6. INTRODUCTION: All is Quiet on the Western Front begins with Paul Bäumer's company at rest, five miles behind the front lines between Langemark and Bixschoote. They have had very little sleep for the fourteen days since they relieved the front line and seventy of their one hundred and fifty men are dead at the hands of Russian gunfire. The cook, Ginger, has fixed rations for the one hundred and fifty and, after arguing with the lieutenant, grudgingly consents to give all the food to the eighty soldiers left, including double rations of smokes. As the narrator remarks, "Today is wonderfully good."…
The horrors of World War I had many effects on the expendable soldiers and left them feeling traumatized, alienated, desensitized, and physically damaged.…
Throughout Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, vivid images of gruesome animal instincts and the innocent animals’ lives ending are illustrated for the reader repeatedly. Remarque indicates that for a soldier’s survival in battle they must cease sanity and rely solely on primitive instinct. This notion of animal instincts leads soldiers to be less like a human being with rational thoughts. The protagonist, Paul Bäumer, believes he is a “human animal,” and similarly, soldiers who survive multiple attacks think the same. Battle has wounded many, and throughout the novel the reader is given a chance…
I believe that “Passchendaele” was a better film than “All Quiet on the Western Front.” I think this because, Passchendaele had a more enticing and more interesting story, Passchendaele was visually more appealing, and Passchendaele was told from the Canadian side. All these reasons are why I believe that “Passchendaele” was a better film.…
In every Disney movie, the villain is portrayed as a horrendous beast who was once a human. The thing is, every wicked witch or horrendous beast was once a human with a kind soul who suffered a traumatic event. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the German soldiers shift from fresh-out-of-high-school kids to shameless killing machines after witnessing the horrors of World War I. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, while fighting the Vietnam War without understanding its purpose the soldiers are changed after experiencing war’s brutality. Even though one cannot undergo the experience of being in a war zone or fighting for one’s homeland, many lessons can be learned from reading literature.…
The earth, as in the soil beneath our feet, is taken for granted every single day, but never by a soldier on the front lines. Erich Maria Remarque explains this through his character Paul Bäumer in the excerpt of his novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Paul is explaining the effects that war on the front can leave with a soldier, the hopelessness, instinct of an animal, and appreciation for things as simple as the earth that we walk on. While explaining these effects Remarque uses literary and rhetorical devices.…
The protagonist of the All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer, says, "I believe we are lost" (Remarque 123). The soldiers themselves recognize that they are part of a lost generation. They are, "forlorn like children, and experienced like old men" (123). Lost Generation is revealed in All Quiet on the Western Front through the young soldiers loss of innocence, loss of life, and loss of home. The First World War has no positive effect on the lives of the young soldiers.…
Which causes them to write different literature than before as they all write of gloomy and horrific events instead of stories with good endings. As well the soldiers who survived the war started painting in the gloomy days in war and how it still horrifies them. This was all different from men in the war and men who did not serve in the military as Paul stated “Whom I envy and Despise”. Paul has stated how he is disconnected and wishes to be like all of them and did not go into war due to them being able to live normal lives as he is not able to due to have served in the…
The U.S. casualties in the "Iraqi Freedom" conquest totals so far at about Sixteen Thousand military soldiers. During WWI Germany suffered over seven million. All Quiet on the Western Front is a historical novel written by Erich Maria Remarque. The novel focuses on a young German soldier and the predicaments he encounters in during his life on the front. The novel displays a powerful image to all of its readers and tends to have a long lasting effect on the way that they interpret war. All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that encourages nations to consider the horrible hostilities that war brings on humans before entering into global conflicts. From his graphic imagery and his detailed description of character relationships, Remarque depicts the brutality of the war at the front.…
In the book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, there are many symbols. However the main symbol that ties everything together is the boots. The boots are a symbol for loss of identity, dehumanization, and cheapness of human life. During World War I, men were put in boot camp straight from high school. They never have a chance to grow up and develop lives of their own. Although they have lost their innocence due to hardships of the war, they are still young boys at heart. This shows how their boots are a symbol for dehumanization. As soon as they put on their boots, they become tough, experienced, soldiers that know nothing but methods of survival and how to follow orders. The army breeds men to be like machines and putting on their boots is like their instinctive queue to follow orders. This also shows how their boots are a symbol for loss of identity. Putting on the boots means they all have the same uniform and follow the same orders. They are trained to be like robots and their boots is what allows them to adapt to these expectations. Without them, they are nothing but young, innocent boys. Lastly, the boots are also a symbol for cheapness of human life. The army kept bringing in more and more soldiers as more and more soldiers kept dying. There seemed to be no end to the cycle. When one soldier died, his boots are given to another soldier, as if the first soldier never existed in the first place. There was more concern as to who was going to receive the boots than to the actual death of a friend. This shows how human life was taken for granted. The boots in All Quite on the Western Front symbolized loss of identity, cheapness of humanity and dehumanization.…
The stock market crashed in less than eight months into Herbert's presidency. The Stock Market crashing made it clear that excessive speculation and the world wide economic slowdown had caused the Great Depression.Calls had came in but Hoover completely refused to involve the federal government in forcing fixed prices, controlling businesses, or manipulating the value of the currency. He was inclined to give direct aid to the banks, but he refused to aid the citizens. He focused on volunteerism to help the citizens. During the re-election Hoover tried to explain to the people that the depression had some ways the government could help but other ways the government could not. Causing him to lose the re-election to Franklin D. Roosevelt.…
Another effect the war had on Paul’s generation was comradeship. The soldiers felt an incredible bond with each other because they have gone through the dangers and horrors of war together. To Paul, his comrades are “more to him than life” (Remarque 212). “They are the strongest, most comforting thing there is anywhere…” (Remarque 212). Paul “belongs to them and they to him” (Remarque 212). Paul and his fellow comrades have an intense friendship that is strengthened by their relentless fears of terror and hardship.…
Soldiers who barely knew each other were thrust into extremely dangerous situations. At the onset of the novel Paul has a naive judgement about war however, that quickly changes as Paul witnesses bloodshed. Paul and his friend go to visit their comrade, Kemmerich, whose leg got amputated. All the soldiers including Paul were aware that there friend was on the brink of death. Instead of being concerned, Paul and the others worry about who will get Kemmerich’s boots, “But as it is the boots are quite inappropriate to Kemmerich’s circumstances, whereas Muller can make good use of them” (Remarque 21). Furthermore, the death of a fellow soldier doesn’t affect Paul and the others since they show no sympathy instead they are egoistic and obsessed with who will get the boots. Paul’s tone demonstrates that he no longer cares for his buddies but rather focuses on his own selfish desires. Paul’s emotions have vanished and he believes that the boots are “inappropriate to Kemmerich’s circumstances”. Paul insists that “Muller can make good use of them” since the boots will be of no use to Kemmerich once he is dead. Paul can no longer feel the emotions that every individual feels such as sympathy, portraying that he is completely been dehumanized. The boots symbolize the cheapness of human life in war. A good pair of boots according to the soldiers is more valuable and more durable than a human life. The boots also show the attitude and emotions of soldiers as they are no longer sensitive or feel sad. Paul’s emotionless state shows how it affected his mentality “When a man has seen so many dead he cannot understand any longer why there should be so much anguish over a single individual” (Remarque 181). Upon seeing so many deaths Paul no longer…
Throughout the novel the radio symbolizes a widespread social problem demonstrates people in general neglecting the need for quality human interaction. A perfect example of this problem is Werner. When in contact with loved ones at the beginning and end of the novel Werner was overall happier than when secluding himself from them. When requesting to travel home was brutally refused by Dr.Hauptmann, Werner shows signs of depression when thinking, “I cannot go home, he thinks. And I cannot stay.” (272). This also exposes Werner grieving the beating of Frederick, resulting in losing his best friend as well. Werner enters an even darker psychological state when refusing to write Jutta back, which is most likely a variable of his sickness during…
Today I was walking around during camp because I was bored but then realised I should tell a story because that was what I was good at. No one wanted to listen to my story so I decided to write to you. I wanted you to check up on my wife and see if she is doing alright and also try to check up on my mom and dad. I remember when you told me I should join the armed forces because it brought great honor to me and my family so I enlisted and trust me being here really is not that much of an honor. We are currently located at Northern French and are digging trenches so we could have somewhat of an advantage but really is not going that well. Time here passes by so slow it seems like the 8 months,19 day,4 hours, and 29 seconds have been centuries because there basically is nothing to do here.…