Animal Instinct In All Quiet On The Western Front

The Animal Within Us

Animal instinct is classified as a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity that is present in humans. All Quiet on the Western Front, is a novel based off of the events in World War I. The main character Paul Baumer and his fellow classmates are enlisted into the German army, and fight against the French troops for a numerous amount days. Paul Baumer and the other troops are fighting against the French for multiple days. They use trench warfare as one of their primary tactics against the French, along with the use of tanks and many other weapons of war. Without the proper training, the soldiers will rely on their animal instinct to help them survive, even with so many deaths occurring around them. Through the

“...growls Kat,” (Remarque 45) Although this isn’t referring directly to animal instinct these references do portray how the “animal” within them are being shown during the time they spend at war. Due to the fact that the animal instinct is most prominent through acts of war. In these acts, the soldiers don’t realize what they did because it was the instinct that kicked in, in their time of need. “By the animal instinct that is awakened in us we are led and protected. It is not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure less fallible, than consciousness,”(Remarque 56). Remarque illustrates how the soldiers are using the animal instinct and the distinct differences between the conscious mind and animal instinct. Animal instinct, although in everyone, is becoming something the soldiers learn to rely on. It helps the soldiers in situations where their lives are on the line and insures their confidence within themselves. This type of instinct is different than our conscious mind’s because of the fact that our consciousness takes a longer period of time of process what is happening in a situation and how to react which isn’t good for times of war. The diction that Remarque uses in this quote, he uses the word, “awaken,” as if there is an animal inside of the soldiers. An animal that is “awaken” in dangerous situations to help

Though I am still water far away from its centre, I feel the whirl of the vortex sucking me slowly, irresistibly, inescapably into itself.” (Remarque 55) The front is “sucking” the soldiers in, they don’t want to go but there is no way around the bombs, the gun fire, and the death that lies at the front. Marching up to the front line the men turn to the things they could rely on, their gun or bayonet and their instinct. “Just as we turn into animals when we go up to the line, because that’s the only thing which brings us through safely,...” (Remarque 138-139) The war takes an abundance from these soldiers, it takes their sense of safety, their morals, and their friends.When all of these are gone these soldiers rely solely on the thing that can’t be taken from them, their animal instinct. Paul references this instinct in the quote as “the only thing which brings us through safely,...” This shows that the men heavily rely on their animal instinct to make it through the front. The men transform into these animals in order to survive the front. These animals aren’t used to kill but instead used as a defensive measure to ensure they come home to their families. “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation.” (Remarque 113) Another example of what the soldiers go through in order to survive the front. Remarque uses different diction than just animal instinct, he uses “wild