Compare And Contrast All Quiet On The Western Front And The Iliad

Literature is an amazing tool; through literature, we are able to uncover various ideologies and beliefs that societies held, as time goes on we can look back at these literary works and see how some of these ancient societies compare to our own. In Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Homer's "The Iliad" both discuss on contrast various elements of war. "The Iliad" romanticizes war, telling the story of god-like heroes clashing against one another in hopes of receiving honor and glory. While "All Quiet on the Western Front" tells more of what we today would consider a realistic depiction of war, telling the story of a young adult experiencing the trauma of war. While The Iliad is wildly entertaining it is evidently clear

In "The Red Badge of Courage" the main protagonist, Henry, dreams of receiving the glory and honor like the characters in "The Iliad" received. "He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life-of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep and fire. In visions he had seen himself in many struggles. He had imagined people secure in the shadow of his eagle-eyed prowess. But awake he had regarded battles as crimson blotches on the pages of the past. He had put them as things of the bygone with his thought-images of heavy crowns and high castles. There was a portion of the world's history which he had regarded as the time of wars, but it, he thought, had been long gone over the horizon and had disappeared forever." (pg 3). However, Henry soon learns that war is not the picture that Homer and other authors of old painted it to be. See, the soldiers in "The Iliad" and "The Song of Roland" were professional soldiers, their occupation was to fight in wars. However, in "The Red Badge of Courage" and "All Quiet on the Western Front" the people who fight are not trained soldiers, rather they are normal civilians who are called up to battle. These civilians are not grown men who live in a society where glory and honor are the most prominent ideologies in life, rather they are young boys who are still

The first being that they are written thousands of years apart. The Iliad was written two thousand years before All Quiet on the Western Front, therefore the societies in which they lived and the various methods of warfare that they engaged in were drastically different. In The Iliad the soldiers are trained specifically for battle, they are grown men who know exactly what is expected of them from their country and their society. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul and his comrades are not trained soldiers they are voluntary citizens. Unlike The Iliad, they live in a society that does not think it is a necessity to engage in warfare, therefore, the societal standards regarding warfare are more unclear. But, All Quiet on the Western Front is able to capture a certain dread in its reader because the majority of the book is all in Paul's head. The Iliad is driven by plot, and we rarely get to the internal intention of the characters. However, in All Quiet on the Western Front, the story is driven by the various thoughts and feelings of the main protagonist. Therefore, the novel makes for a more personable and relatable experience. In The Iliad, the soldiers are portrayed as gods amongst men, whereas in All Quiet on the Western Front the soldiers are people filled with insecurity and doubt which makes them more relatable. The Iliad may be a better written and