Paul's Trip To The Front Passage Analysis

Paul most clearly displays his strength on the each of these levels when a bombardment begins to rip apart the graveyard in which he and his comrades had been resting. A single reading of the passage reveals the first level upon which Paul excels: as a soldier. His training in No. 9 platoon under Corporal Himmelstoss made sure that he would not be killed the moment he stepped foot in the trenches, but the knowledge that he displays in this time of crisis did not come from parade grounds or noncommissioned officers; it came from months of trench warfare, from experience under fire, and from the natural instinct to make the right choices when it matters most. From the beginning of the passage, one can observe Paul’s course of action: he does not think, he reacts. From the moment the first shell lands, he begins gathering information: “By the light of the shells I try to get a view of the fields” (66). When his sleeve is torn away, he does not trust the fact that he feels no pain. Paul thinks: the fact “that [I feel no pain] does not reassure me: wounds don’t hurt until afterwards. I feel the arm all over. It is grazed but sound” (66). His actions reveal some of his soldiering merit, but not all.

"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.

The choices that Erik made throughout his life never came without consequences, many of his choices, whether they were choices directed to him or not, affected Paul. Paul illustrates this idea by saying, “When we moved to Houston, when Erik was eleven, he realized that football was the star attraction,”(Bloor 29) This is talking about the “birth” of the “Erik Fisher Football Dream”; Erik use to play soccer and was successful at it, but he realized that football was the place to be if he wanted attention. Paul could’ve started playing soccer at that time as well and Erik didn’t want to risk being outshined by his younger brother. Another way Erik affected Paul, in a more indirect way, was when Arthur becomes Erik’s crony, “What will Arthur do

Paul feels as though his family has lied to him because they said he would be a hero and it would be so great because he would be protecting his nation but then he goes and has to see people being blown to pieces.“…at that time even one’s parents were ready with the word ‘coward’; no one had the vaguest idea what we were in for. The wisest were just poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune, whereas those who were better off, and should have been able to see more clearly what the consequences would be, were beside themselves with joy” (11). Their families do not understand what his going on there. But then, Paul gets out there and there are men losing legs and arms.

This quote was stated at the very beginning of the book when one of Paul’s old friends, Kemmerich, is on his deathbed from an amputated leg. Paul said this because even though Kemmerich hadn’t died yet, Paul and his friends already debate about who should take Kemmerich’s boots when he does die. In doing so, they also disregard that Kemmerich doesn’t want to give the boots up yet. This grim and unorthodox reaction to a person being close to death at the start of the book really helps the author set the mood for the book as a whole. In the quote, Paul says he and his friends “have lost all sense of other considerations, because they are artificial” is his explanation for why Paul and his war comrades don’t care about the sentimentality of the

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

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

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

Paul embarks on a journey of explicit detail expressing what horrors arise for a young soldier while at variance with bloodshed, “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation “ (113). It is as if the point of battle in the physical aspect strips the soldier of human like qualities, and instills, an unrelenting manner of brutally extinguishing the opposing force. Paul demonstrates this unfortunate tainting of character in this excerpt, “… fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs, into murderers, into God only knows what devils..” (114), and in this quote, where he further etches the violent presence, by referencing even the element of slaying a family member, “If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him”(114). The physical war is one that has instilled an unwanted sense of violence, that has drained livelihood from the soldiers, and that has aided in the silent, slow destruction, of a civilized concept of

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

Paul was a self-oriented boy, concerned with money, wealth, and glamour, raised in a Calvinist household that supported these ideals. Through my research I have decided that Paul's eventual fate was not any one person's fault. Paul was just as much to blame as his father and teachers for Paul's suicide.

The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a second century Christian document, relates the story of how St.

The Apostle Paul (formerly Saul) is responsible for the spread of Christianity throughout the areas of Asia Minor and Greece. Through his 3 mission trips to the region Paul created a base of support for the Christian faith and implemented a support strategy for future growth. The time period for his journeys was 45 AD – 58 AD. The story of Paul is interesting from the perspective that the man best known as the author of most of the New Testament started out as a devout Jew and despised the Christian faith. After his conversion he made it his life’s work to spread the Christian message throughout the world. To this end, Paul made several mission trips to the area of Asia Minor and Greece.

The Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, is a central figure within both Christian tradition and New Testament thought and writing. With such a crucial place, it is vital that we come to understand more of his life and thinking, as well as the world in which he and, more specifically, his theology were shaped. With this in mind, this essay will seek to explore Paul’s conversion and call experience as understood from Acts, and his personal references to it, drawing from them the ways in which this time was significant for Paul’s theological thinking, as expressed in his letters and work. To achieve this we will begin by addressing the call and/or conversion debate, arguing that the term ‘conversion and call’ best encapsulates

This quote said by Paul connects to the theme of loss of innocence demonstrating "The Iron Youth" is a strong group of young soldiers who enlist and fight in the war as a way of showing pride for Germany and its history. In the book we hear the term "The Iron Youth" used to describe Paul's generation. The author and characters in the book tear this ideal apart, feeling it to be un useable and empty when compared with the truths of war.