I'm not going to lie, when I started the book and heard what it was about, I was dreading reading it. But, it was actually a decent book. The last chapter was short, but probably made the biggest impact out of all the chapters. It describes Paul on leave, and everything is quiet and peace is almost there. He spends his days in a garden just sitting and he is almost excited about being done and going home. It describes how the war has changed them so much that other men won't understand them, everyone back home will have a place and they'll go home to nothing.
It talks about how the day he died, all was quiet, and he died peaceful, "almost glad the end had come." There's a quote that stood out to me a lot in this chapter, "...The years will pass by and in the end we shall fall into ruin." This whole last chapter talks about how they will simply go home to die, and people will never understand how much they did and how hard it was.
This past summer, I had an amazing opportunity to go to Washington D.C. We visited almost every monument, but one that really impacted me was The Arlington National Cemetery. It's 624 acres of land, where over 300,000 men and women who fought for our country are buried. Men from World War 1 just like those in All Quiet On the Western Front are buried and remembered there. It's crazy to look around and see thousands of the same small white headstones everywhere you look in neat rows. I thought I should mention this mainly because it contradicts this book, and the books theme. The book is all about how in war death happens and in the end you fight for your country and really don't get much in return. How even if they won the war, there were so many of them that fought that they are almost lost in the group. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Gallery/Default.aspx?ID=933ac110-c76d-4818-b42f-5281f9cc8e57 That is a link to the website, they have some really cool photos of the cemetery!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Chapter Eleven
Yes, I know I skipped chapters nine and ten, but i just felt like they weren't very important. Most of Paul's friends died, and he and Albert travel from hospital to hospital together. Chapter 11 though, whoa, that was a big one. It is mainly discussion about how they view their lives now. There's a quote, "As in a polar expedition, every expression of life must serve only the preservation of existence, and is absolutely focused on that." I think that's crazy, that the war has changed them to the point where they don't even care about being happy, or doing something fun. Staying alive is the only thing that matters anymore to them.
Another big part of chapter eleven was the very first part, where they talk about how lightly they react to death. One quote was, "We have almost grown accustom to it; war is the cause of death like cancer and tuberculosis, like influenza and dysentery. The deaths are merely more frequent, more varied and terrible." It also says in detail about how the soldiers have to take death so lightly, and be so used to it so that they are able to act on instinct, like animals. It talks a lot about how they act instinctively but it's superficial. I don't exactly understand what they mean by this, but I guess it means that it's forced instincts, but that doesn't sound right since forced and instincts are opposites.
I also thought I should point out that Kemmerich's boots came up again. Just before Muller died, he gave the boots to Paul, and Paul already planned to pass them to Tjaden when he passes. When Kemmerich gave them up to Muller it was when he was dyeing, and it represented how lightly death was taken in war, and how even though he was dying, one of the biggest things they thought about were getting his boots, and now they would be passed on, representing again, how used to death soldiers become.
I found these pictures, I really like the one with the trench at the top and the one on the bottom left of a soldier in a gas mask firing a gun, like they so often described in All Quiet On the Western Front.
Another big part of chapter eleven was the very first part, where they talk about how lightly they react to death. One quote was, "We have almost grown accustom to it; war is the cause of death like cancer and tuberculosis, like influenza and dysentery. The deaths are merely more frequent, more varied and terrible." It also says in detail about how the soldiers have to take death so lightly, and be so used to it so that they are able to act on instinct, like animals. It talks a lot about how they act instinctively but it's superficial. I don't exactly understand what they mean by this, but I guess it means that it's forced instincts, but that doesn't sound right since forced and instincts are opposites.
I also thought I should point out that Kemmerich's boots came up again. Just before Muller died, he gave the boots to Paul, and Paul already planned to pass them to Tjaden when he passes. When Kemmerich gave them up to Muller it was when he was dyeing, and it represented how lightly death was taken in war, and how even though he was dying, one of the biggest things they thought about were getting his boots, and now they would be passed on, representing again, how used to death soldiers become.
I found these pictures, I really like the one with the trench at the top and the one on the bottom left of a soldier in a gas mask firing a gun, like they so often described in All Quiet On the Western Front.
Chapter Eight
This chapter was mainly about Paul going to train with the moors, and how he soon discovers that their enemies aren't much different than their allies and friends. A particular paragraph really stood out to me on page 190. "It is strange to see these enemies of ours so close up. They have faces that make one think- honest peasant faces, broad mouths, broad hands and thick hair." Also, a sentence after that, "They look as kindly as our own peasants in Friesland." He is among his enemy soldiers but he is looking at them closer than ever, realizing they are people, not just things they are killing. Then when he says about them looking as kindly as their own peasants, it shows that he is realizing they are real people, just like his soldiers, friends, and family. Another great quote was page 193, "A word of command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends." This is basically saying that the only reason they don't get along is because someone told them to hate each other. Like we had talked about in class, and read poems about, the soldiers listen to their leaders and hate who they are told to hate.
It's so easy for them to fire from across a barbed wire fence, shooting at figures in the distance, killing a random man who they will never have the chance to get to know. But up-close, like Paul is, he see's they are normal people like him, and it softens him, opening his eyes to how hard and terrible killing each other has been and will be. Seeing his enemies this close adds some reality to the war. Instead of just killing these figures, he realizes that they each have names, families, people they care about, and lives they'll be leaving behind.
This is a picture of the soldiers of world war 1, along the barbed wire. These are the soldiers that their enemies will shoot at but never get to know, killing someone who, if the war hadn't happened, might have been their friends.
It's so easy for them to fire from across a barbed wire fence, shooting at figures in the distance, killing a random man who they will never have the chance to get to know. But up-close, like Paul is, he see's they are normal people like him, and it softens him, opening his eyes to how hard and terrible killing each other has been and will be. Seeing his enemies this close adds some reality to the war. Instead of just killing these figures, he realizes that they each have names, families, people they care about, and lives they'll be leaving behind.
This is a picture of the soldiers of world war 1, along the barbed wire. These are the soldiers that their enemies will shoot at but never get to know, killing someone who, if the war hadn't happened, might have been their friends.
Chapter Seven
Chapter 7 starts to give very mixed feelings about the war. Paul has been given a leave-pass to go back to his home town and then go to a camp on the moors to train with them. He says how he is lucky, and he knows that, but he also knows that a lot can happen in 6 weeks. He starts to wonder if he will see his friends again. It's sad to know that this is how the war has made them think. That he can't even be happy that he gets to see his family, because what if when he goes back to fight they're not there?
When he gets home he finds his mother in bed sick with cancer. She is happy to see him but then she starts asking questions. She asks, "Was it very bad out there, Paul?" Paul is stunned! What should he say? he thinks angrily about how his mother couldn't understand just how terrible the war was. So he lies, he says, "No, Mother, no so very. There are always a lot of us together so it isn't so bad." I guess it isn't entirely a lie, he was with a lot of other people, but that doesn't change the fact that the war was terrible and nothing like they had expected. His mother tries to argue, saying that Heinrich had come and told them it was terrible "with the gas and all the rest of it". Paul shortly debates telling his mother about when they found dead soldiers, but then thought better of it and told her it was "only talk". He lies to his mother, to protect her from knowing how harsh the war going on was but I find it a little ironic. All of the soldiers were angry with Kantorek, their old school teacher who had told the soldiers about how amazing war was and how you should take pride in fighting for their country. And although what Paul was saying wasn't quite to that extent he was lying about how good the war was, just as Kantorek did to them.
At the end of the chapter, it talks about how he regrets leaving and going to visit his home and how he should have just stayed. He says how he was indifferent and often hopeless but that he will never be again. After he talked to Kemmerich's mother about how kemmerich died, but he lied again, about how Kemmerich had died. His mom asked if he was lying and Paul swore on everything that was sacred to him, and when he said that he thought for a second, is there even anything that is sacred anymore? He reflects on how the war has changed them all and how he can never go back to the way he was before, and how he wished he had stayed at the war. It's weird because they give off the message that they don't want to be in the war, but they don't want to go back home either.
I found this picture of soldiers in a trench during the war. You can see that they don't look happy, or proud, unlike how people back home said that they would.
When he gets home he finds his mother in bed sick with cancer. She is happy to see him but then she starts asking questions. She asks, "Was it very bad out there, Paul?" Paul is stunned! What should he say? he thinks angrily about how his mother couldn't understand just how terrible the war was. So he lies, he says, "No, Mother, no so very. There are always a lot of us together so it isn't so bad." I guess it isn't entirely a lie, he was with a lot of other people, but that doesn't change the fact that the war was terrible and nothing like they had expected. His mother tries to argue, saying that Heinrich had come and told them it was terrible "with the gas and all the rest of it". Paul shortly debates telling his mother about when they found dead soldiers, but then thought better of it and told her it was "only talk". He lies to his mother, to protect her from knowing how harsh the war going on was but I find it a little ironic. All of the soldiers were angry with Kantorek, their old school teacher who had told the soldiers about how amazing war was and how you should take pride in fighting for their country. And although what Paul was saying wasn't quite to that extent he was lying about how good the war was, just as Kantorek did to them.
At the end of the chapter, it talks about how he regrets leaving and going to visit his home and how he should have just stayed. He says how he was indifferent and often hopeless but that he will never be again. After he talked to Kemmerich's mother about how kemmerich died, but he lied again, about how Kemmerich had died. His mom asked if he was lying and Paul swore on everything that was sacred to him, and when he said that he thought for a second, is there even anything that is sacred anymore? He reflects on how the war has changed them all and how he can never go back to the way he was before, and how he wished he had stayed at the war. It's weird because they give off the message that they don't want to be in the war, but they don't want to go back home either.
I found this picture of soldiers in a trench during the war. You can see that they don't look happy, or proud, unlike how people back home said that they would.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Chapter Five: What Gets Them Through
Chapter five starts off with all of the men sitting around a fire and talking. First they talk about what they would do at home, if this brutal war wasn't happening. But then it moves on to Tjaden talking back to Himmelstoss, and therefor showing him up, and making a fool out of Himmelstoss. After this they start to make fun of Himmelstoss and also their old teacher, and there is a quote in the book that really seemed to stand out to me, "That is our sole ambition: to knock the conceit out of a postman."
I was some what confused at what this meant, so I went to dictionary.com and I looked up each word, to phrase it differently. This is what I came up with: "This is our only earnest desire: to force the excessive pride in ones self out of Himmelstoss." So basically, what seems to get them through the war and really keep them going is the way they sit and make fun of Himmelstoss, making him feel less superior and rather foolish. Before this is said in the book, the men also show a lot about their character. They are all mostly pessimistic about their situation. At one point, Kropp says, "You'll be dead one day, so what does it matter? I don't think we'll ever go back." And it's not only Kropp who seems to think like this, they all have that sort of point of view on the war. I get that it's hard and discouraging but I would think that they would at least have a little hope still. But, maybe that's just me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVDUXPB_sTs This is a video that I found on Youtube with great real footage from World War 1. It shows how people everywhere reacted to the start of the war, how proud many people were and eager to go fight, footage of many different troops marching, some much better equipped than others, along with real trenches, and the weapons used to help make this all seem so much more real.
I was some what confused at what this meant, so I went to dictionary.com and I looked up each word, to phrase it differently. This is what I came up with: "This is our only earnest desire: to force the excessive pride in ones self out of Himmelstoss." So basically, what seems to get them through the war and really keep them going is the way they sit and make fun of Himmelstoss, making him feel less superior and rather foolish. Before this is said in the book, the men also show a lot about their character. They are all mostly pessimistic about their situation. At one point, Kropp says, "You'll be dead one day, so what does it matter? I don't think we'll ever go back." And it's not only Kropp who seems to think like this, they all have that sort of point of view on the war. I get that it's hard and discouraging but I would think that they would at least have a little hope still. But, maybe that's just me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVDUXPB_sTs This is a video that I found on Youtube with great real footage from World War 1. It shows how people everywhere reacted to the start of the war, how proud many people were and eager to go fight, footage of many different troops marching, some much better equipped than others, along with real trenches, and the weapons used to help make this all seem so much more real.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Chapter Four: How War Really Is
The beginning of chapter four is all about to ride to The Front. They ride on a lorry, over bumpy roads, and after a long ride in the middle of the night, they arrive at the front, where bombs and shots were already beginning to go off. In this bombing, the narrator finds a new, young soldier, extremely scared and obviously new to the warfare. They help, comfort and protect him. The bombing only lasts a few hours, but there's a long wait before the lorries come back to retrieve the soldiers. While waiting, many of the horses have been hit and wounded, crying out with loud, ear-piercing sounds. Finally, some soldiers decide to just shoot the horses, although this means losing some of their transportation. The soldiers decide that since it's just about 3 in the morning, they should probably start heading back to the lorry. But as they're on their way, the worst of this days (or nights?) war happened. They were in the middle of an empty field when bombs started to come in. Their first instinct was to run, but to where? The woods were surely too far away, and the field wouldn't provide any protection. Their last resort was the nearby grave yard. They all got behind mounds of dirt, and lay as flat and as covered as possible. The bombs came in, sending pieces of coffins and dead bodies flying everywhere. As giant holes were made in the dirt, other soldiers, along with the narrator, crawled inside, hoping the bombs wouldn't hit the same spot twice, and that the dirt, coffins, and even the dead people would provide some protection.
At one point, Remarque says, "But the shelling is stronger than everything. It wipes out the sensibilities, I merely crawl still farther under the coffin, it shall protect me, thought Death himself lies in it." This is a big statement to me. He is truly telling how brutal and manipulating war is. This war has caused them to literally use their fallen soldiers as shields. And the irony of the fact that he says that the coffin shall protect him, helping him stay alive, even though Death is literally inside of it, but that he doesn't care, shows how crazy the war makes people. I can't even imagine hiding from bombs, trying to stay alive, while the war is so scary that you are hiding under someone who is dead. This chapter really helps to put you in the soldiers shoes and really see how powerful war is.
This is a picture I found of French soldiers, behind barbed wire, like the beginning of chapter 4 describes. The soldiers are low to the ground, rather dirty and equipped with huge guns. This helps to create a visual of what the war would have been, looked and felt like.
At one point, Remarque says, "But the shelling is stronger than everything. It wipes out the sensibilities, I merely crawl still farther under the coffin, it shall protect me, thought Death himself lies in it." This is a big statement to me. He is truly telling how brutal and manipulating war is. This war has caused them to literally use their fallen soldiers as shields. And the irony of the fact that he says that the coffin shall protect him, helping him stay alive, even though Death is literally inside of it, but that he doesn't care, shows how crazy the war makes people. I can't even imagine hiding from bombs, trying to stay alive, while the war is so scary that you are hiding under someone who is dead. This chapter really helps to put you in the soldiers shoes and really see how powerful war is.
This is a picture I found of French soldiers, behind barbed wire, like the beginning of chapter 4 describes. The soldiers are low to the ground, rather dirty and equipped with huge guns. This helps to create a visual of what the war would have been, looked and felt like.
Chapter Three; Page 41: A Childish Reason for War
Firstly, I would like to point out how difficult I found blogging to be. I initially thought it would be a quick thing to write using little thought, basically summarizing the book. I was wrong. I also thought this book was going to be an easy read, one where you could read through it once and understand the majority of it. Again, I was wrong. There were many times in just the first few chapters where I went back and read and re-read parts. One particular part that caught my eye was in chapter three, page 41. The author, Remarque, has added a quote from his old teacher, Kantorek, "Give 'em all the same grub and all the same pay, And the war would be over and done in a day."
I found this picture, of a hospital from world war 1. As you can see, there are probably 50 or more hospital beds, all occupied with soldiers. This truly shows the impact of the war, and relates to the quote, showing what inequality truly can do.
When I first read this through, I thought little of it. But the second and third time, I started to think a little deeper about it. What he is really saying isn't that you could give them food and money and the war will end, but that if we were all treated equally, there would be no reason for war. This also implies that the reason for war is inequality. And inequality, as we have discussed in class, leads to imperialism. When one country has something better, such as weapons, railroads, and steam engines, everyone else wants to out do them, and look better. This is actually quite childish, if you think about it long enough. It's all about countries being jealous of the others possessions, power, and strength. And that jealousy is enough to lead to a world war, and kill millions.
I found this picture, of a hospital from world war 1. As you can see, there are probably 50 or more hospital beds, all occupied with soldiers. This truly shows the impact of the war, and relates to the quote, showing what inequality truly can do.
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