Effect Of Catastrophe In All Quiet On The Western Front

Turning a Blind Eye on Catastrophe In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, the author uses thoughts and flashbacks to introduce the regularity of atrocities in war and illustrate the desensitizing effects they have on the soldiers. Likewise, in the news article “Food, Medicine Delivered to Besieged Syrian Town,” by Raja Abdulrahim, the author illustrates how these catastrophes occur in present-day society and have a similar effect on the bystanders, including the rest of world. The impacts of these events, although they vary in setting, provide a clear message: overtime, the human race has adapted to tragedy, thus becoming ignorant to the needs of their own community and others at times of catastrophe. In the

Because Paul enlists with a mind unscathed from battle, from his viewpoint, Kemmerich’s amputation and current state seem outrageously poor. However, the doctor, who is a veteran of the war, is not alarmed by the news and does not take immediate action because he has become accustomed to these atrocities overtime. The idea that time in battle will destroy the sensory perceptions of soldiers, doctors, and any other participants is repetitive throughout the

The author specifically uses the incident in which food is delivered to the starving victims of a recent siege as an example of the world’s desensitization to these issues. In an interview with one of the residents of the besieged Syrian town, the resident states, on behalf of all residents, the blend of emotions they have toward the issue: “‘We have mixed feelings of sorrow and happiness and fear…sorrow that the world has turned a blind eye’” (Abdulrahim 1). Similar to the idea that the world has become desensitized to events such as these, they believe that the world has become ignorant to their situation, along with other situations like theirs. Not only does the victim of the siege conclude that the world has “turned a blind eye” on their situation, but Paul, a victim of war, comes to the realization as well. “One morning two butterflies…settle on the teeth of a skull. The birds too are just as carefree, they have long since accustomed themselves to the war” (Remarque 127-128). The birds and the butterflies represent the soldiers and the outside world; both have become accustomed to war and daily catastrophe and both, although not entirely carefree, have lost their sensory perceptions or turned a blind