The movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” Essay example

World War 1 has been a famous war throughout history. Many films have been made surrounding it, sometimes realistic and sometimes not so much. Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front were two such movies that depicted the Great War. Each movie is unique in their own sense and although no movie will completely convey the harsh reality of the war some movies are better than others. Depending on when and what year the war would have looked vastly different to different soldiers. Some would only know the reality of the trench while others would recognize “tanks” rolling over the ground which were impenetrable to normal gun fire. Which side of the war one was on would have also lead to different views, as in when one side is winning the other is losing, and when morale is up on one side normally morale is down on the other.

The Second World War began in September of 1939 and was between the Allies and the Axis. It began with Germany’s unprovoked attack and conquest of Poland, and involved Britain and France from the beginning. Its origins lay in German resentment at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the economic crisis of 1929-30, which favored the rise to power of Fascist dictators, the failure of the League of Nations to gain international acceptance for disarmament, and the policy of imperialism adopted by Germany, Italy and Japan as a means of acquiring raw materials and markets. As a part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for the First World War, which then led up to the outbreak of the Second. The

saved. On the other hand, it can be seen as a disaster because out of

The soldiers undertook many different diseases and sicknesses, mentally and physically. The faced outbreaks of measles, small pox, malaria, pneumonia, or camp itch. Soldiers would get malaria when camping in damp areas surrounded by mosquitos, while camp

“Food - hard lodging - Cold weather - fatigue - Nasty Clothes - nasty Cookery - Vomit half my time - smoak's to my senses...”(Doc. C). This shows that many of the soldiers were not given a break as their health continued to decline nor were they placed in rehabilitating conditions. The smoke clouding all of the soldier’s senses, making it hard to breathe is a lot to ask a person to put up with. “Snow” coming with the winter season was a terrifying time (Doc. B).

All Quiet on the Western Front is a book that describes the different struggles of World War 1 from the perspective of someone who was there but may have not necessarily experienced it all. In the book, there is a man named Paul. “…Here hang bits of uniform, and somewhere else is plastered a bloody mess that was once a human limb” (208). When Paul is at home, he is having fun with friends and thinking that going to school is so difficult and then he goes to war, and he sees a person blown into pieces and watches thousands of men dying. It is a very different life.

None of these soldiers were properly trained for war. Food shipments had never gotten to the soldiers. The soldiers were missing a shoe shipment. A lot of the soldiers were sick and cold, so they couldn’t fight as well as they could in their normal condition. Diseases had actually taken two soldiers for every one soldier who died in the war.

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 book, All Quiet on the Western Front, was narrated by a 19 year old German soldier who fights at the French front with his comrades. The soldier’s name was Paul and throughout the story, Paul mentions the horrible and terrible things he and his friends had to live throughout the war on the front. Most of his friends are the same age as him and are from the same school Paul went to and they all voluntarily joined the army after being influenced by their teacher, Kantorek, by listening to his speeches. They later realize that the speeches Kantorek said were meaningless and did not believe that being in the war or that the war itself at all was honorable or glorious, it was just a brutal battlefield that brought physical and constant terror.

All Quiet on the Western Front was never written to be like the movies we watch today. When people go to see a movie about war, they typically expect watch a story jam packed with action from start to finish. All Quiet on the Western Front, also has this kind of battle from beginning to end, but was never intended to tell the common sci-fi adventure of which it could be associated to. It is made to speak against the terrible conditions which men had to face in world war won. The movie shows us, that even though there were so many casualties in the aftermath of World War One, there are some things in the world worse than death. The opening of the movie tells how the film is not an accusation, a confession, or an adventure, and the

The trenches were a very revolting place. Soldiers had to battle on the front line as bullets would fly past their faces. They were very cold and wet which caused many illnesses to the soldiers. Lice and rats would bother the soldiers all day and would feed of the soldiers who have died. The trenches were cramped which caused a lot of discomfort to the men. They had to change their socks regularly because they would get trench foot. The smell was morbid and many became mentally ill. Some would get shell shock which caused them to get severe depression. Conditions were that awful that they would inflict a wound to themselves so they could get

was a Nazi member who saved over a thousand lives during the Holocaust by employing

The two books, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Sun Also rises have a number of differences and similarities. I will address the topics, characters, time periods and writing styles along with my opinion on the two books.

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells is a fiction story written about war and mankind’s coming of age. It is also a philosophical novel with many deep meanings underlying the shallow looking one-hundred-eighty-eight page book.

My grandfather’s story was an amazing one. While he talked he spoke about so much passion the soldiers had fighting in the war. He told the story how the one day he had to go out into battle. The United States troops fought in the horrible plains, and tangled, unbearable woods. They walked through swamps, and lived in horrible conditions. My grandpa said that being on the field there was an almost seventy percent chance of being killed. The living conditions were so bad than many of the soldiers died along the way while moving locations.