Morale: The Temporary Cure For War

Morale: The Temporary Cure for War The author of All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque, was sure to include many underlining purposes in his novel, having been in World War I himself. Much like the main character, Paul Baumer, Remarque had experienced life or death situations where any ordinary man’s mental stability would be called into question. In order to avoid going absolutely insane, soldiers developed defense mechanisms throughout the war. One of Remarque purposes was to express these through the likes of Paul and his company. Some of these mental contrivances include jesting about the horrors they saw, thinking back to the life they had prior to the war, and dreaming of their lives during peacetime; all of which worked for only a small duration of the war. In order to avoid going haywire at the sight of every coffin or body they would see, Paul and his company often found humor and comfort in joking about the tragedy brought on by war. The soldiers were said to be “good humored” and
Joking about the seriousness of war, attempting to find comfort in their previous home lives, and imagining life when the war was over were the three most useful tactics, however no amount of defense mechanisms the soldiers had could keep them from the brutality and stress of World War I. Paul Baumer and his company go through so much in the war, and in the end their efforts are in vain. Being in the front lines practically ruined their sanity and mental stability, and if they had survived, the stress they would be under would be too severe for any form of everyday life. Erich Maria Remarque does a good job of realistically explaining the psychological defense mechanisms that soldiers built during the war, and he does an excellent job of showing that no matter what, these mental tricks would not have worked against the trauma of World War