Trauma Of War

Paul and his comrades feel betrayed by their own people as well as they have been deceived by their friends, their families, and their loved ones. Paul realized that the betrayal of the civilians is because of their ignorance. The same ignorance lead the parents to force their sons into the army and therefore onto the path of death. Those soldiers like Joseph Behm who “enlists to avoid ostracization by his peers” (Warner). These civilians, these poor ignorant fools, who lived blissfully in their ignorance, believed they understood but they couldn't. They could not understand the war the same way the experienced soldiers did. Paul comes to acknowledge this when he visits his home and he says that “They understand of course, they agree, they may even feel it so too, but only with words, only with words, yes, that is it” (Remarque110). To make the matter even worse, the older generation didn’t want to hear but lies from soldiers; they only wanted to hear about patriotism and glory. “He [Paul] realizes that the people at home would prefer lies rather than to accept the soldier’s account” (Henningfeld). Also in their ignorance, they did not realize that they

Psychologically Paul is greatly affected by his experiences in the war and is unable to express his time there. He has escaped any major injury during the most violent parts of the war. However after all his companions are killed in duty, he is restless and loses the desire to live. Paul was set free from the emotional turmoil when he dies; the physical pain no longer affects him. Ironically, he dies on an all quiet western front after seeing the terror behind the country’s nationalism.

The war also changed Paul by hampering his ability to communicate with the people on the home front. Paul learns that it is hard to communicate with them when he visits his hometown. He realizes that people have no clue how bad war really is especially his own mother. "Suddenly my mother seizes hold of my hand and asks falteringly: Was it very bad out there, Paul?(143)" He did not know what to say so he lied to her and said that it was not so bad. Paul could not believe said that. Of course the war was bad, anything is bad when people are dying. He sees that the gap between him and society is getting bigger especially with his mother. Also Paul has no way to describe his experiences, he can not put them into words because the experiences were so horrible

“We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial, I believe we are lost” (Remarque 123). World War I is a tragic event that occurred in 1914 to 1918. Paul Baumer and the rest of the soldiers in the novel of “All Quiet in the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque are lost; they are broken from the fist World War, they don’t know anything aside from War, and they have lost their innocence during the years of maturation. When the young men heard about the War, they were excited, and full of life, they thought they were going on an adventure.

It’s no surprise that soldiers will more-than-likely never come home the same. Those who have not served do not often think of the torment and negative consequences that the soldiers who make it out of war face. Erich Remarque was someone who was able to take the torment that he faced after his experience in World War I and shed light on the brutality of war. Remarque was able to illustrate the psychological problems that was experienced by men in battle with his best-selling novel All Quiet on the Western Front (Hunt). The symbolism used in the classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front is significant not only for showing citizens the negative attributes of war, but also the mental, physical, and emotional impact that the vicious war had on the soldiers.

Paul and his mother are inseparable knowing that they can only see eachother once in a while. Paul is internally affected because he feels guilty due to war, knowing that he was not there to take care of his mother when she needed assistance. At the end of Chapter 7, Paul receives a leave that is six weeks long and must return to the front when the six weeks are over. When he arrives at his hometown, he realizes that his mother is dying of cancer. He never expected his mother to be in these conditions so he says, “I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end. I ought never to have come on leave” (Remarque 185). Not only does Paul feel guilty but he also has the feeling of regret. He feels guilty because he was not there to assist his mother when she needed attention.That is also why he calls himself an agony. The relationship between him and his his mother was lost. He also has the feeling of regret because he knows that he should not have enlisted in the army knowing that he has many other responsibilities outside the army such as his education, watching over his parents, and watching over his only sister. Now that there is nothing to do over his mother, he must spend a lot of time with her while he is on leave. When Paul says “I ought never to have come on leave”, he describes how

Since the beginning of mankind, war and the horrors that come with it have had devastating effects on both the minds and the bodies of human beings. Mentally, war drains soldiers of their ability to think properly. During a battle, soldiers witness bloody battles which frequently result in demise. Day after day of witnessing deceased fall to the ground, a soldier can do nothing but think about blood, gore, and his or her fallen comrades. Additionally, a war can be physically taxing on whomever takes part in it. Dodging or being hit by fists, swords, or bullets will inevitably cause pain and may disable somebody for the rest of their life. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque demonstrates through characterization, imagery,

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.

After each death more and more of Paul’s humanity becomes lost, and he fears that in peacetime he will be without purpose because he knows little of the world beyond the war. A month before the war would come to an end for all

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.

War often has drastic and lasting effects on individuals; the violence and horror ages soldiers mentally and physically. World War I was a violent and distressing war; men came home with mental illnesses and never were fully able to sink back into society. Through these lasting effects common civilians with no affiliation were unaware to the consequences. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque investigates the damaging effects of war on an individual’s identity using Paul Bäumer as a representation for all soldiers; he draws specific attention to the continuing loss of purpose and ability to relate to the rest of society.

The First World War was a war of many firsts. Not only was it the first true contemporary war, but it was also the first war that introduced new forms of industrial warfare, which resulted in many repercussions. One of these repercussions was the development of shell-shock or neurosis as a result of war in soldiers returning from the battle front. In “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Enrich Maria Remarque the psychological effect of industrial warfare on soldiers was depicted as a paradoxical combination of exhilaration on the battlefront as well as a deep state of numbness and melancholy.

Guided by the ideas of patriotism and honor from their old schoolmaster Kantorek, Paul, and his classmates enlisted in the German Army (11-12). But after returning from battle, Paul explains,”… in our hearts we trusted them…. The first bombardment showed us our mistake, and under it the world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces,”(12-13). Through the first encounter of warfare, Paul learns that war was nothing he expected and that he was set on a path that would lead to destruction. As a part of the younger generation, Paul looked up to the authority figures of the older generation as his guidance to the future. But in contrast, the first death shattered his belief, and because of it, Paul believed that most of the older generation is incapable of teaching them. Consequentially, Paul must turn towards the younger generation and his survival instincts to concentrate on war as he enters a hopeless

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

Additionally, Paul needs to stay resolute when in tough times, and must continue on. He goes through many hardships through the book. In the beginning, Paul watches his friend, Kemmerich, die in vain. Despite his friend dying, he still continues on. In the middle of the book, Paul is on leave and decides to go visit his mom and sister. Once he arrives, he finds out that his mom has just been diagnosed with cancer. Paul has to focus on the war, even if he can’t help his mom all the time, Paul has to focus on the war. Later, Paul has to say goodbye to his good friend. “Parting from a friend Albert Kropp was very hard. But a man gets used to that sort of thing in the army” (269). Eventually, all of Paul’s original group of classmates die, and Paul is the only one left. He becomes more resolute as he continues his job as a soldier, and needs to be mentally