War Trauma; The Influence it Placed on Remarque’s Writing
“On the threshold of life, they faced an abyss of death…” (A.W. Wheen, as quoted in All Quiet on the Western Front) Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front represents an idea of loss of innocence. Soldiers during this time period are at the “threshold” of their lives, as quoted by Wheen, to only face the brutal horrors of war. The horrors of the war steal the innocence away from these young men without them even knowing. These soldiers spend their entire childhood in school, to realize that their education did not help them when it came to warfare. This dehumanizing of soldiers by turning them into automatons creates lasting impacts on their morals and currently afflicts many …show more content…
This is because of being a soldier himself, Remarque was taught to never fear and to be a careless killer. On the battlefield, emotions are more dangerous than the enemy is. Because of this, he had to become personally detached to all of the gory events that happened during the war. This is reflected in his writing by a lack of emotions. The reader is forced to feel what the narrator is feeling in the novel. Remarque's possibly PTSD appears at different points of the novel. When the main character visits his house on leave, everything is falling to pieces. He even wishes to have never came there. This consequently forces the reader to realize how Remarque viewed the world after seeing war. He did not focus on the good times had by visiting family, but instead he capitalizes on the terrible things that occur while a soldier is off at war. This insight into the mind of a soldier comes directly from Remarque’s life. After being injured in the war, Remarque spent a while inside a German military hospital. This is where instead of seeing the adrenaline-fueled violence; Remarque had to endure hearing the painful screams of his fallen brethren. This touched Remarque and forced him to focus on the more gruesome aspects of war. This is reflected inside his book by the graphic depiction of
“On the threshold of life, they faced an abyss of death…” (A.W. Wheen, as quoted in All Quiet on the Western Front) Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front represents an idea of loss of innocence. Soldiers during this time period are at the “threshold” of their lives, as quoted by Wheen, to only face the brutal horrors of war. The horrors of the war steal the innocence away from these young men without them even knowing. These soldiers spend their entire childhood in school, to realize that their education did not help them when it came to warfare. This dehumanizing of soldiers by turning them into automatons creates lasting impacts on their morals and currently afflicts many …show more content…
This is because of being a soldier himself, Remarque was taught to never fear and to be a careless killer. On the battlefield, emotions are more dangerous than the enemy is. Because of this, he had to become personally detached to all of the gory events that happened during the war. This is reflected in his writing by a lack of emotions. The reader is forced to feel what the narrator is feeling in the novel. Remarque's possibly PTSD appears at different points of the novel. When the main character visits his house on leave, everything is falling to pieces. He even wishes to have never came there. This consequently forces the reader to realize how Remarque viewed the world after seeing war. He did not focus on the good times had by visiting family, but instead he capitalizes on the terrible things that occur while a soldier is off at war. This insight into the mind of a soldier comes directly from Remarque’s life. After being injured in the war, Remarque spent a while inside a German military hospital. This is where instead of seeing the adrenaline-fueled violence; Remarque had to endure hearing the painful screams of his fallen brethren. This touched Remarque and forced him to focus on the more gruesome aspects of war. This is reflected inside his book by the graphic depiction of