All Quiet on the Western Front

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All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel dictating a view of World War I from the German’s side. Paul Baumer was the original narrator until the final page in which he passes. Before his passing the book showed a detailed account of his psychological hardships. The book shows these hardships in many ways, but the three that stood out to me were his time at the front, dealing with the new recruitments, and the many deaths of the soldiers. In all actuality “the front” seemed to be the most difficult for Paul to endure, it brought about several pains that burdened his mind and changed his outlook on life. During Paul Baumer’s time at war he had to take turns in what they called “the front.” During his time at the front he came into several stressful situations. One situation that seemed to be particularly stressful was not having the correct tools for the war. There were several injuries due to friendly fire because the barrels of the guns were worn out. This also made it difficult to fire at the enemy when they were actually able to fight face to face. Most of the attacks were by bombardments where Paul and his comrades did not know who or where the enemy was. It seemed that most of the time at the front was spent hiding in bomb shelters and trench’s. He feels like this is a battle that can’t be won. On p282 it states “We do not see the guns that bombard us; the attacking lines of the enemy infantry are men like ourselves; but these tanks are machines.” The gas was the most devastating of all because no one knew when the gas was going to be released and it mostly happened during the nightfall. When being bombarded they often hid in shell holes and trench’s and this is where the gas seemed to lay the thickest. Not only were the weapons insufficient, there was an issue with the training of the new recruit's as well. The new recruitments were another stress in
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