Regeneration by Pat Barker Essay

“All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque is a historical fiction that talks about Remarque’s experience in the Great War and how it dramatically changes his perspective of war as a patriotic duty. In the novel, the protagonist, Paul Baumer and his comrades are vulnerable to physical attacks at any given moment which installs fear amongst the group. With the death of many soldiers, long lasting battle and terrible conditions of the Great War, Baumer and his comrades have become disheartened.

By reading both “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Testament of Youth”, we learn that World War 1 had a tremendous effect, not only on the men in the trenches; but essentially on everyone; of all genders throughout Europe and the World. Vera Brittains, “Testament of Youth” tells the tale of her experiences working as a V.A.D (Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurse) in many areas, however in chapters five and six, she is stationed in London. She describes, in vivid details the struggles of working as a nurse in London during the war. In Remarques’ novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front” we follow the life of a soldier, Paul Baumer who essentially enlists in the Army and is later deployed to the western front. Baumer experiences the horrors of war in many ways, due to this; he undergoes severe physical and psychological stress and he feels as if he will never be able to recover and become an ordinary civilian.

Many people don’t comprehend how traumatic the life of a young fighter in World War I was. In my opinion, this book will especially help you understand this. The descriptive language describing the wounds and unpleasant content made me feel queasy at times, but also forced me to feel compassionate for the military troops. In this book, limbs are lost, animals such as horses are killed, starving soldiers dig through garbage for food, the troops are destroyed by poison gas, munitions, and bombs. The conditions the fighters went through in the war was dangerous and disturbing which makes me realize how fortunate my life is and causes me to feel compassion for the fighters because of what they had to struggle with.

During World War I, thousands of British soldiers were diagnosed with “shell shock,” a condition which was thought to encompass both physical and psychological symptoms. The discovery of shell shock is typically considered to be an important catalyst in the gradual recognition of mental illnesses caused by combat. However, the characterizations of shell shock as an early discovery of post-traumatic stress disorder made by many historians are false. Shell shock should not be thought of as a credible wartime medical advancement, but as a false and primitive identification of war-trauma.

The chapter ‘Clinical Histories: From Soldier’s Heart to PTSD’ from the book ‘Fields of Combat’ by Erin Finley, examines U.S. military community’s perception of combat stress casualties. From the Civil War times until now, there has been growth in the understanding that soldiers face extreme psychological consequences, like behavioral and functional problems, after returning home from war. In 1980, this behavioral and functional problem is formally recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress order (PTSD) in the U.S. and it was internationally recognized in the late 1980’s. Not only was the diagnosis given to survivors of combat, but also noncombat traumatic experiences, such as rape, natural disaster, rape and etc. The chapter looks at the historical

In World War One, the war was fought in two places, in France and in England. England was never physically in the war, but France truly saw the actions. The citizens of England put their best foot forward when it came to contributing to war. The truth was that there was a great divide between the two fronts. The war front, fields bloodied and smear with greasy mud. The home front, standing tall with pride, patriotism, and power. In the book, Not so Quiet…. written by Helen Smith, who have experienced the cruel harsh reality of the war, she describes the ugly side of the war and how everyone view the war. When the war started in 1914, there was need for manpower on the front line, men and women step up to take on roles, Helen was among a group of other girls that contributed on taking on the role of taking care of the wounded and the deceased.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque is characterized as an anti-war novel which takes place during World War I. The book details, as stated by the epigraph, soldiers who are utterly destroyed by the physical and mental stress of the war. Paul Baumer, the protagonist, and his comrades goes through many ordeals that contributes to the dehumanizing effects of war. With the disastrous living conditions, the constant fear of death and encounters with other soldiers in the war, Remarque was effective in articulating the monstrosity of war.

Although this war was one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. It was a war well fought by women. During this time men played a huge role in the household. Unlike

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erica Maria Remarque varies from several books about war because instead of highlighting the sense of bravery and heroism of it, Remarque points out more of the destruction, emptiness, and violence it causes to a soldier. Paul Baumer, a German soldier fighting in World War I as well as the narrator of the novel, starts to realize how war traumatizes both mentally and physically. He joined the war along with his friends after being given an uplifting speech that provided them with the mindset that war builds you, when in fact it destructs. However, when they come face to face in battlefield, they begin to realize that war isn’t as glorious as it deems to be and are willing change their decision if given the chance.

Although the glorification of being your “nations hero and fighting” for your country may seem worthwhile, it can lead to major metal and physical destruction. Similar to the First World War, the suffering of soldiers still evident. It’s inevitable that war has always caused struggles, and will continue to do so. War’s abominable pain is a burden on almost everyone, and it is nearly impossible to escape. Erich Richard’s Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front describes life of the soldiers during world war one and the toll it takes on them.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque demonstrates how the lives of soldiers change when they are enlisted to the front. The book takes place in Germany during World War I starting in 1914. This war was particularly known to be a gruesome experience for soldiers. The soldiers hid in the trenches while they fought to stay alive; however, the trenches were filled with diseases and dirty rats that were said to be as big as cats sometimes. The soldiers lived their lives in fear. Remarque created a novel that is in the voice of a young 19 year old boy named Paul who explains his experience during World War I. The novel shows soldiers moving from school straight to war. These soldiers have not even had time to develop into themselves; moreover, when they go to war, they are forced to establish their character in the terrible conditions. They see soldiers die everyday, and they begin to change into desensitized animals so they don’t have to deal with the pain anymore. Remarque shows how the soldiers lose themselves, became desensitized to death and killing, and how they lose their empathy towards other soldiers and become selfish.

A novel written by Erich Maria Remarque, describes in clutching detail his first person account of World War I from the German front. The author and his classmates enlist in the German army at the age of 19. Leaving life as they know it to fight for a cause they are unsure of. They experience the devastation of trench warfare, from constant bombardments down to hand to hand combat. However the author does not only tell his experience of combat. There is more to war then that, there are mental, physical and emotional struggles that men only experience during the struggles of war.

To a civilian, war is a simple and glorious thing, but to a soldier who is fighting and experiencing the war, it is brutal and terrible. The contrasting views of war between civilians and soldiers is stressed in Erich Remarque's war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which puts an emphasis on the realities of war. Patriotism and nationalism led civilians to believe that it was one’s duty to fight for their country, prompting men to enlist for the war. These men knew nothing of what life would be like out on the front.

‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘The Manhunt’ by Simon Armitage both present two men who were injured at war and were treated in very different ways. ‘Disabled’ features an abandoned young man in the early 20th century who had no idea of the realities of war when he enlisted, and sustained a physical and emotional disability while fighting in WW1. ‘The Manhunt’ is told from the perspective of Laura Beddoes, whose husband, Eddie, was served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia in the 1990’s but was discharged after developing physical injuries and depression. Both these men had very different experiences both of war and of readjusting after it was over.

All Quiet On The Western Front hmm, that is an understatement when talking about WWI. This war involves such violent and gruesome events it’s kind of hard to believe heroes/U.S. soldiers made it back home alive. In Eric Maria Remarque’s land work war novel, All Quiet On The Western Front, illustrates how war is hell on the soldiers who served in WWI. In the novel, Paul Baumer, is a front soldier fighting for the German army; he shares/tells/narrates a first-hand account of the war authorities in himself and squad mates/comrades in arms. In the novel, “All Quiet On The Western Front” by Eric Maria Remarque, the author reveals the enlightened yet innocent between the main character of the story, Paul and his relationship to the first industrialized world war between Germany and others through the use of a variety of literary elements including imagery to emphasize the impact of war on young men as well as employing symbolism.