Examples Of Existentialism In The Prussian Officer

Generals Die in Bed certainly demonstrates that war is futile and the soldiers suffer both emotionally and physically. Charles Yale Harrison presents a distressing account of the soldiers fighting in the Western front, constantly suffering and eventually abandoning hope for an end to the horrors that they experience daily. The ‘boys’ who went to war became ‘sunk in misery’. We view the war from the perspective of a young soldier who remains nameless. The narrator’s experience displays the futility and horror of war and the despair the soldiers suffered. There is no glory in

The narrator’s background of education conflicts with the current situation of war that he is in. The narrator has “graduated in law from St. Petersburg University”, giving him higher ground among soldiers with not only the education he possess but also the moral capacity he has. His fellow soldiers are on the other side of the spectrum in relation to the narrator. They have endured the tragedy of war, giving them vulgar personalities that allows them to express ideas and thoughts with no filter: “go and mess up a lady . . . and you 'll have the boys patting you on the back”. These contrasting personalities and cultures has set up the narrator to get test his singular moral standings to fit in with the other soldiers. Otherwise, the narrator would have to endure embaressing behavior such as: “went over to my little trunk and tossed it out at the gate . . . [and] emitted a series of shameful noises”.

War has been the subject of many literary works, its use and morals often being judged harshly. However, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller heads towards a different direction, as the author tries to expose the problems of military bureaucracy. Throughout the book, the military administration is portrayed as inefficient and even corrupt, but these characteristics are most prominently expressed during Clevinger’s interrogation. Joseph Heller uses dialogue in order to satirize and bring attention to the issues plaguing the military bureaucracy.

Imagine you’re lying on the muddy, damp Earth and all around you can hear the screams of people you know dying. Shells explode, bullets race through the air, and poisonous gas seeps around you, all with the intent to harm you in some way. Yet, you willingly put yourself in that position day after day, year after year. The question surrounding this situation is, why? Who would be masochistic enough to choose to put their lives in danger and live in the most perilous environment possible? Two very different books give us insight into the thoughts of the soldiers who continuously put themselves in these environments. Your Death Would Be Mine by Martha Hanna and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque lets us into the minds of Paul Pireaud and Paul Baumer as they try to survive life as a soldier in the Great War. I argue that Pireaud and Baumer had very different reasons for continuing to fight despite having suffered beyond belief. In this paper I will analyze how the varying degrees of patriotism, brotherhood, family life at home, and age affected how these two men endured the treacherous life on the front of World War I.

There is a strong recurring theme in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22: the amoral will push the moral to either become like them or to be their victims. In a world of an oppressive bureaucracy that values career success over human life, the men of the Twenty-Seventh Airborne are pushed either to conform and accept entropy or to suffer. This theme of either succumbing or dying is highlighted especially in Milo Minderbinder and Snowden; Cathcart’s “feathers in his cap” or “black eyes; and Cathcart and Korn’s proposed deal to Yossarian.

At this point in the book, Malle has succesfully introduced to the reader a controversial theme which demands a lot of thought and consideration, as we are made aware that not all German soldiers had the same principles.

The story comes from Kesey’s own experiences working on the Graveyard shift as an orderly at a Mental Institution, where he witnessed the Bureaucratic workings of the Institution and looks at the struggle for Power and Control

Critics Nibir Ghosh, Leon Seltzer, and Sanford Pinsker argue that human behavior is corrupted and confused by fighting in wars, and that the oppressive military system is what defiles the morality of the soldiers. The three critics similarly reflect on how Heller’s satirical writing style adds to the confusion and how the rigid military structure pushes men to insanity. Ghosh and Seltzer both analyze how each man’s struggle to remain sane and alive opposes the military bureaucracy’s ideas and systems of power. Pinsker’s ideas differ slightly, because he instead analyzes how the public views the corruption and absurdity of the military after Catch 22 was written.

The definitions of honor accepted by each person are so outstandingly conflicting that the play analyzes what honor is and at what cost is honor worth obtaining. To the lawyers, honor is a punch line. To the marines at Gitmo it is a necessity to survive. To the commanding officer, Colonel Jessup, it is authorization for the strong to

All Quite on the Western Front and Storm of Steel are two of many influential pieces of literature that reflect World War one from a German point of view. It is important to note that All Quite on the Western Front is a work of fiction that is based on the events of the war, Were as Storm of Steel is memoir that is based on the events of Ernst Junger on the western front. Junger is criticized that he takes a positive stance on the war, were as Erich Remarque’s novel tries to show the reality behind the war. The two authors believed the Great war had effects on those who fought in it through the influence of their perception of the war and how new technology had changed the way it is understood. The psychological implications on the soldiers were a direct link between survival, technology and their rural life style. This phenomenon can be seen in both Remarque and Jungar’s works.

All Quiet on the Western Front and Night are two novels that talk about wars and author’s experiences. They are different in author’s perspective which All Quiet on the Western was written in a German soldier’s view and Night was in Jewish people’s view, one is the warrior and one is the victim. Despite those differences, these works share the same idea of the dehumanization of war and how it can physically and mentally affect people by using real events and ironic writing style.

William Faulkner’s novel, The Sound and the Fury, exemplifies the very meaning of an internal conflict between order and chaos through the forlorn and tragic character, Quentin Compson. Although Quentin is displayed with an outward appearance that can be described as orderly, it is apparent through his chaotic thoughts that he is overwhelmed by his ardent views on the Compson family’s honor, which was destroyed when Caddy lost her virginity.

Novels published after a major war are often the most deeply emotional, profound ruminations on human nature. The authors of these novels were once soldiers, living in fear and enduring sleepless nights. These authors channel their experiences and emotions into their work, often creating masterpieces of literature. A Farewell to Arms is one such novel. Its author, Ernest Hemingway, was in the Italian ambulance corps in World War I, much like the protagonist of A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry. The themes in A Farewell to Arms reflect his mentality and the typical soldier’s disillusionment in the institutions and values he had always held close. A Farewell to Arms explores the far-reaching disillusionment that seems to plague Frederic. The theme of Frederic Henry’s disillusionment of all that he believes in appears through his desertion of the war, the deterioration of his relationship with Catherine, and his thoughts on life.

In his 1946 essay Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre undertakes the task of defending existentialism against what he defines as “charges” (341) brought against it. Sartre begins to outline the “charges” brought against existentialism and further, existentialists. Following the medieval quaestio-form, Sartre begins with the statement of the objection, a short discussion, and then his reply to each.

The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is famous for its cyclic storyline and non-existing plot. In the lines, Beckett incorporates themes of existentialism and the loss of hope. Throughout the two acts of the play, the main protagonists, Vladimir and Estragon, spend their days waiting aimlessly for a mysterious figure named Godot. While central in the play, Godot never makes an appearance in any act, and merely exists as a name. While Pozzo and Lucky, two other characters make their appearance in each act of the play, the boy is perhaps the most mysterious and intriguing. The boy, whom appears towards the end of each act, exemplifies the never-ending cycle of the search for hope that remains unfulfilled through the use of symbolism,