Peer Pressure In All Quiet On The Western Front

Peer pressure is defined as the social influence a peer group exerts on its individual members, as each member attempts to conform to the expectations of the group. No matter the generation, peer pressure plays a big role throughout people’s lives. Whether it starts with how people dress or who they hang out with, peer pressure is virtually everywhere. People may think that they are not affected by peer pressure, but every choice they make is centered on the opinions of others. Peer pressure can get so out of control that people’s lives are conquered by the pressure and lead them to make decisions they ultimately disagree with and even ruin their lives. The novels All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and It Happened to Nancy
by Beatrice Sparks share one, big, important theme: peer pressure. All Quiet on the Western front is about the life of Paul Baumer, who is only 18 and is a soldier for Germany in World War I.
As soon as the novel begins it is made clear that Paul does not belong on the French Front. Through his teacher, Kantorek, Paul and his close friends are pushed to enlist into war. As the war progresses, Paul begins to reflect how his childhood was taken from him and all he knows is war. When returning to Germany for visits Paul feels the people at home do not know how horrible life is on the front and he feels he cannot connect, not even to his mother or little sister. Soon his thoughts become isolated and he masks his emotions when he realizes not everything is fine. Life on the front is no life at all. His life has been taken from him and he never again will be able to grasp it. Paul dies on the Western Front and never returns
home. It Happened to Nancy is based on the diary of teenage Nancy. The diary begins with Nancy going to a concert where she meets a boy named Collin. Nancy becomes head over heels for Collin and the relationship quickly progresses. This makes Nancy overwhelming happy because her friends can no longer judge her for being single. At one point she gets the house to herself and decides to have Collin over for a date. Before she knows it, Collin has raped her and left her feeling alone and confused. After this, Collin cuts her off completely. She blindly continues to like Collin because having the title of a relationship made her feel normal. Unfortunately, Nancy starts to feel sick and her mom takes her to the doctor to find out she has HIV. Due to her weak immune system, she contracts AIDS. AIDS takes a toll on her body leaving Nancy not looking or feeling like herself. Once her illness becomes too much to handle, Nancy becomes depressed and wants nothing to do with the world. All she wants to do is to sleep and to never wake up. Fortunately, she visits her grandmother, where she finds peace and happiness. Shortly after, Nancy passes away in her sleep. Paul Baumer’s character was greatly influenced by peer pressure in All Quiet on the Western Front.
Although Paul enlisted by himself, he did not want to take part in the war. When the war was beginning, the stress that was put on Paul and his friends was greatly increasing. Through his teacher Kantorek, Paul was pushed to enlist because of how he spoke of national loyalty. Paul was not prepared, nor his friend, Joseph Behm, who was weak and the first of his peers to die. Several times throughout the book, Paul refers to Kantorek and how he should have never enlisted. Paul even blames the older generation for distrust. He states, “The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief” (Remarque 47). Here Paul is explaining how he can only trust his generation. The older generations were the ones the boys used to trust. They were new to the world and trusted them to lead the boys in the right direction in their life, but they lead the boys to war, ultimately leading them to their death. To Paul, the pressure of society surrounded him coming from the people of Germany, the soldiers on the front, and even his family. Emotionally, Paul was broken by the war, at times he felt like breaking down in the arms of his mother, but he knew that was not socially acceptable. Although, Paul felt empty, he appeared strong and brave to civilians and family. He dare not
speak of how at times he was afraid or felt that his life was taken right out of his hands. On the inside, Paul had feelings that truly defined war but gave the people of Germany their desired image of a German soldier. The pressure coming from society lead Paul Baumer to his death. Paul was an 18 year old boy bright eyed and preparing for his future. Unfortunately, World War I began. Male, 18, and healthy was a death sentence. All around him, pressure broke out for him to join the war. Everyone had the expectations for Paul and all other healthy males to enlist and fight for their country. Paul could not even hesitate. His teacher spoke poetry to the boys as if war was beautiful and all Paul’s peers began to enlist. No one wants to be the odd man out so Paul followed. No one cared to explain how truly horrible war was and how it could change a man. No one explained to the boys that once they enlist they would have death hovering over their shoulders. No one explained that they would have to witness their best friends die. No, people only explained how heroic joining the army was, so Paul and his friends did as they were told. Here is where the pressure of society brought about Paul Baumer’s death. Paul died on the Western Front, but he did not have to. Paul could have not gone to war but could have gone to college and obtained a career. He could have had the life he and his friends were preparing for. If there was no outside pressure, Paul could have made the decision for himself and could have not joined. Except, there was outside pressure and Paul would have been considered a disgrace for ignoring his duty as a German citizen. It Happened to Nancy also has a major theme of peer pressure. In the teenage years there tends to be an overwhelming amount of pressure. Nancy is a young girl and girls idolize relationships and boys. Collin was Nancy’s first boyfriend and first love. Nancy’s pressure to get in a relationship came from her friends, whom continually bragged about having boyfriends while Nancy had always been single. Once she met Collin, she felt complete. Now, she had a boyfriend to talk about with her friends. Nancy was so caught up with meeting everyone’s expectations, she let her relationship with Collin spin out of control. When he raped her and left, Nancy did not know what to do. They were supposed to have the relationship everyone was jealous of. Nancy was so caught up in trying to please everyone, her friends and Collin, that she took actions she was not comfortable with. Too add, Nancy liked Collin so much and was hooked on making him happy she tried to find explanations that she was not raped. She even denied she was raped all together. At one point she wrote, “"I even bit him...but he...raped me-NO, NO, he didn't" (Sparks 24). She was upset because all she wanted to be was be the perfect girl whom everyone loved and envied. After she contracted AIDS everyone left, even her friends. The only people there for her were her family. After the disease was taking over her body everyone began to judge her. She felt she could not go out in public because she was not the girl for society’s standards. When she did go out she would cover herself and try to be happy so she was acceptable by others but she knew her body would not let her. The pressure put on Nancy lead her to her death. Nancy was a young girl, who was not really caught up in boys but her friends made her feel like an outcast. She felt she had to have a boyfriend. When she found Collin she wanted to keep him so she did anything to make him happy even if she was not comfortable with it. She drank and did intimate actions with him that she was not ready for. Nancy was so caught up with conforming to everyone’s ideals she lost herself. She knew Collin should not have been at her house alone with here but that’s what people in relationship do. Nancy knew she should not drink, but other teens drink. The outside pressure killed Nancy. She was raped and the friends she once had were gone. They were not friends at all. Real friends would never make her do things she was not comfortable with. Real friends would have stuck by her side when Nancy was fighting the battle against AIDS. Unfortunately, the pressure on Nancy was so strong she died because she was trying to please others. Clearly, there was a theme of peer pressure in All Quiet on the Western Front and It Happened to Nancy. In each novel, the pressure brought both main characters to their death. Paul was pushed to enlist by the citizens of Germany leading him to die in war. Nancy tried to please everyone by having a relationship and became a victim of AIDS by doing so. By the end the novels the characters realized they should have never gave into the pressure. Now day’s on the news there are teens killing themselves because of the fact they are being bullied for not being like everyone else. Instead of judging others for not conforming to society people should admire them for ignoring the pressure.