Theme Of War By Jünger

In Ernst Jünger’s book, Storm of Steel¸ this passage captured his attitude about war: confusion caused by inexperience. This confusion surrounding war comes from the fact that he is an experienced soldier. He and his fellow inexperienced soldiers had shown up to fight with a yearning “for the experience of the extraordinary” and on their first day of the war, they got that experience (Jünger, p. 5). A violent shelling caused Jünger to rethink his initial thoughts of war. He had been sure war would supply him with “the great, the overwhelming, and the hallowed experience” (Jünger, p. 5). However, the shelling made Jünger realize that war was going to be violent and not at all what he had originally expected. War was not going to be cozy, but

At the beginning of the war, Jünger was excited to be fighting for his country, but by the end he admitted he tired of the war. When he first arrived, he was “enraptured by war” (Jünger, p. 5). The war would be a great adventure and Jünger and his fellow soldiers were excited to partake in the war. Even months later, after Jünger sustained his first injury and went home, he saw the loss of blood and lives during the war as a necessary way to protect his “beautiful country” (Jünger, p. 33). Jünger’s tone gradually changed throughout his war years, perhaps because death and destruction constantly surrounded him. After the numerous close calls with death during the Battle of Somme, Jünger “noticed the experience had taken its toll on [his] nerves” (Jünger, p. 88). A year later, Lieutenant Brecht, who Jünger knew as a calm man, even in the face of total war, was killed. His death caused Jünger to think of his own mortality which was disheartening (Jünger, p. 197). The death of his friend Tebbe a few months later also caused Jünger great pain. He questioned how his friend “of noble qualities” with whom he had shared the majority of his war experience, could have died (Jünger, p. 216). While these events certainly brought about a change in Jünger’s tone from excited to weary, the battle he called the “Great Battle,” was the final turning point. On one of the first