Compare and contrast Erich Remarque and Tim O’Brien wrote several stories about war during their lifetimes. Both Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front, and O’Brien, author of In the Field, write from the perspectives of a veteran that fought in a war. In All Quiet on the Western Front and In the Field, common themes of the horrors of war, the lost generation, and symbolism are presented by Remarque and O’Brien with ease.
In both, the stories the authors utilize the horrors of war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the use of flamethrowers is prominent as the invention of new weaponry ramps up during war. The operator was a walking bomb and if the operator was shot “fire squirts about on all sides and the man burns” (Remarque 284). While witnessing deaths by bullets and bombs, these soldiers also were exposed to the horrors of death by flames in its full glory. While the exposure to death by fire is exhibited in All Quiet on the Western Front, horrors of war are in In the Field as well. O’Brien illustrates the horrors of war from the beginning of the story. The soldiers experience and see things that cause great stress such as, when the soldiers search for their fallen camarade and found “an arm and a wristwatch and …show more content…
Kemmerich’s boots were good and “good boots are rare” during World War I (Remarque 21). Almost ironic that the supplies given to the boys fighting for the freedom of their country were given second hand, crappy supplies. While Kemmerich’s boots are a symbol in All Quiet on the Western Front, the field is a symbol in In the Field. The field symbolizes everything in the way of all soldiers in war. The field caused problems problems from the beginning like “a tug-of-war [they] couldn’t win” (O’Brien). Adding to the impossible roadblocks the field is the cause for the death of Kiowa indicating his final
In both, the stories the authors utilize the horrors of war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the use of flamethrowers is prominent as the invention of new weaponry ramps up during war. The operator was a walking bomb and if the operator was shot “fire squirts about on all sides and the man burns” (Remarque 284). While witnessing deaths by bullets and bombs, these soldiers also were exposed to the horrors of death by flames in its full glory. While the exposure to death by fire is exhibited in All Quiet on the Western Front, horrors of war are in In the Field as well. O’Brien illustrates the horrors of war from the beginning of the story. The soldiers experience and see things that cause great stress such as, when the soldiers search for their fallen camarade and found “an arm and a wristwatch and …show more content…
Kemmerich’s boots were good and “good boots are rare” during World War I (Remarque 21). Almost ironic that the supplies given to the boys fighting for the freedom of their country were given second hand, crappy supplies. While Kemmerich’s boots are a symbol in All Quiet on the Western Front, the field is a symbol in In the Field. The field symbolizes everything in the way of all soldiers in war. The field caused problems problems from the beginning like “a tug-of-war [they] couldn’t win” (O’Brien). Adding to the impossible roadblocks the field is the cause for the death of Kiowa indicating his final