Compare And Contrast All Quiet On The Western Front And War Is Kind

All Quiet on the Western Front and War is Kind

War. Funny how one word can damage a world. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front and the poem “War is Kind”, the authors, Remarque and Crane tell about the details of war.

When thinking of the word “war”, many may think of all the dangerous and frightening situations soldiers are in. In both works, Remarque and Crane both describe terrifying situations that are seen through the eyes of soldiers. In Crane’s poem, he describes the battle-god’s kingdom as the “field where a thousand corpses lies” (Crane 11). This shows that death is inevitable and that by “a thousand corpses”, it could be very literal as wars eventually lead to many deaths. This is a situation where many soldiers must deal

Unfortunately, he isn’t able to escape freely and safely as “a bomb or something lands beside [him]. [He has] not heard it coming and [is] terrified” (Remarque 210). Paul deals frequently with a life-or-death situation, and although the soldiers like Paul tend to try to stay strong, there are moments like these when instinct may kick in and Paul knows he could have died. Ultimately, it isn’t easy for soldiers when they are faced with unnerving circumstances. Whether it being seeing all the corpses or being up close to death, a job of a soldier can be nerve wracking. Both works also explain the urge of the soldier to attack their enemies. As Crane continues to describe the armed combat between nations in his poem, Crane states soldiers are “little souls who thirst for fight” (Crane 7). The author views soldiers as those who thrive to attack and kill; as if morals were not significant. Remarque writes out a scene in which a battle is going on and Paul describes what is happening as he and the soldiers “destroy and kill… if [our] own father came over with them [we] would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him” (Remarque 113-114). In

Specifically in All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque describes war as depressing and dangerous. In the end, Paul was the only one still left alive within his group of friends. The last death Paul recounted was Stanislaus Katczinsky’s, leaving Paul miserable. As the war dragged on, Paul reflects on his life and states “let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear” (Remarque 295). Paul indicates that after becoming a soldier, “they” took everything from him, such as his friends and the life he once had. He has nothing else to give and feels all alone, the life sucked out of him. The book comes to an end with a semi-epilogue, in which Paul has been shot dead. “[Paul’s] face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end has come” (Remarque 296). Paul has gone through many hardships and although his ending wasn’t particularly merry, it seemed as if he was content with dying. In essence, the course of the WAR dramatically changed Paul’s life and his