The Western

What is Patriotism? Patriotism is the love of one's country over all things. None of the young soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, are painted as patriots. Instead they are instruments of elected or appointed politicians who use their own stilted sense of patriotism to encourage young men to then give their lives to defend the country. In this setting, acts of patriotic heroism are thus made pathetic because they are made for no positive outcome. Remarque’s use of…

There are different meanings about the meaning of the Western World. Western civilization was born thousands of years ago with the rise of the Greek city-state, influenced by Middle Eastern culture. EAST East (Latin orens, oriri participle: appear birth) is the name of the direction from which the sun (and other stars) minted in antiquity, namely the East rises. By extension, it refers to those regions that are east of the benchmark. In the "Western" culture he was given this name to Asia.…

Published in 1928, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a noteworthy novel that illustrates the ordeals of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier who is deployed at the Western Front. Paul, who acts as the primary narrator for the novel, precisely elucidates several tragedies that he and his comrades witness as a result of violence inflicted by war. His comrades, which include Kat, Muller, Albert, and Kemmerich, help Paul overcome multiple obstacles such as the horrors of the…

War has a dark, funny way of underlining the incongruities of warfare. Irony has a strong presence in Erich Maria Remarque's novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. Set in the German lines of the Western Front in the First World War, Paul Baumer and other young men, such as Albert and Müller, volunteer to be soldiers after their schoolteachers persuaded them. At the front, they admire Kat for his practical skills and reliable instincts. On the opposite is Himmelstoss, a largely inept leader who…

In Erich Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, the author uses metaphor and personification to convey Paul Baumer’s loss of self. Paul Baumer, the protagonist of the novel, joins the war as an innocent twenty year old boy who enjoys writing poetry, but transforms into a detached, stiff man who finds trouble relating to normal, innocent civilians. After witnessing plenty of bloodshed and catastrophe, Paul’s emotional connection to his humanity gradually dissolves. The burdens of war…

Effects of the war, specifically the front lines, are shown significantly through the historical novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque. The author displays the development of Paul, the narrator through World War I, through the story as he encounters the front, and how it can change someone’s life forever. Soldiers endure countless hours of pure war. The effects of the front can bring abandonment in their life and them wanting no one. It is very dehumanizing and…

Millions of young men have gone through life-altering experiences in their time in World War I. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer, a 19-year-old German soldier, narrates his personal memoirs of this war. As he is forced to mature from a young boy to an experienced warrior in order to survive, Paul is left permanently scarred from the throes of war and his attitude towards life is forever changed. Paul is used as an example for all of the young soldiers…

experience of Wiesel’s is better known as the Holocaust. Wiesel did not participate in war as a soldier, but he was effected by the aftermath, and not in a good fashion. His nightmares became just as real as Paul’s nightmares in All Quiet on the Western Front. I cannot begin to express Wiesel’s horrifying experience with complete understanding because I was not the one who lived it. Wiesel describes pain and despair through the vividness of his words. I could imagine the babies being thrown into…

In Jonathan Daly’s book, Revolutionary Civilization: Explaining Western Power in the Modern World, the author argues that European political fragmentation created hothouse conditions for innovation and almost constant warfare. Professor Daly’s argument is accurate for many reasons. The decentralized government of Europe had led to innovation and constant warfare which developed into “the world’s first arms race – one that never ended (Daly 94)”. I firmly believe that the political fragmentation…

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire Many factors contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but the four major reasons included opinionated politics, economic conditions, life taking diseases, as well as invasions by foreign groups determined to take over Rome. The fact that Rome did not respond to these issues had a colossal impact in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Politics were one of the reasons responsible for the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Rome was run by many…