yoma
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war is an idealistic and romantic character. The story centers on Paul Baümer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm. But in the course of war, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope." Through Baümer, Remarque examines how war makes man inhuman. He uses excellent words and phrases to describe crucial details to this theme. "The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts." Baümer and his classmates who enlisted into the army see the true reality of the war. They enter the war fresh from school, knowing nothing except the environment of hopeful youth and they come to a premature maturity with the war, their only home. "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. We are not youth any longer." They have lost their in
"We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers-we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant animals." The fate of Baümer and the fate of all soldiers depends on their faith in their primal instincts. "The menace of death has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct..." His instinct protects him from the madness and the horror of mutilation. He says "...We have become wild beasts. We do not fight... we defend ourselves against annihilation." It is survival of the fittest; killed or be killed. Baümer not only believes this but also reinforces this idea with every shot he that fires and every man he that kills. nocents. Everything they are taught, "the world of work, duty, culture, and progress" are not the slightest use to them because the only thing they need to know is how to survive. They need to know how to escape the shells as well as the emotional and psychological torment of the war. Every shell that falls, every shot that fires, a soldier must face the possible certainty of death. To Baümer, death carries hand grenades and a bayonet, and a rifle really to take what he has long protected-his life. Whenever he looks into the eyes of an enemy soldier, he does not see a man, but sees death staring back at him. What can you do but fight back? He can not and will not coexist with you. It does not matter that he is a man of your same distinction; it does not matter if he has a mother, a father, a sister or a brother. All that matters is that he wants to take your life. The only way for you to liv
Some topics in this essay:
Baümer Baümer,
Baümer Remarque,
Western Front,
Englishman American,
Paul Baümer,
quiet western front,
Quiet Western,
western front,
quiet western,
shot fires,
war experienced,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 1069
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
CUSTOMER SERVICES
| |
|
Example Essays Home
