Month: October 2024

All Quiet On The Western Front was written from the perspective of Erich Maria Remarque. The book was published in 1929. The protagonist of this story was a German soldier from the German Army in WWI who is known by Paul Bäumer. This novel was able to express the feelings, emotions, and help us understand what exactly the soldiers went through. Through reading this book, I learned that no matter what we know about what happened inside of the war, we may understand it unless we had actually been put in the spot and went through it ourselves. Paul had mentioned something like that himself, explaining that no matter what the people said they wouldn’t understand what he had gone through unless it was one of the other soldiers. To be honest, I didn’t truly find the book interesting because I had a problem connecting to it or the way it was written. I usually find war stories fascinating, but it was either I wasn’t in the mood for that type of book or I couldn’t get the main idea to stay in my head in general. I am planning on looking back at it though, just at my pace this time.

The WWI Readings, Prose 1 & 2, helped me see WWI in a different perspective and from different perspectives. I found Prose 1 to be more confusing and I had a hard time understanding anything, but when it came to Prose 2, I actually started understanding more. Besides the War itself, I also got to learn different writing styles (also from the WWI Readings: Poetry) which some I found to be more clear (like Chevallier and Barthas) and some sounded like Gibberish to me (like Herbert and Chevalier from Prose 1). I did find the poems to be more interesting though and it was easier to concentrate because I just thought of it as poetry (which I love) and nothing else.

The readings from All Quiet on the Western Front and the excerpts by Herbert, Chevallier, Barthas, and West show how hard World War 1 was for everyone.

In All Quiet in the western front, Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of Paul Baumer a German soldier. He his friends and comrades always lived in fear, sadness, and danger in the trenches where they would stay during the war. The war maked them feel lost to the point where they disconnected from their old lives. They didn’t feel like heroes because of fighting in the war, they just want to survive. The novel shows how war changes people, making them only want to survive.

The other readings give us similar information and scenarios of the war. Louis Barthas, French soldier, tells us how dirty, exhausting, and scary life in the trenches was every day. George Herbert and Gabriel Chevallier talk about how pointless the fighting felt and how war broke people.

The soldiers suffered from the fighting  the hunger, cold, dirt, and poor living conditions. George Herbert and Gabriel Chevallier also describe how the war felt pointless and how it broke the spirit of the one who fought on it.

Starting off strong, I never really knew much about WW1. You see, a lot of people teach about WW2 and talk about it, but I never actually learned anything about WW1 other than the fact it was the first world war. I think that it is very heartbreaking to read these experiences from people who had actually been through them.

I learned a lot of vocabulary during this time, and I also learned a lot about history and the military. The military is something I have always had an interest in, but I am much too scared to join it. Seeing this, I realize, to a better extent, the things that can come from the military, and the things that the people in them can go through, and have gone through.

To read about these experiences makes me realize there is so much more to everything. Going through “All Quiet On The Western Front”, and the WW1 quotations, I get a sense, a very dreadful and unpleasant one when I look at the sheer amount of detail on that paper. It makes me sick, but also puts me in a place of uncomfortable learning when I read the words, memories, experiences, and emotions that were put down and remembered.

At the same time, it makes me feel neutral, and yet, it is all recalled so vividly that it is quite horrifying, so strong through pen that my mind gives me a visual image, one that I wish to never have again. However, as uncomfortable as it was, it was also a great learning experience for me.

While reading “All Quiet On The Western Front” and WWI prose, I think that my favourite is All Quiet On The Western Front, because I find that the story is easier to understand more than WWI prose. I think that it is easier to understand because there is a plot in the All Quiet On The Western Front and WWI prose was journal entries and small writing pieces from soldiers in the war which used language that they used back then but that we don’t use now. I also found that All Quiet On The Western Front is a very well written story and it is a very realistic story with language that people now will understand though it was a little shocking to me how the story ended. Also throughout the book it had me thinking about a lot of different things such as “if Paul dies in the end how did they write this story?” “is this really what happened back then or is it just a story?” ” why did guys want to volunteer to go to war at such a young age and pretend to be old enough for war?” stuff like that I was thinking about. Overall I enjoyed reading both pieces because it is interesting to see how All Quiet On The Western Front is similar to WWI Prose and how they are not similar also it is very interesting learning about the war and the past.

I´ve had the second world war in multiple classes and over several years, I have read books like Anne Frank´s diary and watched movies like Schindler´s List, and have heard numerous stories about the cruelty and barbarism of the German Nazis. But the first World War?

Even though I had it in school before and knew about the incomparable suffering and pain of the soldiers, I never fully realized what “war” meant to them. I never realized how their society forbid them to show emotions, or even the slightest mental impact, about their experiences at the front.

Reading “all quiet on the western front” and the diaries from real life French and German soldiers, taught me more than any school lesson or museum ever could have.

Not only did I learn about their horrifying living conditions and diseases that I never would have imagined even existed, like trench foot, but I also gained a deep understanding of how the returning soldiers were mentally, often as well as physically, completely broken and simply overlooked by their society. I now understand what torture the survivors went through, even though I know that it is beyond my Imagination to fully comprehend the conditions and abuse of the war, and that I never will.

To read about the war from the soldier’s point of view was an entirely new perspective, one that allowed me to learn about aspects of the war I had never really heard of before, like the comradeship between the soldiers and how that was often their only string to keep them, at least a little bit, from losing their mind. It also taught me what war does to humans: How after a while, most realize that in order to survive it, they have to “shut off” their humanity and let the most animalistic side of them take control.

Looking at the war from a modern point of view, I am simply horrified at how anyone could ever survive that, or even have the will to survive it. It is a mystery to me how the leaders and generals of the war were able to be as cold-blooded as they were and send thousand, one after another, to their certain death.

I know that I will take this and much more with me from the world war 1 readings, and that I now have an improved insight and knowledge of the war.

After reading and reflecting about the events that occurred in world war 1 in the book All Quiet on the Western Front, and in the exerts WW1 Prose 1 and Prose 2 that were written by the view of people that were present on the events of the war and can describe the horrible situations that they passed with accuracy. In my thought the world war was a complete massacre caused by the bad politicians that prolonged it self because of the technological and strategical advance and that the civilians knew the what the was turning and the hell that it was there, but as I read the book I discovered and realized that the war was deeper than that one example of it was my reaction after reading the chapter of all quiet on the western front were the parents of Paul kept asking how was the war like and what situations they passed there.

Another thing that got me thinking was the part of the of the Prose that shows the struggles of the war and how difficult the living at the trenches, one example could be a part that Barthas wrote saying all the effort that his team took to build a shelter to protect their self from the rain in the trenches, and adding to that the temperature goes down making them freeze along side with water in the trenches.

After reading the book and the proses I realized how bad the situations were at the war times and that people had no idea of when the war was going to end, the civilians had no idea of how the war was and many more bad things were happening at war times, that makes me fear a next incoming war in the future.

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” by Erich Maria Remarque and excerpts from Herbert, Chevalier, Barthas, and West have been a remarkably insightful, detailed insight into the life and struggles of any normal veteran from World War I. Not only was their heartbreaking depiction of the grotesque daily lives of soldiers deliberately accounted with added information most of my fellow classmates and I have never read of before, but this book and these excerpts also give new meaning to our upcoming Remembrance Day assembly. Of course, with no doubt in my mind, we have all known some of the terrible struggles veterans went through for several years now, including being taught the outcome and beginning of the war in history class. However, us as a class I believe we have not fully understood what took place at such battles and or fronts as the Western Front in France/Belgium. Although “All Quiet on the Western Front,” is a realistic fiction autobiography with the main storyline being fully adapted from real-life events, the book still gives new insights into how soldiers fought and not how old pro-war effort ideas want people to believe they did. This new unit really did help me better understand what it was like to live the life of a soldier, even if it is through a small glimpse created by a book into how terrifying life was at the time.

After reading through the World War One books, All Quiet On The Western Side And the readings part 1 and part 2 with Barthas, Chevallier, and some others, it has been brought to my attention how insanely brutal war is.

I have been wanting to read the famous All Quiet On The Western Front for quite some time now because I was always curious to learn about the war, what it was like, and its effects. One thing I didn’t expect to find though, was the mental effect on the soldiers as it’s somewhat described in the book. It describes how Paul’s mental state adapts to the war and becomes very different from what we would see now. As like when multiple soldiers got killed, Paul and his group focused on the fact they would have more rations. It also explains the effects of the fighting, like as when Paul killed the Frenchman and went through his things to find out that he had a family, it made him feel guilty and scared.

The World War One readings were good to read as they described with more visuals, mental side effects, and the looks of war. The readings, gave me a visual of how it was having dead bodies around every corner, rotting and smelling like hell. It also explained common side effect of trauma, known as shell shock, caused from artillery, and what happened as soldiers watched their friends get pummeled by dropping shells or gunned down in front of them. it also explained more in depth with tactics of crawling around at night and little hidden details that most things might not teach you.

Overall I liked reading and learning about the first world war. especially how at near the end of part 2 of the prose, it explained how the soldiers didn’t pay enough attention to the small things they had like warmth in their house, comfy couches, a bed, so that once they were transferred to the front lines, they finally found out what absolute hell was and missed their home greatly. Although, I apologize but I must say, I enjoyed the book a lot more than the prose, not even because I was already wanting to read it, but because it had a plot, where the prose didn’t follow much of one. Reading these expanded my knowledge which will most likely help in I & S, and it made the soldiers have a certain significance to me after learning the terror they had to go through.

I feel that the texts that we have read so far have been rather eye-opening for me. I realized that I didn’t really see how transparent the details of war were in these pieces in these texts compared to other pieces of literature, such as how warfare as a whole was portrayed. War in movies was always portrayed as being cool, but in reality it’s horrific, traumatizing, and damages entire generations. It was really an eye-opener to hear about the devastating realities. I found All Quiet a good book as it helped to emphasize to the readers what everyone was involved in. Between the sixteen year olds who had their entire lives ahead of them, to the experienced elders who had been to war before, it was quite informative to hear about about the stories of the soldiers and the harsh realities that each of them had to endure. The language that was used was very powerful in conveying what war was actually like, contrary to the movies and television shows.

Certain aspects that were mentioned in All Quiet that soldiers were conditioned to seemed insane to me, such as the soldiers being glad about their fellow comrades being killed because they got extra rations for their next meal. Something like this seems impossible to be happy about to us, but those enduring war were forced to put some sort of silver lining on the devastating situation they were in so that they could keep pushing forward. For the prose readings, I found those interesting in a different aspect, particularly the remarks made near the end of pt. II by a soldier. They talk about how they really didn’t realize how much they had until they went to war, such as not worrying about where tomorrow’s meal is coming from, constant shellfire, and being physically attacked. In conclusion, I feel that each of these texts are solid, and emphasize the harsh realities of how war actually is.

Reading All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and the excerpts from Herbert, Chevalier, Barthas, and West from the WWI Readings, was an experience that open my mind to the harsh realities that the soldiers faced during the war. I personally never had read about WW1 or even really learned about it, so the book/excerpts were really interesting to me.

In the book All Quiet On the Western Front, we follow the narrator,Paul Baümar, a 17 year old, who with a group of friends enlisted in the army, were his morals and ideals were soon to be crushed by the brutal realities of war. As we read the book, Paul describes the terrible conditions the soldiers had to live in. Because the author of the book was in fact a former soldier who fought in this war, we get a realistic, overwhelming and detailed descriptions of the horrible thing the soldiers had to face. As well as the book, the excerpts were written by soldiers who faugh in the war for different countrys.

What most shocked me in this readings was the ignorance of the people towards the concept of war. To me, war was always though as a bad, witch is why I thought back then, people also thought of war as negative. However as I was reading, both in the book and the excerpts the narrators describe how the new soldiers, cooks ,nurses or the civilians back in the towns or cities view the war as an exciting adventure. Another thing I also noticed was the loss of innocence the soldier had. As time passed and the Soldiers fought, their dreams and hopes started to get slowly crushed until their only dream was to survive.

Even though I enjoyed reading both the book and the excerpts, I mostly preferred the book.This because the book was easier to read and had a more of an engaging story line.

In conclusion, the readings teached me alot about WW1.The character feelings and experiences helped me understand what war is really like.Reading them made me understand and sympathize with the personal stories of soldiers making their sacrifices feel more real and significant to me.

When first introduced to this term’s readings I honestly did not expect much; I have a tendency to not take things on paper seriously, as I am not easily tolled by information without photographic evidence; However, to my absolute shock, when I opened these passages (All Quiet on the Western Front, World War 1 Prose 1 and 2), I was instantly plunged into the horrors and grief of war. It is no secret that what happens on the front, no matter it’s significance, will never be understood by civilians; For example, when Paul Baumer returns from the Front home on Leave, he is re-introduced to the life he left behind: His Family, his room, and his books. When he interacts with them, they are living a positive life, his mother even questions him if it was bad out there. When he goes out to eat with his father, Paul puts on civilian clothing, but he knows from his father that he would’ve much preferred him to be in his uniform, he takes Paul to the Bar and shows off to his friends, as well as ask him a lot of questions, however, Paul is more upset by this, as he knows that there is nothing ‘cool’ about seeing people fall all around, never to get up again, around yourself constantly. Paul described his Leave as a regret, he should have never come home.

“I Shake my head and say: No Mother, Not so very…” (Paul Baumer, p. 161, All Quiet on the Western Front)

“My mother is the only one  who asks no questions. Not so my Father… I no longer have any contact with him… So I confine myself to tell him a few amusing things…” (Paul Baumer, p.165, All Quiet on the Western Front)

“I ought never to have come on leave” (Paul Baumer, p. 185, All Quiet on the Western Front)

The next 2 Prose’s really add on the grief of war, as there is a whole compilation of stories from different authours, making for a tragic story telling; In the First Prose, I got to read about and personally understand about the struggles on the Front, as Barthas describes him and his team creating a shelter against rain, and after it stops and the temperature drops below freezing, they are to stay in this shelter with tons of water coming down on them:

” My friend Coutage and I managed to unearth a German overcoat splattered with congealed blood.. draping it over two broken rifles … Worst of all was the thirst which tortured us, in spite of the cascades of water falling from the sky.” (Barthas, p.33, Prose 1)

The second Prose, at least in my opinion, had way more detail about the war. The most absurd thing that I read in this Prose was that the soldiers had a choice; either to sleep on the five filthy mattresses or hard wooden planks of the camp beds, which were both contaminated. this was, softly speaking, an unacceptable aspect of war; I get that hygiene status was not well maintained on the Front, however, changing/ cleaning out the mattresses every so often wouldn’t have been a bad idea:

“When you wanted to lie down on the five filthy mattresses… or simply on the planks… you had to be completely overcome with fatigue so as to fall asleep before feeling the stingers…” (Barthas, pp. 11-12, Prose 2)

In conclusion, these readings took a toll on me; using these 3 sources I was able to further understand what our ancestors experienced during this Great War, how it affected them, as well as shows us a lesson in modern times as to not repeat the mistakes which caused this great Meat-Grinder of a War.

-Iaroslav Serg Pyrozhok

The readings from “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the WWI prose excerpts by Herbert, Chevallier, Barthas, and West offer an unsettling portrayal of the soldiers’ living conditions in the trenches. Reading about the soldiers’ desperate desire to escape their suffering, shown in Chevallier’s novel excerpt, Fear: “Death would be preferable to this degrading torment… Yes, if this must continue much longer, I would rather die,” or the thought that just in a few moments some men will be ripped apart, and become objects of horror or indifference was extremely painful and disturbing. The images of men rotting in filth, worse than animals, were also deeply unsettling.

One excerpt that left me completely astonished was the scene where a soldier, feeling a sudden sense of well-being, raises his head above the parapet, only to be instantly struck by a bullet. This moment perfectly encapsulates how brutal and unfair war can be. Even the smallest gestures of life or hope can be crushed immediately.

Personally, the part that had me most heartbroken was a passage from Chevallier’s novel excerpt, where he recounts the thoughts and visions that would flash through his mind “like a lightning bolt.” He writes: “There, in my distant home, my cherished wife, my two babes with blond curls, my white-haired mother and father, kneeling at prayer at this very hour, pouring all their hearts, souls into it, bent in anguish for the absent one… for me. No, I had to escape death as best I could, to get away from this accursed place.” Reading this was incredibly painful because it shows how the love for their families would always linger in the soldiers’ minds. The desire to survive wasn’t just for their own sake but for the sake of those waiting for them back home.

While reading these stories, I tried hard to put myself in the soldiers’ shoes, but the extent of their suffering is impossible to imagine. No pen could ever tell their tale.

Reading All Quiet on the Western Front and other excerpts from books written by WW1 soldiers has drastically changed my perspective about war and life on the front. I had never heard stories about war from the soldier’s perspective, which left me biased against them. How could they have ‘willingly’ enlisted? How were they capable of killing their enemies so cold-bloodedly? Were they truly fighting for their country and willing to die for it? After reading the stories written by soldiers, I understand what war was actually like. What stood out the most to me was the deep relationships and bonds formed between the soldiers. These bonds, formed under the worst possible circumstances, became essential for their survival, both mental and physical. Knowing that the person lying next to you in the trenches could one day save your life, created a sense of incredible trust and dependence.

This feeling of camaraderie really stood out to me in the excerpts from Barthas and Herbert, as well as in All Quiet on the Western Front. Despite the chaos and horror surrounding them, the soldiers looked out for one another. The connection wasn’t just about surviving together but also about the shared trauma and suffering and providing each other support in times of fear and pain.

In the paragraphs from Fear and Diary of a Dead Officer, the bonds formed were a way to find moments of humanity in an inhumane situation. These stories showed me that the soldiers weren’t just fighting for their country, they were also fighting for each other. The friendships and connections gave them the strength to endure the most horrible things a human could possibly endure and this completely changed my understanding of what war meant to those who lived through it. It was so much more then countries and governments fighting against each other, purely for territorial gain, fueled by hate. The soldiers weren’t just figures in a game, they were humans with lives and families that didn’t understand why they had to fight humans just like them.

The book is named All Quiet on the Western Front. It was written by E.M.R and was published in 1929. I thought this book was quite sad and disturbing and  I think that’s because it was written from a soldiers perspective. You could really envision what they went through and the grief they had to go through. Even though it was sad, it was quite engaging and I think it is because it was written in a way where it was real. I think it was quite realistic.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque was published in 1929. The narrator of the story, Paul Bäumer, is a soldier for the German Army in WWI and it follows what life was like for the Germans during WWI. I enjoyed reading this book because I found it interesting and the way it was written kept me engaged. I had never read a war book where it’s written in the perspective of a solider, so it was a new experience for me. I found parts of it a bit disturbing or sad, but I liked that they narrator told the story how it really was, instead of making it sound great, like some other books do.

In the excerpts from Herbert, Chevailler, Barthas, and West from the WWI Readings, I found it harder to follow and understand compared to All Quiet on the Western Front. I found part 1 a more challenging read than part 2. Possibly their writing styles and the fact that it jumped back and forth between different times, but I couldn’t really wrap my head around it. Part 2 however, was easier for me to follow, which helped me understand much better. Especially the excerpts from Barthas. I liked the way he wrote his perspective.

Overall, I preferred the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, to the WWI readings because it was an interesting story that I could understand.