Erich Maria Paper PDF

Preview

Summary

Erich Maria Paper...

Description

Dias 1 Professor Marek Suszko HIST 102.14 November 5th 2019 All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque clearly the First World War and all of its scandalizing events. The writer exposes crucial information that depicts the reality of the war. Such an approach has been omitted in previously published works, which is why Remarque´s novel turns heads and pages. The novel narrates the experiences of Paul Baumer, a teenager who joins the military at the early age of 17. Remarque utilizes Paul to describe the tumultuous lifestyle and excitement that comes with army recruitment, and the later anguish and pain suffered by the soldiers he fought side by side. Remarque engages Paul Baumer in an interview that provides much of the revelations presented in the novel. The revelations help Remarque criticize the anthems of nationalism and patriotism that push many young men into war fields where they leave either dead or suffering, with permanent physical and mental injuries. The vivid narrations presented in the novel help transform the perceptions individuals have of war in paradoxical ways. In the end, readers find it quite beneficial for the nation to engage in other methods of conflict resolution that minimize the anguish that comes with waging wars against each other. Many lessons are given light in this novel that can shape humanity and are still applicable in the present. The period after the First World War was characterized by the publishing of material that sought to record the events of the war, its causes, consequences, costs, and the way forward for each of the nations involved. At the beginning of the war, many

Dias 2 countries gladly sent their troops into war zones to form allies and fight opponents. This happiness and gung-ho attitude, however, would soon fade away as the war progress and became more deadly. The harrowing events that resulted from the battles instilled pain and fear among military men to the extent that countries vowed never to engage in war again. Remarque’s novel narrates the life of Paul Baumer with the aim of convincing readers that wars have catastrophic effects on the lives of individuals and, most notably, soldiers. Baumer is a young man that has recently been signed into the military together with a number of his classmates. At first, the youngster identifies that life was fun. However, it did not take long for the situation to change drastically. Every moment they spent at the war in the front was a moment of risk. Their bodies could face devastating injuries at any moment, and their lives could be blown to smithereens. Paul narrates that enemies would ambush them, and they would escape with injuries while the unlucky ones would get killed. “We see men living with their skulls blown open; we see soldiers run with their two feet cut off, they stagger on their splintered stumps into the next shell-hole; a lance-corporal crawls a mile and a half on his hands dragging his smashed knee after him; another goes to the dressing station and over his clasped hands bulge his intestines; we see men without mouths, without jaws, without faces we find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death (Remarque 134)”. Such harrowing events were quite common in the war fields, and it reached a point where soldiers would try to escape from military camps. The move was risky and almost impossible as several soldiers were executed immediately. Not only were the soldiers

Dias 3 physically injured, but they also suffered severe mental issues. This exemplifies the true gruesomeness of war that Remarque attempts to unveil through her novel, offering eerie insight into war-like events. The novel also depicts how the First World War gradually evolved from a small bickering into an enormous global event that made Earth shudder to its core. At first, the Germans thought that the war would take the least time possible, have minimal casualties, and manipulate their opponents into accepting the offers that they brought to the table. However, this was not the case as Remarque describes in the novel. The First World War developed both on a philosophical level as well as on a technical one. Through Paul, Remarque can deliver this hidden reality of the war. At first, Paul enjoys performing military duties, and he fancies that the encounters will be smooth until the end of his course with the military. However, as the novel progresses, his tone also changes. Paul narrates how hard it was to find joy at the war front. Many soldiers were killed, and those that survived were physically injured. The changing scope of the war front necessitated the implementation of better strategies that would limit the death of troops. Besides, the development of military technology saw the introduction of more improved military equipment such as guns, aircraft, and tanks, maximizing the amount of casualties. The way Remarque depicts the adverse physical and mental effects that the war had on soldiers helps transform how the world perceived the First World War. By the end of the novel, it is clear that Germany and many other countries were convinced that war is a horrific way of ending conflicts. However, war still remains a galvanizing force for pushing agendas, as the Second World War happens only shortly after the first.

Dias 4 Remarque challenges nationalism and patriotism as the elements that led to the loss of many soldiers’ lives, and the permanent destruction of those that survived. Remarque identifies that soldiers regretted ever wasting their young lives in the war fronts. Most of the individuals recruited into the army were quite young and lacked the tactical experience needed at war fronts. Besides, generals failed to employ strategies that minimize human casualties. “But on the last day an astonishing number of English field guns opened up on us with high-explosive, drumming ceaselessly on our position, so that we suffered heavily and came back only eighty strong (Remarque 4).” At some point, Paul describes that together with his comrades, they felt that there was the need for the implementation of better strategies that would prevent countries from waging war against each other. Remarque provides the interpretation that such disagreements, which are between only a few of the senior officials of the warring nations, should be sought amongst the leaders rather than the top officials sending troops to conflict zones. Sending military forces to such life-threatening missions is an abuse of the true meanings of nationalism and patriotism. As revealed in the novel, none of the soldiers felt patriotic after witnessing the butchering of their colleagues at the war fields. Most of the soldiers that survived the war had to cope with permanent disabilities of PTSD. “I breathe deeply and say over to myself: "You are at home; you are at home." But a sense of strangeness will not leave me, I can find nothing of myself in all these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there is my case of butterflies, and there is the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a veil between us (Remarques 127). Besides, since most of the veterans were quite young during their

Dias 5 recruitment into the war, they found it hard to integrate fully into the society as they had lost contact with childhood friends. In conclusion, All Quiet on the Western Front provides one of the most vivid narrations of the experiences of soldiers at the war front. The First World War led to the loss of lives of thousands of soldiers and the destruction of property of untold wealth. The horrific experiences of the war, as narrated in the novel, transformed the perception of the world towards war. Remarque helps readers discover that there are better ways of dealing with conflict that have less negative impacts on the lives of individuals. Despite the lessons learned from the First World War, it did not take long for nations to engage in the Second World War that began in 1939. Remarque does a commendable job in narrating the reality of the war fronts in a manner that had not been done by previous writers.

Work Cited Remarque, Erich Maria. "All Quiet on the Western Front. 1928. Reprint." (1982)....