Review Of Ernst Junger's All Quiet On The Western Front

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”, Ernst Junger’s Storm of Steel, and Lewis Milestone’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” present different accounts of World War I. McCrae displays the sorrow of losing comrades while exhorting the public to continue to fight in memory of those who died. Junger writes a gripping account of his experience as a fearless young man in the war. “All Quiet on the Western Front” combines both the sorrow of McCrae’s poem with Junger’s fearless attitude to deliver a war story reminiscent of the personalities of the soldiers. All three works manipulate the use of syntax to evoke a sense of remorse as their audiences recognize the reality of death that manifests in war. McCrae employs syntax to display remorse through his stylization and organization

Ernst Junger’s account of World War I subtly produces a mood of remorse among his audience through his formation of description. Most of his book contains lucid images, lacking any symbolic language. His pragmatic diction and syntax structure a story almost devoid of emotion. Junger punctuates his writing with frequent fragments and brusque sentences that highlight the vicious reality of war (47). As he recounts the deaths of his fellow soldiers with a chilling tone, he appears to be unfazed by the brutalities around him (52). Junger does not lack awareness to the death around him, but he thrives on the reinvigorating adrenaline rush he experiences in combat; even countless injuries cannot keep Junger away from the battlefield (33). At one point, Junger describes staying in a house where a bomb went off the day before. He expresses no fear, simply stating his belief that the previous explosion made this house a safe place to stay (274). Despite Junger’s apathy toward death, his writing does not fail to evoke emotion from his audience. Terse sentences describe the war with brutal honesty, allowing the audience to create its own imagery from the literal words of