All Quiet On The Western Front Critical Analysis

The Things They Carried and All Quiet On The Western Front two classic books that are depicting anti-war and tell a first-hand experience of being in war. All Quiet on the Western Front has a better meaning of what War is and how it can change a man, stronger main character, and a more toxic type of Warfare than The Things They Carried.

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque is able to build rapport upon the idea of war. Kantorek, Paul's school teacher enforced nationalism at an early age to the boys. When it came time to go to war Paul and his peers had no reason to back away from war because they had been taught the importance of going to war and fighting for the country that has given you rights. This is seen throughout

His mind has been programmed to be a soldier ever since he was in combat. In chapter 7 we see how being a soldier has affected Paul when he states the following, “I ought never to have come here. Out there I was indifferent and often hopeless;--I will never be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end. I ought never to have come on leave” (Remarque 185). This is important because all he wants to do right now is go back to the trench which goes back to Kantorek who force Nationalism into them at a young age. In The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien thought that he was bigger than the war and should not have been drafted. So he decides to dodge the War and ends up at a hotel contemplating whether or not he should leave for Canada. This is important because a man named Elroy plays the same role as Kantorek did for Paul. Although doing it in a different manner Elroy swayed Tim to

The Warfare used in the book All Quiet on the Western Front is much harder than fighting an offensive war. The Things They Carried takes place during the Vietnam War, an offensive war for the United States. The United States goal was to take down the Viet-Cong and stop the spread of communism, what made this war so hard was that U.S Military would have to go on long treks called, Humping in order to find members of the Viet-Cong which did not look like a specific army, but more like a neighbor. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the story takes place in WW1. WW1 main use of warfare was trench warfare because enemies were being fired at and the only place they could go for protection was down, so they dug trenches. In the trench, many soldiers faced the challenges of disease, but many other negatives came out of this war. The term shell shock or emotional shock was given during WW1 due to the extreme nerves mixed with the heavy bombardment during the War. Many General coined this being scared and not manning up and left many soldiers mentally scarred an article from BBC states the following “ Many soldiers suffering from the condition were charged with desertion, cowardice, or insubordination. The unlucky ones were subjected to a mock trial, charged, and convicted. Some shell-shocked soldiers were shot dead by their own side after being