War’s Innate Ability to Degenerate
“How senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible [...] a hospital alone shows what war is” (193). This depressing analysis of WWI through the eyes of Paul Baumer shows how war consists of nothing but death, destruction, and degradation. The fact that only a hospital is needed to show how war destroys society makes it even more difficult to process these gruesome horrors that, ultimately, humans bring onto themselves. War has been fought throughout history to solve problems; however, much to their disappointment, humans have experienced war as creating more complications rather than eliminating them. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, a German soldier named Paul faces the atrocious emotional degeneration that comes along with fighting in a war where thousands of people die every day. …show more content…
As the fighting drags on, both Paul’s physical and emotional conditions begin to take a dark turn; there is only so much that a young man of twenty years can experience before his mind and body start to break down beyond repair. The war in which Paul fights slowly strips him of his humanity to his most brutish and primitive state, in which his experiences become meaningless and utterly unbearable for him. Throughout the novel, Paul is steadily stripped of his humanity through lacking a sense of belonging, being desensitized by the horrors of war, and seceding from the civilized world.
In losing a sense of belonging, both at home in Germany and on the Front in France, Paul’s experiences become meaningless for him progressively throughout the novel. Paul first strongly hints at this during a rather routine intellectual discussion with his close-knit companions. Talking about what each fellow will do when it is peace-time again, Paul responds with the depressing realization of what war did to them: “we were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress” (67). Recruited as a teenager to join the war by his teacher, and thinking that it would bring honor and glory to himself and his country, Paul sees that the war truly changes him. While the young soldier had a potentially bright future, Paul takes an unfortunate turn when fate brings him into a war which inevitably takes control of his life. The war strips him of his humor, cheerfulness, and more importantly, his sense of belonging in the world. This becomes even more clear when Paul visits home on leave. He regrets returning to his town and family, for it only makes his life worse. As Paul strives with the utmost effort for what he calls “The Life of my Youth” to receive him, he grows frustrated with his inability to grasp the beautiful and care-free experience he once perceived before the war. “I cannot find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength” (128). The only home that Paul seeks to return to shuts him out. Nowhere receives him; Paul belongs in no place, and this lack of a sense of belonging strips him from his humanity. He even notices this himself, identifying it as having a lack of enthusiasm for anything. “We are burnt up by hard facts; like tradesmen we understand distinctions, and like butchers, necessities. We are no longer untroubled--we are indifferent.” Indifference is a dangerous characteristic; bearing too much of it can unhinge a man’s mind. The horrors of war seem not to daunt Paul as much as it may for some, but these terrors certainly desensitize him in ways that continue to impact his emotional mentality in future experiences. Fear of the horrors of war do not necessarily get to Paul; rather, it is the terror of a physically tormenting death that bends his mind backwards. This knowledge that Paul most likely has not much time left in the world helps him to live life to the fullest, but in doing this, he only becomes more troubled. Thinking about comrades that have died in battle, and how it was impossible for Paul
“How senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible [...] a hospital alone shows what war is” (193). This depressing analysis of WWI through the eyes of Paul Baumer shows how war consists of nothing but death, destruction, and degradation. The fact that only a hospital is needed to show how war destroys society makes it even more difficult to process these gruesome horrors that, ultimately, humans bring onto themselves. War has been fought throughout history to solve problems; however, much to their disappointment, humans have experienced war as creating more complications rather than eliminating them. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, a German soldier named Paul faces the atrocious emotional degeneration that comes along with fighting in a war where thousands of people die every day. …show more content…
As the fighting drags on, both Paul’s physical and emotional conditions begin to take a dark turn; there is only so much that a young man of twenty years can experience before his mind and body start to break down beyond repair. The war in which Paul fights slowly strips him of his humanity to his most brutish and primitive state, in which his experiences become meaningless and utterly unbearable for him. Throughout the novel, Paul is steadily stripped of his humanity through lacking a sense of belonging, being desensitized by the horrors of war, and seceding from the civilized world.
In losing a sense of belonging, both at home in Germany and on the Front in France, Paul’s experiences become meaningless for him progressively throughout the novel. Paul first strongly hints at this during a rather routine intellectual discussion with his close-knit companions. Talking about what each fellow will do when it is peace-time again, Paul responds with the depressing realization of what war did to them: “we were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress” (67). Recruited as a teenager to join the war by his teacher, and thinking that it would bring honor and glory to himself and his country, Paul sees that the war truly changes him. While the young soldier had a potentially bright future, Paul takes an unfortunate turn when fate brings him into a war which inevitably takes control of his life. The war strips him of his humor, cheerfulness, and more importantly, his sense of belonging in the world. This becomes even more clear when Paul visits home on leave. He regrets returning to his town and family, for it only makes his life worse. As Paul strives with the utmost effort for what he calls “The Life of my Youth” to receive him, he grows frustrated with his inability to grasp the beautiful and care-free experience he once perceived before the war. “I cannot find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength” (128). The only home that Paul seeks to return to shuts him out. Nowhere receives him; Paul belongs in no place, and this lack of a sense of belonging strips him from his humanity. He even notices this himself, identifying it as having a lack of enthusiasm for anything. “We are burnt up by hard facts; like tradesmen we understand distinctions, and like butchers, necessities. We are no longer untroubled--we are indifferent.” Indifference is a dangerous characteristic; bearing too much of it can unhinge a man’s mind. The horrors of war seem not to daunt Paul as much as it may for some, but these terrors certainly desensitize him in ways that continue to impact his emotional mentality in future experiences. Fear of the horrors of war do not necessarily get to Paul; rather, it is the terror of a physically tormenting death that bends his mind backwards. This knowledge that Paul most likely has not much time left in the world helps him to live life to the fullest, but in doing this, he only becomes more troubled. Thinking about comrades that have died in battle, and how it was impossible for Paul