Literature-World+War+I

Jess, Annette & Dave: //All Quiet on the Western Front//

· Tiedjen- young 19 year old
1. Contrast between beauty and destruction on the front- the bombs compared to the fireworks but they are coming to kill them. Also how the the author portrayed the forest as this beautiful scene and everything being destroyed. 2. Two butterflies fly through no mans land and land on the teeth of a skull. Always plenty of amusement, things going on. 3. The constant contrast of the beauty of the landscape, which was almost always portrayed poetically, and the scenes of death, not only displays the constant contradictions in their lives.

3. The Impact of Blind Patriotism, and the difference between blind patriotism and the reality of war: Kantorek was saying "you're going to win, you can do this" This convinced the men to enlist because they'd be showing their patriotism to their country and still come home. Also, the use of propaganda also made enlisting the war look good and patriotic. The reality was much different than that. The reality was that you could be killed and that you're risking your life.

4. Examples of the desperation and isolation of the soldiers in //All Quiet on the Western Front:// //-// the soldiers become desperate and lose their mind while out there. With everything they witness and experience, it starts to become a situation where they need to survive by thinking only of themselves. - When on the front people change emotionally: sharper words, everything is more real, you have thick skin, stronger, brings out all the animal instincts out of the soldiers because they want to survive. - Survival of the fastest, if you are not strong you will die- key thoughts in the war. - It was like a whirl pool (you have no control you are getting sucked in). -The smallest good things could make your day

5. In //All Quiet on the Western Front,// when Paul would describe the war he would describe the beauty of what he saw when he had "free time". He would take the sky or the area that they were in and just describe what made it beautiful. It was the only thing that they could do/look at or appreciate. It was the only thing that was really keeping them from going insane. The thing was everywhere they were, everything was being destroyed. The destruction and killing from the war was what these men saw and had to experience/live through each day. It is what made them lose their minds later after the war.