Does Suicide Ever Worth It To Die For A Cause?

Penned during two distinctly disparate eras in American military history, both Erich Maria Remarque's bleak account of trench warfare during World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Tim O'Brien's haunting elegy for a generation lost in the jungles of Vietnam, The Man I Killed, present readers with a stark reminder that beneath the veneer of glorious battle lies only suffering and death. Both authors imbue their work with a grim severity, presenting the reality of war as it truly exists. Men inflict grievous injuries on one another, breaking bodies and shattering lives, without ever truly knowing for what or whom they are fighting for. With their contributions to the genre of war literature, both Remarque and O'Brien have sought to lift the veil of vanity which, for so many wartime writers, perverts reality with patriotic fervor. In doing so, the authors manage to convey the true sacrifice of the conscripted soldier, the broken innocence which clouds a man's first kill, and the abandonment of one's identity which becomes necessary in order to kill again.

The readers of the article “Liberating the First Nazi Camp,” an interview with Jim Martin, WWII veteran will begin to understand the personal hardships that service members experienced through the war. In the given article the reader can begin to see just how bad the conditions where for people that opposed the Third Reich, and where thrown into these concentration camps. The interview also show the haste that the Nazis would get into when the Allied forces, leaving helpless victims in the gas chambers, hastily executing them via machine gun, and even storing the remains in warehouse to be disposed of at a later time. The article also shows a more human side of the rough and tough solider who literally had to do this depressing job every single

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

Don’t leave me here alone.’ The narrator simply shakes him off and moves on. The soldiers have been trained like beasts and they have been dehumanised; they have been taught that no life is to be spared. Death is now the norm and they have been desensitized to it. The narrator relates an incident where he volunteers for a raid on the German trenches. He experiences much trauma; he kills a soldier, Karl. Karl’s death is terrible- the bayonet is trapped in Karl and eventually the narrator has to shoot him. When he returns to the trenches with two German prisoners he tries to suppress what has happened: ‘It is better not to think’. The narrator knows that he would indubitably go insane if he thinks about his action. Karl’s death epitomizes the fact that soldiers on both sides are killed in horrific way for no discernible reason. There is definitely nothing glorious or heroic about war.

The First World War, or the ill-named War to End all Wars, was one that brought hell to Earth and mankind. For the first time in history, industry had appeared to make killing efficient. In static trenches, young men from around the world were killed by artillery kilometres away, poison gas, and disease. All nations in the conflict experienced the creation of a Lost Generation; men who lost their lives, limbs, or the ability to live a normal life. Paul Baumer, the young German protagonist of All Quiet on the Western Front becomes a member of this sad generation through his sad journey to the ultimate elixir, death. In Erich Remarque’s magnum opus All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer is faced by various emotionally jarring tests that serve as a catalyst for his inner decline and eventual elixir. Paul is faced with a fearsome French bombardment and offensive, a hand-to-hand killing of a Frenchman, Gerard Duval, and the death of his mentor and father figure, Stanislaus Katczinsky. For a young man just out of secondary school, in fact, any person in general, these events lead to a loss of hope and a lost future.

“When a man has seen so many dead he cannot understand any longer why there should be so much anguish over a single individual.” (Remarque, 181) During the war, many soldiers often become desensitized and refuse to acknowledge the emotions they would usually feel when a friend or comrade dies. The war causes them to have a feeling of loss; they lose their emotions and friends; they lose a part of themselves during the war. There are so many deaths every day that it makes them have to move on quickly; moreover, if the soldiers were to think about every single death that occurred, they would become deranged. Paul, the main character from Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on The Western Front, and Roland Gerard Garvin, known as Ged, a

Humanity relentlessly finds a reason to tear itself apart. The slaughter of man is read about almost daily and one never typically thinks twice about it; however, when the lackluster conditions of others’ lives throughout time is conveyed via a novel or movie, we are forced to delve into the lives of those who fought tirelessly for their beliefs – even if “their beliefs” are actually society’s beliefs and are not correlated to their own. Prime exemplum of soldiers fighting for differing causes, such as an attempt to save the sliver of humanity remaining in them, is demonstrated in Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front through Paul Bäumer in the film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier: Stalingrad by Lieutenant Hans von Witzland. While both protagonists suffer brutal warfare and die in the end of their works, their attempts to transcend the dehumanization of war may be one of the few reasons that the characters survive as long as they do.

The Roman poet Horace famously wrote, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” Many have pondered these words, the meaning of which being, “It is sweet and fitting to die for your country.” In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, German soldiers begin to realize that these words may not be as perspicacious as they appear. In the first five chapters of the novel, the ideas of war being noble and soldiers gallant are quickly thrown out the window as the reader is introduced to France’s notorious front lines during the First World War. Remarque uses a shocking first person narrative and realistic tone to show the reader that in reality, soldiers are nothing more than children who have gone to fight without the faintest of ideas

I would agree with you that, these soldiers fought and died with honor. For my understanding that, during the time of World War I is that young men and boys seen it has an honor to server their country during times of war. Almost as a rite of passage in becoming a man and some would even enlist before they were eligible. Thanks for sharing.

(Pinker) For instance, Glover’s description of the horrors in My Lai (Vietnam) will resonate with any reader well after he or she have finished the novel: “They [the American troops] burnt down every house. They raped women and girls and killed them. They stabbed some women in the vagina and disemboweled others… Pregnant women had their stomachs slashed open and were left to die” (Glover 58). Although for some, the My Lai Massacre may seem less important than the Holocaust, for example, because of the smaller number of deaths, Glover does not see it that way. In his eyes, it does not matter how many deaths there were; just the mere fact that humans have let themselves do such obscene acts to other human beings is what matters. But what is even more important than those past events is how humanity, as a whole, can stop events such as the My Lai Massacre from ever happening again.

Many boys at the time believed they were fighting just for the idea and feeling of pride. In a poem written during this era, George M. Cohan says, “Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit, Yankees to the ranks from the towns and the tanks, Make your mother proud of you, And the old Red White and Blue” (Over There). When Cohan says “old Red, White and Blue, he expresses the idea of pride through patriotism. This mentality persuaded many young boys to join the war effort. Marketing for war was at an all time high at this point and shown by the amount of boys that enlisted. Once these boys have entered the war, and have faced and seen things they will never be able to forget, their minds and morals become flawed; Remarque explains, “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation...no longer do we lie helpless on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves, to save ourselves and be revenged” (All Quiet 113). When Remarque says “to save ourselves” to show how the war quickly changed the boys’ original thoughts of them fighting for their country to now fighting for their own lives. To understand this concept, you have to first realize that these men fight for the same side, but also grasp the fact that they fight for survival. When Paul confesses to Kemmerich’s mother about her son’s death he thinks to himself, “When a man has seen so many dead he cannot begin to understand any longer why there should be so much anguish over a single individual” (All Quiet 181). When Erich says “so many dead” and “single individual” it truly shows the effects of dehumanization on each of the men. They don’t retain any more basic feelings like sympathy,

The idea of patriotism is a subjective ideology. One maybe patriotic for putting his national flag outside his house, while another man is called patriotic for fighting for his nation. This love for one’s homeland is one that is natural and not all may possess such affection. However, during the reign of the German empire in the early 1900’s we see from historical evidence that patriotism was not a natural emotion that came about, however it was embedded into the mind of the citizens from a young age. “Love for the Furor and death for the Furor” was an idea preached like religion in Germany. As we can see in the novel All quiet on the Western Front and the movie Stalingrad both the main character, “Paul Baumer” and “Lt Hans von Witzland” respectively, succumbed to the patriotic ideas being spread and entered into an experience they did not expected. Within both the novel and the movie the respective authors aimed to portray the brutal image of world war one and two from the eyes of German officers. Although the novel focuses on world war 1 within the western front and the movie focuses on world war 2 on the eastern front we can see a contrast on the experiences of both the main characters of the novel and movie. From how they enter with high patriotic heads and leave in dreaded dismay. Within both stories I feel the authors have given a realistic understanding of the transition both characters faced emotionally and mentally.

Throughout cinema history, war films have played a monumental part in influencing audience’s perspectives on war, and I hope to do the same with my own dramatization of the traumas of war. Sicherheit (Collateral) is a German short film, drawing inspiration from real stories of devastation following World War 2, in order to confront modern audiences with real consequences of war and brutality. The film follows the memories of a young German mother whose son became a casualty of the second World War. A mother, Edeline Traurig, and her son Izaak Traurig play through past memories in which life seems bright and fresh, juxtaposing the brutality of the war outside their Berlin home during the period of WW2.

The morbid, ugly universe that is war desecrates the greatest of human virtues (bravery, honesty, kindness, etc.) in Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children. Eilif, Mother Courage’s brave son, joins the army, much to his mother’s dismay, which is when she decides to tell her children’s fortunes. She tells her children that their virtues will be the end of them; nonetheless, they do not attempt to change their fortunes. Sure enough, Eilif is persecuted for stealing a cow during a break in the war (this behavior that was considered brave during the war). Swiss Cheese, the honest son, is shot for trying to return a stolen cash box. Kattrin is shot while warning a town of an impending invasion. Mother Courage warned her children to be wary of their virtues, but none of them could change their ways or their destinies. In this way, Brecht emphasizes the disillusionment of war.

“That’s thirty!” Sergeant Bought boomed the death rate over the loud speaker. As I tried to comfort my brother, Steven, who had just been shot in the leg. Steven was out of the trenches hiding behind a rock trying to shot down some of the German soldiers when he was shot. His blood was slowly pouring out onto his and my uniform. I know he won’t last long. I know I have to say my goodbyes now. I know this is now the third brother I’ve lost. I know that I will be the one of the last ones standing in this war.