Preview

Life beyond words

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2288 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Life beyond words
All other expressions lie in a winter sleep, life is simply one continual watch against the menace of death; – it has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct – it has reinforced us with dullness, so that we do not go to pieces before the horror, which would overwhelm us if we had clear, conscious thought. (11.6)

Do you perceive Paul and his compatriots to be "unthinking animals?" When is Paul writing this account? He must write it as a soldier, and, therefore, he is not an "unthinking animal," but a very reflective human, in our opinion.
Mortality Theme

All other expressions lie in a winter sleep, life is simply one continual watch against the menace of death; – it has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct – it has reinforced us with dullness, so that we do not go to pieces before the horror, which would overwhelm us if we had clear, conscious thought. (11.6)

Do you perceive Paul and his compatriots to be "unthinking animals?" When is Paul writing this account? He must write it as a soldier, and, therefore, he is not an "unthinking animal," but a very reflective human, in our opinion.
Mortality Theme

All other expressions lie in a winter sleep, life is simply one continual watch against the menace of death; – it has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct – it has reinforced us with dullness, so that we do not go to pieces before the horror, which would overwhelm us if we had clear, conscious thought. (11.6)

Do you perceive Paul and his compatriots to be "unthinking animals?" When is Paul writing this account? He must write it as a soldier, and, therefore, he is not an "unthinking animal," but a very reflective human, in our opinion.
Mortality Theme

All other expressions lie in a winter sleep, life is simply one continual watch against the menace of death; – it has transformed us into unthinking animals in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Another reason Bybanks is important to to Sal, is the swimming hole. Sal moves to Euclid and gets to the house. Sal is mad that Euclid does not have one of the same stuff as they do in Bybanks that there is no swimming hole at the new house.On page 10 Sharon Creech says “No swimming hole,no barn,no cows,no chickens,no pigs. Since the swimming hole is so important to Sal she wants the swimming hole to be back. Along with the barn. The cows. The chickens. And the pigs. Since Sal reminds us of the all this stuff that means it must be important to sal and her mom and even her…

    • 113 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The storm has died away, and still we are restless, uneasy, as if the storm were about to break. Almost all the affairs of men remain in a terrible uncertainty. We think of what has disappeared, and we are almost destroyed by what has been destroyed; we do not know what will be born, and we fear the future, not without reason… Doubt and disorder are in us and with us. There is no thinking man, however shrewd or learned he may be, who can hope to dominate this anxiety, to escape from, this impression of darkness.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Paul's character is majorly influenced by Keller throughout the course of the book. It is through Keller, that Paul learns many valuable lessons in life, however, ironically, he does not realise it at the time, "you are pig-ignorant Paul". A very self-centred charater, Paul believes that he is capable of anything and is quite arrogant about it. Only afterwards, looking back, does Paul realise how stupid he had been, "His echoes were always an immense improvement and this also - in my youthful arrogance - I decided was mechanical" One of the major personality traits of Paul is that he is never quite perfect, never quite all there, he seems to be one step away from the action. This theme is revisited throughout the book. For example, when Paul is spying, through a gap between books, on the couple having sex in the aisle next to him, it symbolises that he is always on the outside, almost…

    • 649 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Sharpness of Death explores differing perspectives on death and its irrefutable link with life, encouraging contemporary readers to question their value of death and develop a judgement on the poem and Harwood’s poetry as a whole. Part one of the poem establishes the personas desire to bargain with death, through the demanding tone that is used to address it, “Leave me alone.” For the contemporary reader, this highlights the desperation to evade death, something many modern responders are able to identify with. As the poem continues, Harwood renders the philosophers attempts to undermine death through analysis, as meaningless. The use of the oxymoron “complex logic,” highlights the futility of this act, suggesting that death cannot be explained, only experienced. This challenges the value of attempting to understand death for the responder as even those considered the most intelligent living, cannot…

    • 1625 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because of this the sobering reality of realizing that one must stay within certain boundaries of reality or get assimilated by society. It’s problematic when one cog in a machine does not function as the rest of them do, so one simply replaces that. It is an allegory for death so that when you die you may not be missed workload wise because someone will be there to take your place, and while seeming cold and mechanical it really stresses the inherent value to live everyday to the fullest. If the eventuality is death and since one does not know if there is anything after that, one should be able to be strange within the confines of social protocol and enjoy their life before it invariably…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This quote relates to the theme that spending time in the war changes who you are and how you think. This is shown when Paul begins to compare his company to animals. He uses animalistic imagery to do this. The claustrophobic recruit referred to in this quote can't stand being in the trench for another second. He begins to listen to reason, but then, his emotions get the better of him. Being out on the front has caused the recruit to act differently than he otherwise would have. The stress and fear caused him to snap.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Being that Paul and his friends are still teenagers, they can crack jokes and banter with each other during the hardest of times. “But by far the most important result was that it awakened in us a strong, practical sense of esprit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war-comradeship” (26-27). The french word, esprit de corps, translates to “Spirit of Men” which is very relative to the story. The only way to survive mentally and emotionally is to take comfort from fellow men, otherwise, one would lose their minds. As Paul sees the effects of war, his friends remind him that they will be there for each other as a “pact”and they can all make light of the horrors of war. Knowing that you have the support from your friends is a comforting thought, especially to remember whilst serving on the battlefield. “I open his collar and place his head more comfortably...I climb down, take out my handkerchief, spread it out, push it under and scoop up the yellow water that strains through into the hollow of my hand. He gulps it down. I fetch some more. Then, I unbutton his tunic…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Paul’s thoughts on his youth are “And even if these scenes of our youth were given back to us we would hardly know what to do.” An immense amount of Paul and other soldiers’ youth was taken away from them too soon, even if these scenes of youth were given back to them they could not regain the old intimacy with these scenes. This quote also shows Paul’s loss of innocence. Paul has become wiser during the war, but this wisdom is leaving him with no hope in his future. Paul also says that if the scenes of their youth were given back to them “...it would be like gazing at a photograph of a dead comrade…” This quote shows how much Paul misses his youth but there is no way for him to connect with it. Youth and innocence is nowhere to be found for Paul and other…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    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…

    • 1703 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this quote, Paul describes what was going through his fellow soldiers and his mind as they enter the war. Remarque also writes that soldier in the war is being dehumanised, the word “automatons”was used to describe the soldiers suggesting that they have been turned into a robot like figure being programmed to only kill the opponent.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To survive the war, soldiers have to sacrifice any logical instinct or emotion and fight on animal instinct. They start out level-minded, but when they reach the front all that changes, as Paul believes when he says, “We march up, moody or good tempered soldiers – we reach the zone where the front begins and become on instinct human animals” (56). This animal instinct is necessary for their survival. When they are put in a situation concerning warfare, their mind adapts to the environment and begins to think of the enemy as targets, rather than human beings. It is simply a defensive mechanic that allows them to save themselves without the feeling of guilt. Paul’s opinion is that, “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation…No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves; to save ourselves and be revenged” (113). They are so preoccupied with fighting and staying alive, that their emotions completely disappear. This is proven by Paul’s thoughts: “If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him”…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is an appeal by a son to his dying father. The son wants his father to fight against death arguing that even on our death beds, “old age should burn and rage at the close of day”.(line 2) The main character in W.D. Valgardson’s short story “God is Not a Fish Inspector” does not share this perspective on life and death.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death is inevitable. No matter how much an individual clings to life hoping and wishing to escape death, death always follows. Yet, in the presence of those who cling to life, there are individuals who accept that death is a part of life. Those individuals realize that from the moment of birth death is inevitable. In light of these two polar responses to death I find it important to try to understand the concept of “good death.” For the purpose of this short essay I will not dive into whether death is good. For now I will only explore the fluidity of “good death” by highlighting specific attitudes that have endured over the past 150 years and offer personal suggests for why I think these attitudes have persisted.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    * P 132 - ... Hunger and death have numbered our spirits. It is as if we have lost all our energy for life.…

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death In Culture

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Death is a necessity to culture and society therefore it is irrational to fear the unenviable and the necessary. Death whether physical or non-physical will always cause change. The change that is caused by death does not always have to be direct but can manifest itself as an indirect change. Throughout time societies have risen and fallen, times changes, nothing is ever going to stay the same. Death is a factor that will impact everyone who is alive as they will meet death. As society’s change and cultures evolve so do the people; to keep change occurring death must ensue for creation to occur. Society’s and cultures depend on death. Death is the drive of progression which drives society’s and cultures to get farther from the unetible death.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays