Warfare is something that will always degrade the human image. No war however, can be as inhumane as WWI because it was extremely animalistic in nature, the people’s generation who fought it was completely wiped out, and people still today can feel repercussions of the war.
WWI showed no mercy to those who fought in battle. Erich Maria Remarque showed this in All Quiet in the Western Front when Paul Baumer and his squadron were walking in a forest and then saw people hanging from trees as their “sharp, downy, dead faces have the awful expressionlessness of dead children” (Remarque 130). There was no reservation in images that the soldiers had to mentally endure as there was a lack of people to help soldiers fighting by clearing way, or giving medical attention. …show more content…
This group of people, the ‘lost generation’, got their title as the whole generation of people were wiped out, killed in battle. Wilfred Owen portrays this concept in “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by ironically saying “No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells, / Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,--” (Owen 5-6). Even though they do not deserve to be mocked in a derogatory sense, they should be prayed for despite the lack of interest by other generations that are not ‘lost’.
A way of quantifying war, although not so quantifiable, is by how long it lasts in people’s memory. Even today, WWI proves to be as gruesome as described by books written at the time as described by people would describe it today. Baumer, after coming back from the front lines is remorsing and says “the generation that has grown up after us will be strange to us and push aside.” (Remarque 294). Although they might not understand the struggles, they will forever remember the previous generation and consider willingly their
WWI showed no mercy to those who fought in battle. Erich Maria Remarque showed this in All Quiet in the Western Front when Paul Baumer and his squadron were walking in a forest and then saw people hanging from trees as their “sharp, downy, dead faces have the awful expressionlessness of dead children” (Remarque 130). There was no reservation in images that the soldiers had to mentally endure as there was a lack of people to help soldiers fighting by clearing way, or giving medical attention. …show more content…
This group of people, the ‘lost generation’, got their title as the whole generation of people were wiped out, killed in battle. Wilfred Owen portrays this concept in “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by ironically saying “No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells, / Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,--” (Owen 5-6). Even though they do not deserve to be mocked in a derogatory sense, they should be prayed for despite the lack of interest by other generations that are not ‘lost’.
A way of quantifying war, although not so quantifiable, is by how long it lasts in people’s memory. Even today, WWI proves to be as gruesome as described by books written at the time as described by people would describe it today. Baumer, after coming back from the front lines is remorsing and says “the generation that has grown up after us will be strange to us and push aside.” (Remarque 294). Although they might not understand the struggles, they will forever remember the previous generation and consider willingly their