All Quiet On The Western Front War Analysis

All Quiet on the Western Front War
War is a battle of not only the physical but also the psychological. In the text, All quiet on the western front, by Enrich Maria Remarque, and the poem Homecoming, by Bruce Dawe, our understanding is challenged through various representations of war such as innocence, srvivl and grief.

Throughout the novel, “All quiet on the western front”, we as the readers are taken on a journey with the character Paul Baumer, a young man, whom started the war with a “head[s] full of ideas”. However, throughout his time of military service, we see the realities of war and the destruction of his innocence. Through an emotive tone, “the first dead man that we saw shattered this conviction”, responders are shown the confrontational experiences soldiers face after they were told “that they
were acting for the best.”It is apparent that Paul desires to be a child again, even though he still is one; war has aged him, and taken his innocence, “am I crying? [...]It is so fantastic; am I a child?” , challenging readers through rhetorical language, to try understand the depth of deprived innocence soldiers have had to endure.
As a reader we perceive this as strange, being young adults we want to be older not younger, so this challenges our understanding of psychological transformations. Paul refers to his comrades, using a paradox, as “stone-age veterans” successfully portraying the emotional development that soldiers had to undergo. We recognize that the soldiers are “no longer youth” and have lost important teenage years developing. Remarque uses a simile, “He looks up, pushes the helmet off and like a child creeps under my arm,” to shape the ideologies of childish behaviours demonstrating the psychological breakdowns of veterans in the field. Audiences are challenged through this emotive register, placing themselves in the situations and pondering on their own capabilities to withstand pressure in the field. This characterizes Paul as an older brother figure showing the growth in wisdom he has made in order to keep alive .Juxtaposed to this evidential older role, responders are reminded of the phrase, “we were 18 and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces.” Audiences comprehend from this through hyperbole the devastating effects
of war that completely destroyed all conception of what youth really meant to a young man, fun and exploration, dreams and aspirations for the future, they didn’t mean anything anymore. As a young reader, I reflect on how I would cope in such a situation in war, and how that would change my perception of growing old before time.

Remarque uses a range of techniques to show survival themes in the book All quiet on the western front, showing a different perception of survival then normally envisioned. The soldiers progress from horrified in the face of death, to ignoring the devastation around them in order to survive. We see in the orientation, Pauls emotions, “I become faint, all at once I can’t do it anymore…I could drop down and never rise again”. Paul realises he must supress the emotions he feels in order to survive. We understand from this the consciousness soldiers needed in order to continue fighting to survive. An animal instinct is also needed, portrayed through metaphor, accurately conveying the way soldiers had to modify to endure the war, “we became wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves from annihilation”. The way this is phased effectively shows how difficult staying alive became and how all the morals soldiers held on to were suddenly inexistent. Living in a peaceful world, I am challenged to comprehend the self centred attributes soldiers gained over time. As the plot progresses responders are shown that war is greater than the idea of family, “If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb into him”. Audiences take away from this dysphemistic language, the soldiers’ belief in killing for survival than anything else, showing readers the progressions in mental stability. I understand that traumatic experiences originate from changing this mentality back to original post war. When Paul is in a life threatening situation , “ I don’t think at all, I make no decision –I just stab wildly,” responders see the reactions that will keep us alive in such a situation. These dashes and strategically places pauses increase dramatic tension and emphasize the intense atmosphere causing readers to feel involved. We witness a paradigm shift in Paul, thinking he would be able to kill anyone without remorse after observing so much suffering; however his perspectives change when he kills a French man, Gerald Duval, “every gasp strips my heart bare”. Through this hyperbole audiences comprehend soldiers didn’t have time to think of consequences before killing, they only did what was needed to survive. I am challenged as a reader to relate the importance desensitising has on survival in this context,but also the animalistic behaviours soldiers adapted in order to achieve sanity in the field.

Bruce Dawe successfully represents grief and casualty throughout his poem as a prominent part of jungle warfare which is similarly shown throughout, All quiet on the western front. The writer shows audiences the destruction of war, by use of rhythm and repetition, forming pathos and compassion , “All day, day after day, they’re bringing them home,” repeating in following lines “ they’re” and “bringing them home”. We understand from this dispassionate tone, the hate shown to the concept of war because of the death, suffering and the grief it causes. Supporting this ideology of the catastrophic casualties , shown by imagery, is “the spider grief swings in his bitter geometry”, which is comparing the beautiful creations of a web to a beautiful life of a soldier but then the “bitter geometry” of war taking that life or in the spiders case it is a trap for prey. This allows readers to think deeper into the sorrows of war but also allows them to see this common bond of grief in order connote the feelings of parents or loved ones of the lost. The poet uses descriptive language, “where the dogs in the frozen sunset raise muzzles in salute”, to focus the time slowing of those who have to grieve over not just one loss but a group of losses. Through the effective utilization of juxtaposition, “too late, too early”, the author is telling audiences that war is a waste of life but also not selective. The soldiers have been brought home too late that they had already passed but also too early to be brought home dead because they are so young, they haven’t lived there life to the full. Dawe uses this as the last line to really impact readers impersonally, giving an atmosphere of lack of care. It isn’t just one family grieving a casualty but a whole community grieving separate losses, because of this process line of death portrayed.

The two composers successfully challenge readers in their understanding of war including innocence, survival and grief. Remarque and Dawe illustrate the realistic perspective on war allowing readers to be challenged in such a way.