Part One
Erich Remarque
writes his novel, All is Quiet on the
Western Front, with an authentic and intimate point of view. When the
First World War broke out, the rising senses of nationalism amongst the Great
Powers infused their even more powerful senses of militarism. All of a sudden,
across the continent of Europe , war, battle
and being a military hero were glorified beyond any realistic conception. The
soon, rapid expansion of their militaries would result in many young men,
including Remarque himself, joining their military with great enthusiasm. For
these future soldiers their misconceptions of what was really to occur, was no
fantasy like it was made out to be. Remarque uses his novel to express his deep
and personal declaration that “death is not an adventure to those who stand
face to face with it” (Remarque, 1928, p. 0).
One of the hardships, or “non-adventures”,
that narrator and main character Paul Baumer has to face is the death of his lifelong
friend, Franz Kemmerich. Baumer and Kemmerich had enlisted with the same
enthusiasm and eagerness as previously explained, but not long after they were
deployed, there lay Kemmerich certain for death in a dressing-room. At that
point, Baumer describes his friends: “Under the skin life no longer pulses, it
has already pressed out of the boundaries of the body. Death is working its way
through from within. It already has command in the eyes” (Remarque, 1928, p.
14).
Until that point
Baumer had no memories of Kimmerich other than the fun filled innocence of the
short 19 years they had both been alive. Kimmerich, who was once a young man
full of life and promise, now:
….only weeps, his
head turned aside. He does not speak of his mother or his brothers and sisters.
He says nothing; all of that lies behind him; he is entirely alone now with his
little life of nineteen years, and cries because it leaves him. (Remarque, 1928,
p. 31)
Baumer
later goes on to describe his experience with the death of Kimmerich as “the
most disturbing and hardest parting that I have ever seen” (Remarque, 1928, p.
31).
Having to accept that one of your
best child-hood friends is lying and waiting to die, I imagine, is no
adventure. The eager soldiers joined the war awaiting their hero’s welcome, and
instantly underwent a mental and emotional
transformation by witnessing the slow death of a beloved friend. However, it
was not just their friend; death was all around them. They knew nothing of its
sight, smell, or feel. Still, they quickly learned, as they are hardened by
watching fellow friends/comrades suffer unthinkable tragedies. Some become so
sad while hearing grown men pierce the air with their cries and calls for their
mothers as they lay helplessly a mangled heap of what was once a body. Baumer
talks about their new selves becoming “hard, suspicious, pitiless, vicious, and
tough” (Remarque, 1928, p.26). Remarque is able to make it quite clear that,
where as some see war as this glorious adventure, those who endure it would
never wish it on their worst enemies.
Part Two
The fact that war
is said to still require “boots on the ground,” is not a shocking claim. War
itself is a very personal affair. There is an uncanny satisfaction that leaders
receive when they watch destruction and victory with the bare hands of man.
There is nothing so personal as being face to face with the enemy on the field.
The technology of modern war may be new school, with “smart bombs” and new
land/air crafts, but the beliefs of a military are just as old school as ever.
Militarism and nationalism exist just as strongly as they did in the years of
WWI (1914-1918). War is just as glorified now as it was then. An enormous sense
of pride is felt in fighting for your country (rightfully so); not having an
unreliable machine do it. It is up to the people to defend the land, and the
good name of their country’s flag. There will always be showing off of new
weapons and stronger forces. People are always looking to see who has the
bigger guns. No one has the money to mass produce fighting machines.
Unfortunately, it is still believed it is “cheaper” to throw the people in to
be sacrificed in battle. I mean, after all people are just meaningless and
endless, right?
References:
Remarque, Erich. (1928). All
Quiet on the Western Front.
