A Comrade in War, A Friend for Life
Beginning with the shot heard around the world, World War l devastated everyone around. From 1914 to 1918, the Western Front was the center of where all the fighting and killing occurred. In this place, soldiers fought under the worst conditions known to man, yet out of this warfare brought men together. In the book All Quiet on The Western Front the Paul wrote about one positive aspect of the war experience, which is the strong bond between soldiers. Other authors and poets have written about this theme of camaraderie found in All Quiet on The Western Front, including The Dug-Out and Things They carried, by exemplifying the love that the soldiers have for one another and the deep emotional connection they …show more content…
Soldiers are unable to properly mourn when a comrade ceases. In All Quiet on The Western Front, Paul and the others “have lost all feeling for one another” numbing them to the reality of the strong emotional attachment comrades have(Remarque 116). When they are together, “they are more… than life.” they are “The most comforting thing there is anywhere”(Remarque). Sassoon describes this powerful emotion, to lead one to act upon his feelings. The poem describes a soldier who is watching his comrade sleep, but thinks he could be dead. Out of pure fear and emotion for this comrade of his, he “shake[s] [him] by the shoulder” to make sure that he is not dead, and has not lost his comrade(Sassoon). The soldier in the poem has such an emotional attachment to his friend that it made him uncomfortable to just watch him sleep. Just like in All Quiet on The Western Front, Paul and Kat are brothers and when Kat was dying, Paul reacted strongly to his emotions toward Kat and tried his hardest to save Kat. The same thing occurs in the Tim O’Brien’s book when the platoon of soldiers finds their dead comrades body, they are emotionally driven even though it was nearly impossible to get him out of the mud. “Kiowa was their friend and they kept at it anyways” until finally they removed him from the mud (O’Brien). The deep emotional
Beginning with the shot heard around the world, World War l devastated everyone around. From 1914 to 1918, the Western Front was the center of where all the fighting and killing occurred. In this place, soldiers fought under the worst conditions known to man, yet out of this warfare brought men together. In the book All Quiet on The Western Front the Paul wrote about one positive aspect of the war experience, which is the strong bond between soldiers. Other authors and poets have written about this theme of camaraderie found in All Quiet on The Western Front, including The Dug-Out and Things They carried, by exemplifying the love that the soldiers have for one another and the deep emotional connection they …show more content…
Soldiers are unable to properly mourn when a comrade ceases. In All Quiet on The Western Front, Paul and the others “have lost all feeling for one another” numbing them to the reality of the strong emotional attachment comrades have(Remarque 116). When they are together, “they are more… than life.” they are “The most comforting thing there is anywhere”(Remarque). Sassoon describes this powerful emotion, to lead one to act upon his feelings. The poem describes a soldier who is watching his comrade sleep, but thinks he could be dead. Out of pure fear and emotion for this comrade of his, he “shake[s] [him] by the shoulder” to make sure that he is not dead, and has not lost his comrade(Sassoon). The soldier in the poem has such an emotional attachment to his friend that it made him uncomfortable to just watch him sleep. Just like in All Quiet on The Western Front, Paul and Kat are brothers and when Kat was dying, Paul reacted strongly to his emotions toward Kat and tried his hardest to save Kat. The same thing occurs in the Tim O’Brien’s book when the platoon of soldiers finds their dead comrades body, they are emotionally driven even though it was nearly impossible to get him out of the mud. “Kiowa was their friend and they kept at it anyways” until finally they removed him from the mud (O’Brien). The deep emotional