Lives Of Soldiers During World War I example essay topic

A War With Different Enemies War novels previous to All Quiet On The Western Front, tend to romanticize the real conditions of the war, and the troubles faced by the soldiers. However, All Quiet On The Western Front, not only does not romanticize the terrible experiences of World War I, it also provides the reader with accurate and detailed portrayal of the horrors of the War. The author, Erich Maria Remarque does this by emphasizing several themes. The first theme is how the war affects each soldier, the second is the horrors of war, and the third is nationalism. Each of these themes allows the reader to enter deep into the minds of the soldiers who were fighting the war.

At the beginning of the novel the author states that: "This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war". (Remarque 4) Even by this beginning quote it is revealed that the author did not write this book to criticize, or to accuse, but he wrote the book to tell the story "of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war". (Remarque 4) This book in my opinion, accurately portrays how the war affects the lives of soldiers during World War 1.

It also shows how each of these young soldiers had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they enlisted in the war. They were all young and they were all na " ive. They were fighting for what they thought was their country. They fought for their families and for their freedom. Later they realized that they did not fight an "enemy"; they fought against people like them: a person with a family and a person with a life back home.

This is evident in chapter four when Paul says: "At the sound of the first droning of the shells we rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years". (Remarque 28) As Paul describes this he paints a good picture of what happened when they first encountered battle, and what happened when they realized what they were really up against. Using the phrase "in one part of our being a thousand years" (Remarque 28) paints the picture that as they experienced the shells flying past them, they were so shocked that some went back "a thousand years" (Remarque 28), as if one just forgot about everything and was not only working on instinct. The paragraph continues to say that "we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animals" (Remarque 28), meaning that as they see more and more of the war, their "fuel" is no longer patriotism, love of country, or anything except the will to survive. They unconsciously rely on instinct to survive.

This point is further demonstrated by Paul when he engages in killing the Frenchman Duval. After killing him Paul finds out that the man like him had a family, and he then fully realizes that the man is not his true enemy. He even says: "Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?" (Remarque 100) However, Paul feels terrible, because he knows that this realization has come "too late", and that not everyone has realized this. When he first saw the Frenchman he saw "an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response...

I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle"; (Remarque 100). Paul went by what he was taught, and he was taught to view a person of a different uniform or a different country as an enemy, not as just another human being. This is what I think is an important part to understand about any war. The people that go and fight are going there because they believe in something that was taught to them by others.

Paul in the story went to war so that he could defend his country. He made this decision after the long talk that the teacher had with the class. They were told that their country is superior and that they must show. They were not told that when they go to battle the odds of dying are incredibly high, or how much anguish they will feel after killing someone. Simply they were told to fight, and in their young minds they believed in the cause they fighting for so much, that they overlooked the fact that they would be killing another human being.

Another "poor devils like [Paul]" (Remarque 100), another man who has a family and a child. I think that if people could try to understand that when fighting a war for your country, all you are fighting for is pride, and it is not worth it, then the world would be more peaceful. If people viewed each other as just another "poor devil", instead of an American, or a French, or a Canadian, then people would see how pointless and hurtful a war really is, and how it is not worth it. All through the book Remarque does an incredibly good job, of characterizing the everyday horrors faced by soldiers on the front line during World War 1. He not only portrays the physical strain of the war, but also the mental strain and confusion of the war, faced by each soldier. Even early in the book the author shows us this, when we learn that Kemmerich is in the hospital dying, and when Paul and his friends go to visit him.

M"ulcer, upon learning that Kemmerich will die, asks for his boots. "M"ulcer is delighted at the sight of them. He matches their soles against his own clumsy boots... ".

(Remarque 11). M"ulcer is happy to see a good pair of boots that unlike his current boots, will not give him blisters. Unfortunately the boots were "his [Kemmerich's] most prized possessions". (Remarque 11) He found it very hard to let go of them, even though there was a chance that he would not use them.

Later in this same chapter Paul is thinking about how the boots would really benefit M"ulcer, and how "the orderlies will of course grab them as soon as he is dead" (Remarque 11) so he knows that in order to get the boots, they have to come right after Kemmerich is dead. This incident is one that took a hard toll on each soldier, since it was their first dead comrade, and this incident did directly involve any gunfire, or threat. These soldiers were no "more than twenty years old", and to be able to face the shock of the war, they knew that "only the facts are real and important for [them]" (Remarque 13), just as Paul realized after the boots incident. The third message sent in this book is a little controversial.

As stated before the author at the beginning of the book said that: "This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession... ". (Remarque 3). However throughout the book, the author conveys his anger towards the war through the thoughts and actions of the main character Paul. Throughout the book there are times when Paul says things that could be interpreted as blame, or an accusation, but the author goes just far enough to let the reader decide for themselves. An example is when Paul says: "Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony...

". (Remarque 100). He says this to the French soldier Duval, whom he has just killed. This can be interpreted as him blaming those that convinced him to enlist in the first place. He is blaming them for not telling him that what he is fighting for is not worth the price. It is not worth all the lives that will be shattered.

The Frenchman he stabbed has died, and now the lives of his mother his sister, and his wife will be changed forever. Another instance in this book when Paul's words could be taken as blame is when he says: "For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity... to the future... in our hearts we trusted them. 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. We had to recognize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs... The first bombardment showed us our mistake, and under it the world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces".

(Remarque 10) In this passage he talks about how the older generation has failed them, and has let them down, by making them fight a war for ideals of nationalism and nobility. As the book progresses Paul starts to see more and more of how the older generation has let them down, and to this he reacts with resentment and contempt. The passage above could be interpreted as culpability of the older generation that was willing to let. ".. lads of eighteen... ". (Remarque 10) fight a war for glory, but without actually experiencing any combat themselves. To Paul the older generation failed them, because they trusted them to be "mediators and guides to the world of maturity... to the future" (Remarque 10), and now he realized that the "world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces.

(Remarque 10) " With this line he concludes that now it is up to him, and his comrades to see what is really right, and what is really wrong, for they cannot trust the elders anymore. I think that Paul is right to feel betrayed and confused, about who to trust. As the book progresses more and more of Paul classmates perish. Those that are still alive are going through hell just because of the condition of the trenches and just the war itself.

The older generation wanted Paul's generation to fight a war, to make them more superior than other countries. This war had nothing to do with fighting for the good of their country, or for the freedom of their country, but instead they were fighting for the self-importance of their country. The elder generation was willing to sacrifice its young men for the ideals of nationalism. After seeing all that was happening in the war, Paul realized that the real enemies were the people in his country that were willing to let him fight for such ideals. After realizing this, Paul, and many others, killed to keep from being killed. All Quiet On The Western Front is a book which is not intended to tell a pleasant tale of how World War 1 was.

It is a book, which tells the reader the entire story, whether it is dreadful or satisfying. The author Erich Maria Remarque does an incredible job describing its characters, and their beliefs, which helps us further understand the story. The emphasis of the three different themes is really helpful in getting the reader to understand exactly what happened. In telling us the horrors of the war we sympathize with the soldiers that fought on the front line, and we see that they were all the same. They were young men and women that were fighting a war in which the "world as [it] had [been] taught to [them] broke in pieces". (Remarque 10) The survivors of the war, would have to face the war, and its atrocities for the rest of their lives.

They had to find a way to detach from those experiences, or they would not survive. Overall I really enjoyed the way the book was written by Erich Maria Remarque. Although there are times when he might accuse certain groups of people for encouraging the young men to go to war, he does not do it in a way that directly blames a certain group. He tells the facts as they are and let's the reader take it as it is.