All Quiet on the Western Front Trench Diorama and Artifacts Essay Most of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front takes place in the trenches of Eastern France over several years. The story is told through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, initially a naive young man misled by older leadership and authority figures into joining the war. The model is a representation of the vivid depiction of the trenches and the lives of the soldiers living in them that Remarque gives the reader in chapter 6; a midpoint of the novel when Paul has returned to the frontline. Included in the collage is a small collection of relevant items from the description of the trench. The bayonet, the gas mask, the grenade, the bullets, the bread,
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One thing in chapter 6 that exemplifies this struggle, is the 9 inch guns (represented by the artillery gun and the bullet/artillery shell in the artifact stash). Artillery has played a key role in warfare since people figured out that they can throw big rocks at each other using machines; World War 1 was no exception. Due to the massive amount of force and pressure produced by the heavy and powerful artillery shells, eventually the barrel of the gun must be replaced. If the war machine is running out of steel, it can’t make new barrels, and it can’t fix its guns. “After we have been in the dug-outs for two hours, our own shells begin to fall in the trench. This is the third time in four weeks. If it were simply a mistake in aim no one would say anything, but the truth is that the barrels are worn out.To-night two of our men were wounded by them” (100). The German war machine ran out of money and materials but because of the older, prideful leadership that would not surrender, the continuing war on the front cost many young soldiers their lives. The inadequacy of their artillery adds to the psychological struggle that the soldiers feel: they feel betrayed by their leadership and are being treated as expendable resources to be thrown into the metaphorical meat grinder that is “the …show more content…
All food was in short supply in Germany towards the end of the war and the trenches battered and filthy. “There's no safety, no peace, no quiet when rats are around” (102). Throughout the story, the rats are always there, a looming problem. The soldiers have to fight off the rats to preserve themselves, using bread to bait the rats so they can rid themselves of the pests. “After a few minutes we hear the first shuffling and tugging it grows, now it is the sound of many little feet. Then the torches switch on and every man strikes at the heap, which scatters with a rush. The result is good, he said. We toss the bits of rat over the parapet and again lie in wait.” (103). Later in chapter six, they regret using the bread to bait the rats, as they had run out of food. The chaotic struggle exemplifies the desperation and struggle of soldiers on all sides during the First World
One thing in chapter 6 that exemplifies this struggle, is the 9 inch guns (represented by the artillery gun and the bullet/artillery shell in the artifact stash). Artillery has played a key role in warfare since people figured out that they can throw big rocks at each other using machines; World War 1 was no exception. Due to the massive amount of force and pressure produced by the heavy and powerful artillery shells, eventually the barrel of the gun must be replaced. If the war machine is running out of steel, it can’t make new barrels, and it can’t fix its guns. “After we have been in the dug-outs for two hours, our own shells begin to fall in the trench. This is the third time in four weeks. If it were simply a mistake in aim no one would say anything, but the truth is that the barrels are worn out.To-night two of our men were wounded by them” (100). The German war machine ran out of money and materials but because of the older, prideful leadership that would not surrender, the continuing war on the front cost many young soldiers their lives. The inadequacy of their artillery adds to the psychological struggle that the soldiers feel: they feel betrayed by their leadership and are being treated as expendable resources to be thrown into the metaphorical meat grinder that is “the …show more content…
All food was in short supply in Germany towards the end of the war and the trenches battered and filthy. “There's no safety, no peace, no quiet when rats are around” (102). Throughout the story, the rats are always there, a looming problem. The soldiers have to fight off the rats to preserve themselves, using bread to bait the rats so they can rid themselves of the pests. “After a few minutes we hear the first shuffling and tugging it grows, now it is the sound of many little feet. Then the torches switch on and every man strikes at the heap, which scatters with a rush. The result is good, he said. We toss the bits of rat over the parapet and again lie in wait.” (103). Later in chapter six, they regret using the bread to bait the rats, as they had run out of food. The chaotic struggle exemplifies the desperation and struggle of soldiers on all sides during the First World