He is the only soldier that seems to be frightened of battle and he seeks companions that have the same beliefs. When Fleming encounters a real battle, he runs from his first battle and spent time isolated. He encountered injured soldiers, and felt isolated because he was not harmed. Although no one questioned the unharmed soldier, Fleming felt guilty and felt that he betrayed his fellow soldiers. Until Fleming returns to battle with is fellow soldiers, he feels isolated.
For Paul to think that he only knows what “despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality” is at the age of twenty demonstrates how Paul is mentality affected by the war, as most teenagers do not think about such things. Paul thinks negative thoughts, and his thoughts are centralized about the war; his thoughts on death, his fear for death or the aftermath of the war, despair since he has no life outside the war. War does not only affect Paul’s mental state; the war also gives off the presence that although he may no longer be in the war, the war will always be with
Moral Duty The novel Johnny Got His Gun written by Dalton Trumbo focuses on the life of a young soldier who encountered a dramatic change in his life. The solider that we know of by the name of Joe Bonham gave up his life for something that he did not know was going to change it forever. There were two parts to Joe that questioned his sense of morality. In other words there was a bolt of energy that gave him hope of living in the state in which he currently was while there was another part of him that made him believe there was no point in living. Joe had two different mind sets about dying in the war.
It contained very few neurological details, and many were skeptic about the case, because at the time no one thought anyone could survive an injury of that sort. According to Dr. Harlow, Gage retained “full possession of his reason" after the accident. However Gage's wife and others close to him began to see very dramatic changes in his personality. Although noticed, it was not until 1868 that Dr. Harlow took documentation of the "mental manifestations" of Gage's brain injuries, in a report published in the Bulletin of the Massachusetts
Another theme Barker looks at is ‘Silence,’ which could link to her grandfather who refused to talk to her about his experiences in the war. And finally, the theme of emasculation is a strong theme throughout the novel, it is particularly interesting as the novel is written by a female author and from a woman’s perspective, but is mainly based around the experiences of men and their lives and any woman that do feature in the novel are usually inconsequential characters that do not understand Rivers or other characters. Silence is a symptom of ‘Shellshock.’ The term shell shock is a disorder found on the battlefield in soldiers who had been exposed to an exploding shell. The symptoms of shell shock were numerous and varied from soldier to soldier. Physical effects ranged from trembling, sweating, insomnia, diarrhoea, and minor twitches to paralysis, blindness, and muteness.
It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, not dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. The died so as not to die of embarrassment”(483). This quote describes what the men were feeling they wanted to go home and leave a lot of them were cowards deep down but they didn’t was to disappoint and be cowards because they came to the war and most were trying to do it the honorable way even if it led to death it was better than leaving like a
Daily life was unaffected by their authority, though they did not have the right to express or practice what they believed. Many civilians have died in this ongoing event, exemplifying the sacrifice and resilience of men and women who have fought for 3 years in order to secure rights of speech for themselves and posterity. In first world countries, the restriction of freedoms are more insidious. Often the government enact legislation to provide citizens with a false sense of security, while silently dismantling their freedoms. The Patriot Act of 2001 legalized unwarranted wiretapping, record searching, and surveillance, and unauthorized home searches.
Although O’Brien is unclear about whether or not he actually threw a grenade and killed a man outside My Khe, his memory of the man’s corpse is strong and recurring, symbolizing humanity’s guilt over war’s horrible acts. Norman was right on the side of him when he died, after about a couple of years passed by after the war he was in Kiowa home town he started crying because he didn’t do anything to try to save him. In Fallen Angels Richie see’s how almost his whole team died he and Peewee were the only ones that survived, which emphasizes the theme of youth and innocence. In calling the novel Fallen Angels, the author implies that the soldiers’ youth and innocence are more important than any of their other aspects, such as their religion, ethnicity, class, or race. They wanted them to know what war is really like and wants to help them understand what is experienced.
In All Quiet on the Western Front the protagonist is Paul Baumer because we experience the story from his point of view and thus we sympathize with him. Paul’s situation is troubling because his life and the lives of other soldiers his age “have become a wasteland” (20). War has changed them and the world so much that they don’t really know what they are going to do once the war finishes. They don’t know any trades; all they know is war. The value of their lives was also changed by war.
Guilt and Blame The horrible experiences of guilt strip them of their humanity. Jimmy Cross was a great soldier who felt compelled to keep his soldiers safe at all times. Ted Lavender dies from war but because Jimmy was distracted for a bit, he felt guilty that Ted Lavender died because Jimmy loved Martha so much. He felt that he could have done something to save his life. But because he was distracted he couldn’t do anything.