What are the effects on Ishmael from being a boy soldier? Well my belief is that he became cold from all the fighting and blood shed he has seen as a boy soldier. In the book, A Long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael said “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even thought I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you.
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.
Even thought some soldiers survived the shellings and gas, they were still destroyed by the war. Many men were destroyed by the war mentally. The Soldiers that survived the war and came home almost all had PTSD and were mentally ill from what they had seen or experienced. (Chapter 5, pg.87) "The war has ruined us for everything” This quote means that what they have seen and done in the war has transformed them into only being able to think of and understand the life of war. War becomes what they live and breath and cannot comprehend with other jobs that do not relate to war and the horrifying killing that they were trained to do.
This incredible war story shows us that, even though they display great bravery and valour in battle, the only thing young men who fight in wars accomplish is an early death. The novel talks about many soldiers dying. So many of these soldiers are dead, that in the trenches they can smell the stench of rotting flesh, as the dead men often do not get buried. Those young men lying out in No Man’s Land, unburied, all went to war for the same reason, to prove that they were brave, not cowardly, and to fight for their country. All they end up doing though is becoming another casualty, another statistic, dying in a war that had no real reason.
The intentions of Erich Maria Remarque were fueled by one simple goal in mind, “to tell a generation of men who, even though may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war” (foreward). This statement really sets the tone for All Quiet on the Western Front and how a whole generation of men who did survive the War, returned home, but their youthful attitudes died with their fallen brothers. The brutality of trench and chemical warfare was enough to kill millions of men, however million’s more were destroyed by the psychological aftermath from fighting in the first World War. This story was narrated through Paul and his understanding of how the war ruined a soldier’s memories of home, their relationships with their families, and just simply
In his preface to the novel, Remarque maintains that "a generation of men ... were destroyed by the war" (Remarque, All Quiet Preface). Baumer's closest comrades fall one after the other. The conditions in the German army are to harsh, they have no food, ammunition, moral is low they could not keep fighting. An important episode in the novel is when Baumer is issued a period of leave when he visits his home town. This leave is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front because of his military experiences and their limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war.
Through the use of different types of communication such as writing, authors around the world try to communicate the message of how wars bring considerable fear, atrocities, and anxiety upon the society. One short story that is no exception, called “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” by Tim O’ Brien, clearly portrays this message using the traits of the main character Private First Class Paul Berlin. Set in the Vietnam war, Paul Berlin, being forced to join the army, is currently living in his first hellish day of this terrifying new world. As the story progresses, Paul is determined to overcome his fear and anxiety in many unexpected ways but failed in the end. Tim O’Brien, having experienced the Vietnam War, addresses the violence of war and its hellish, inherent effects on the people’s mind through portraying Paul Berlin as fearful and mad.
Nothing should be sugar coded because many lives were lost and many individuals suffered a great deal and everyone should understand why. In McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Field” he explains life before and after war. There was once a time when they experience the feeling of love and the enjoyment of life, but now they lay dead looking back at the life they had to give up to fight in war. Those who have died have passed the torch to the next generation of soldiers. This proved that the peace treaty didn’t solve the problem and a new war would occur.
Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. We see this a tremendous amount in the book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The novel is a story based on one man, named Paul Baumer’s time during World War I. Paul joined the German army with his friends from school. The way Remarque portrays irony is perfect, as soon as you read it you sense that irony is being used. Irony is an important part in this story because it shows how Paul is battling himself, others and everything around him during the war.
In All Quiet on The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque paints a vivid picture of what life was like on the front lines in World War One, and the problems that arose in soldiers because of the traumatizing time spent there. In no part of the book are the issues that the soldiers face more evident than when Paul returns back to his home while he is on leave. His time at home is uncomfortable and depressing, for he discovers that the war has taken his youth and his ability to live out the rest of his life normally. When Paul goes back to his hometown on leave, he is miserable and surrounded by ignorant citizens who have no idea what life on the front lines is like. Paul is sacrificing his life daily for these people, yet they cannot sympathize with anything he is going through.