Storm of Steel Paper

Storm of Steel follows the author, Ernst Junger, as he navigates the different battlegrounds of World War 1. The story takes place from 1915 to 1918 and is primarily on the western front with France. The story begins with Ernst Junger’s initial deployment and tracks his time in the war using excerpts from his journal. Junger takes part in many famous battles across Europe including the battles of the Somme, Arras, Ypres, and Cambrai, and he helps repel invaders from Guillemont. He has many encounters that show the horrors of war but he depicts them in an non-attached or even unemotional way. Ernst steadily rises through the ranks until he is taken out of action in 1918 due to a shot to his chest. Even though many scenes show the horrors of war and the terrible things it does to people, the book as a whole never takes a stance on war. The authors true purpose for writing this book is not to make war look glorious, nor is it to make war seem like the worse thing that humans will ever do, it is to simply show war from the view of a soldier.

Notes It is obvious from the opening chapter that this novel will center on the war and the effects it has on a young group of soldiers, none of them more than twenty years of age. They are all friends and former classmates of Paul Baumer, the narrator and protagonist of the book; they have enlisted in the German infantry because their teacher, Kantorek, had painted for them a glorious picture of fighting and saving the homeland from destruction during World War I. In this first chapter, Baumer and his friends are away from the front lines, relaxing a bit after two weeks of fierce fighting. As each of the young men is introduced, it is apparent that they are tired, hungry, angry, and disillusioned over the war.

In his essay “The Moral Equivalent of War”, William James discusses the presence of war and militarism in society. It argues that in order for military feelings to be abdicated, a substitute must be introduced. The author supports this central point through historical evidence and reasoning.

Ai Nguyen Professor Anthony Pino English 101A-21 1 December 2013 The Mercilessness of War War is always the worst tragedy of mankind in the world. We, as human beings, were experienced two most dolorous wars that were ever happened in our history: World War I and World War II. A young generation actually does not know how much hardship the predecessors, who joined and passed through the wars, undergo. We were taught about just how many people died in the wars, how much damage two participations in the wars suffered or just the general information about the wars. We absolutely do not know about the details, and that’s why we also do not know what the grief-stricken feeling of people joining in the wars really is. But we can somewhat understand that feeling through war novels, which describe the truthfulness of the soldiers’ lives, thoughts, feelings and experiences. All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, which takes World War I as background, is the great war novel which talks about the German soldiers ' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the hopeless of these soldiers about the “future” – the time the war would have ended.

Storm of Steel provides a memoir of the savagery and periods of beauty that Ernst Jünger’s experienced while serving the German army during the First World War. Though the account does not take a clear stand, it lacks any embedded emotional effects or horrors of the Great War that left so few soldiers who survived unaffected. Jünger is very straightforward and does remorse over any of his recollections. The darkness of the hallucinations Jünger reports to have experienced provides subtle anti-war sentiment. However, in light of the descriptive adventures he sought during the brief moments of peace, the darkness seems to be rationalized as a sacrifice any soldier would make for duty and honor in a vain attempt for his nation’s

Anti-War is always one of the most popular themes that writers want to address in their works. According to world literature history, the idea of anti-war first appeared in a Chinese poetry collection called the Book of Songs. From that points, writers had different background cultures started to develop their own perspectives towards war and stated them in their own works by varies methods. The following essay will compare and contrast two master anti-war pieces called “What Plants are Not-Faded?” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”

What is the Just War theory and how did it pertain to St. Augustine? According to Augustine there is no private right to kill. According to Paul Ramsey opposes in The Just War, Christian participation in warfare “was not actually an exception to the commandment, “you shall not murder” but

The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a tale about a group of young gentlemen in Germany who decide to join the army, and fight in World War I for their country. The boys become interested in fighting for their country after their schoolmaster informs them about the importance of this war. With much excitement, the young men have high expectations of what they want the war to be like. Throughout the course of the novel, the attitudes and opinions of the boys change as they develop an anti-war perspective. The war really takes a toll on the main character, Paul, as he often finds himself anxious and uncomfortable. This gives the feel that the novel has anti-war themes that are exhibited by this negative perspective on the part of Paul. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front shows an anti-war perspective that is demonstrated by Paul’s personal struggles in war, how Paul is changed by the war, and the theme of fearing war.

Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front and Ernst Junger’s memoir, Storm of Steel, present the differences of the experience of The First World War with intriguing contrasts that spark debates between the two accounts. These texts illustrate real events within The First World War. Both authors, who are veterans of the war tell the reader their conclusions in post-war experiences and opinions. It is essentially two faces of the same coin. One, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, reflects the inner dialogue and self-reflection of the protagonist, while “ The Storm of Steel”, is a public projection to the audience. Closed off yet propelling nationalistic pride and propaganda.

“I think it [war] is more of a kind of fever. No one in particular wants it, and then all at once there it is. We didn’t want the war, the others say the same thing- and yet half the world is in it all the same. (206)” Erich Remarque describes how war is an odd sort of happening through Albert Kropp, one of the most intelligent young men of Paul Bäumer’s company. Remarque, himself a German World War 1 veteran, uses the characters of Paul’s company to channel his frustrations from his experiences during the war. The vivid imagery used to describe bombardments and life at the front allows the reader to visualize the reality of warfare. It’s bloody, messy, and repulsive. Extreme detail aids Remarque in exposing the atrocities of war, and its repercussions. All Quiet on the Western Front focuses on an anti-war theme, and how war itself has no purpose other than to be savage and wasteful.

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.

In the opening remarks of the first chapter, Ernst Junger describes the idealistic origins of many of the soldiers called to action. Most of the soldiers drafted into the war were students and factory workers, all of whom lived a fairly sheltered life beforehand. Being drafted was seen as the adventure of a lifetime. They “shared a yearning for danger, for the experience of the extraordinary.” Much like his comrades, Junger had the same sense of adventure, seeing the war as merely a new challenge to conquer. After his first real experience with war however, his enthusiasm is quickly dashed. The harsh reality set in that this war was not, in fact, an adventure. Junger and the former schoolboys and craftsmen quickly learned that life in the trenches was a challenge of endurance. As the war persists, reality slowly sets in and Junger learns the true violent nature of the war and the constant threat of imminent danger through which he must persevere. Ernst Junger’s accounts in the memoir Storm of Steel show the reality of a soldier in World War I and the taxation of enduring such great trauma.

The Different Memoirs of WWI World War I was an extremely violent and traumatic time for soldiers on the fronts of the war, but even though it was a dramatic time for these men the memoirs from the war was varied on the western front within the German ranks. Two well

In Ernst Junger’s memoir, Storm of Steel, the first remarks are of him stepping off the train at Bazancourt, France. Junger eliminates any details about his life before the war, already contrasting most war memoirs written. This serious demeanor that Junger takes on, one that removes emotion from the equation,

The book “The Sociology of War and Violence”, gives an insight of how war can be understood from different perspectives. While war is believed by some that people come together in solidarity, the chapters on nationalism and war as well as propaganda and war, analyzed important factors such as the understanding of war and its impact on societies culture at a macro level. It is easy to argue that we can easily assume war brings the best in individuals when society is facing mutual concerns and worries. When society comes together as one it brings a sense of solidarity and strength giving us a sense of power. This is a common feeling, for instance, lets consider us when it comes down to support our military; above all things, despite our differences in religion, socio-economic status, ages, gender, etc.… majority support their actions because they make sense and they are in the