Paul In All Quiet On The Western Front

On page 206, when the death of Paul happened on October 1918, shows you how his parent lost more than they gained. “He fell in October 1918” also “he has fallen forward and lay on the earth as though sleeping. Turning him over one saw that he couldn’t have suffered long. His face has an expression of calm as though almost glad the end had come” (206). This shows me that even though Paul is dead he was at peace when he died. Not only did his parent loose a son, but the others that were in the war lost a good dear friend. But

Paul regrets his decision and feels remorse for the man that he has killed; his thoughts show his intact humanity and sensitivity to death, especially in hand-to-hand combat. Paul does not discriminate against men just because of which side they are on; they are all humans, and they feel pain just like he does. Showing empathy towards the horses and each other demonstrates the preservation of the soldiers' humanity. It is possible to think that in All Quiet on the Western Front, soldiers have lost their humanity to the war because of the soldiers' fight or flight adrenaline on the front lines. When Paul is fighting the French soldiers in his trench, he and his comrades fight like demons: “Faces are disorted, arms strike out, and the beasts scream; we stop in time to avoid attacking one another” (Remarque 108).

This is what all young men of his generation have experienced, men on both sides of the war. During Paul's stay in the hospital, he has a lot of time to reflect on not only how he has lost his youth on the battlefield, but also on how life might be when the war is

In chapter 5 of All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, the war ruined the futures of the soldiers: “We had to fly from ourselves. From our life. We...had begun to love life; and we had to shoot it to pieces” (87-88). Paul knows that their lives were just starting, they could have done anything. This dream was extinguished when they became involved with the war. Everyone had told them this was courageous and would complete their lives with the fulfillment of serving their country. Only, all it had done was destroy their futures.

Many of Paul's fellow army men do not survive. After the loss of Paul's closest friends,

The book All Quiet on the Western Front is narrated in first person by the character named Paul Baumer, who shares his experiences on the battlefield during the final two years of the war. Paul is a German soldier who tells the story as he lives it, in the trenches, and on the frontline. Paul is a compassionate, intelligent and sensitive young man who loves his family more than anything and enjoys reading and writing poetry on his free time. Throughout the book, these character traits of Paul vanish because of the horror of the war and the anxiety it brings to him. Paul learns that death is normal and he becomes unable to grieve over the loss of his friends in the war. Paul becomes bitter and depressed throughout the war as he is unable to remember how it feels to be happy and safe.

Tim O’Brien expresses the theme ‘Fear can be expressed in many different ways’ in his story by having his characters Paul Berlin, and Buffalo (Toby), explain how Billy Watkins died. This allowed us to know the reaction of main character Private Paul Berlin who was amused by the situation simply because he was afraid of the same fate. O’Brien used Paul Berlin, irony, and setting to give a feeling of resemblances in the story, along with opposites. Paul Berlin was played to be the main character of Tim O’Brien’s “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy?,” giving you an idea of what he was feeling throughout the entire writing. He was new to war, it was obvious he was nervous and afraid, and that’s what lead to the theme.

While on leave, Paul also visits his father and some of his father's friends, but does not wish to speak to them about the war. The men are "curious [about the war] in a way that [Paul finds] stupid and distressing." They try to imagine what war is like but they have never experienced it for themselves, so they cannot see the reality of it. When Paul tries to state his opinion, the men argue that "[he] sees only [his] general sector so [he is] not able to judge." These men believe they know more about the war and this makes Paul feel lost. He realizes that "they are different men here, men [he] can not understand..." and Paul wants to be back with those he can relate to, his fellow soldiers. Paul wishes he had never gone on leave because out there "[he] was a soldier, but [at home] he is nothing but an agony to himself." When Paul returns to the battlefield, he is excited to be with his comrades. When he sees his company, "[Paul] jumps up, pushes in amongst them, [his] eyes searching," until he finds his friends. It is then

When someone thinks of war, it is usually the uniform, the pride, that comes to mind. The aftermath of war, to those who do not know much about it, will come as a surprise. In the movie, All Quiet on the Western Front, the character, Paul Baumer, enters the war as an innocent person; with no idea on the effects, it may have on him. In the beginning of the movie Paul is shown as an innocent eighteen-year-old teenage boy who likes to draw and read. It is when he enters military training that his innocence starts to wither away. During military training, Paul no longer does what he likes to do, and only spends his time training on how to become a good German soldier. During training, Paul is tortured by his training officer, Corporal Himmelstoss.

He states that when he goes home, his family will be shocked to hear this language. Paul treats his lingual freedom as privilege that soldiers have, and shows the benefits of living a soldier’s life. He refers to the front as if it were a paradise, for he can use vulgar language and not worry about manners and decorum. He treats his service as a time for relaxation, recreation, and a little excitement. This attitude becomes short-lived as the realities of war sink in. When Paul volunteers for reconnaissance one night, he becomes stranded in No Man’s Land (the area between opposing trenches) and begins to realize the brutality of war and starts to lose his own humanity. At the beginning of the book, Paul shows care towards his fellow soldiers and treats his service as an adventure by his education of the recruits and his excitement towards the boundaries of his vocabulary.

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul is morphed from an innocent child into a war veteran who has a new look on society. Paul used to have a carefree life where he was able to be a kid, but when he enlisted into the army it all changed. Paul became a person whose beliefs were changed because of the war. Paul doesn't believe in society anymore especially parents, elders, and school, which used to play a big part in his life. He changed his beliefs because society does not really understand how bad war really is and pushed many young men, who were not ready, into the army. Paul connects with his fellow soldiers because they are going through the same situation and

The French soldier dies an agonizingly painful and prolonged death; his gurgling and whimpering haunting Paul, but when the soldier finally dies, the resulting silence is even more haunting and debilitating. “Paul describes the trenches, the shelling, the screams of wounded horses and men, the poison gas attack, and the rain that drenches everything. [He] describes the tension and the horror of a major battle, with the confusion, the noise, and death turning the soldiers into numbed, unthinking machines.” (All). Paul recognizes how war forces people to think and act in ways that differ from their values and beliefs, as they are desperate to survive. Remarque uses imagery and sensory details to skillfully formulate a raw and grisly atmosphere that leaves no aspect hidden. Towards the end of the novel, many of Paul’s comrades have died, and he is the only person left in his class who is alive. He expresses the desolation and misery he feels, “I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear.” (Remarque 295). Paul has nothing left to lose at this point, so he faces his enemies free of fear and obligation to return back to his friends and his home. His sorrowful tone conveys his indifference towards death and his desire

"A wounded soldier? I shout to him-no answer- must be dead." The dead body has fallen out the coffin and the coffin has been unearthed because of the shelling. Even the dead and buried cannot rest in peace during this war. This just adds to the horror of the situation Paul is in.

Yet another example of the brutalization and dehumanization of the soldiers caused by the war occurs during Paul’s leave. On leave, Paul decides to visit his hometown. While there, he finds it difficult to discuss the war and his experiences with anyone. Furthermore, Paul struggles to fit in at home: “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 cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a

Similar to the convergence of physical issues, the soldiers had a similar emotional trauma experienced. The mass death that was a consequence of the physical carnage of the war could easily lead to emotional distress due to the nature of death. Consider in All Quiet on the Western Front when the soldiers had to seek protection in a graveyard when “heavy fire” overtook them, what Paul thought about the event described the messed up mental side of the soldiers regarding death (Remarque 65). Primarily, when trying to escape the bombs and gas, and Paul had to hide in a coffin, he realized that the coffin “shall protect [Paul], thought death himself lies in it,” (Remarque 67). This whole statement can be analyzed as Paul coming to the understanding that the only way to