude.
After their first two days of fighting, they return to their bunker, where they find neither safety nor comfort. A grizzled veteran, Kat, suggests these ‘fresh-faced boys’ should return to the classroom. The war steals their spiritual belief in the sanctity of human life with every man that they kill. This is best illustrated by Paul’s journey from anguish to rationalization of the killing of Gerard Duval; the printer turned enemy who leaps into the shell-hole already occupied by Paul. Paul struggles with the concept of killing a “brother”, not the enemy. He weeps despondently as war destroys his emotional being.
Nationalism influenced people’s thoughts about war, twisting their minds to believe that their government and military was supreme and would win a war quickly. Because “most European countries, with the exception of France and Prussia, had not had any major wars within the 19th century, they stepped into the 20th century thinking that they were immune to defeat. This idea of immunity developed as countries forgot of their past wars and sufferings. The British were confident in their naval forces, the Germans in their arms and ships, and the Russians thought their land was protected by God. Citizens strongly believed that their country was the best and would do just about anything to help their country. It became a school boy’s duty to enlist in the army upon his graduation. As Erich Maria Remarque states in his book, All Quiet on the Western Front, the “young men of twenty... whom Kantorek calls the ‘Iron Youth,’” are the ones sent off to war in Germany. Their teachers drilled this message into their minds from a young age. The boys were told that it was their duty to their country to fight. Zara Steiner, British Historian, related that British teachers were told “to teach boys that success in w...
Even when the novel begins, all Paul has known is death, horror, fear, distress, and despair. He describes the other soldiers in his company, including his German school mates with whom he enlisted after constant lecturing from their school master, Kantorek. The pressures of nationalism and bravery had forced even the most reluctant students to enlist. However weeks of essential training caused any appeal the military may have held for them to be lost. Corporal Himmelstoss, the boys’ instructor, callously victimizes them with constant bed remaking, sweeping snow, softening stiff boot leather and crawling through the mud. While this seems to be somewhat cruel treatment, it was in fact beneficial for the soldiers.
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
After entering the war in young adulthood, the soldiers lost their innocence. Paul’s generation is called the Lost Generation because they have lost their childhood while in the war. When Paul visits home on leave he realizes that he will never be the same person who enlisted in the army. His pre-war life contains a boy who is now dead to him. While home on leave Paul says “I used to live in this room before I was a soldier” (170).
The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co...
Motivation for this war was the idea of nationalism and the pride in one’s country. This war was the cause of disillusionment among many of the soldiers that were involved in it. This war was massively destructive to the people involved in it. Despite the brutalities, many soldiers still agreed to enlist in the war due to the concept of nationalism. Nationalism was an idea of unlimited support and pride towards their country.
The older generation had an artificial illusion of what war is and although Paul's generation, the soldiers, loved their country, they were forced to distinguish reality from illusion. Because of this disti...