War is portrayed as just an armed state of conflict habitually, but that does not begin to cover the depths of it. War tears at an individual, whether you are a soldier fighting for your nation or daughter waiting for her father to return home unscathed. Additionally, it comes with the heavy price. Through the words of Jose Narosky, “In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. ” Every man or woman receives some type of damage. People are broken down by their surroundings and left emotionally and mentally paralyzed.
Piece by piece a person is plagued by war’s appalling actions. It is a very cruel reality but an accurate one. No matter what war is transpiring, this same outcome is precise. The World War 1 based novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Marque examines the torturous stresses the German soldiers underwent from the demanding war. In more specificity, war confronts those involved in it’s world to feel deep and onerous emotions that result in distress. Paul the narrator and protagonist of All Quiet on the Western Front, has been devoured by the world of war.
The front has inhibited his thoughts and caused him to feel a great deal of undesirable a potent emotions. War has lacerated so much from him. It begins to be more laborious for him to deal with his surroundings when he has to execute his first kill in hand to hand combat. So far all of the murder has been far away and a profusion of men at one time. When he impales Gerald Duval, he can’t help but feel so much sorrow for him and is finally contemplating his ramifications. His enemy is no longer an abstraction. Killing is never an undemanding task for a soldier.
It may seem effortless because the violence is being used to protect yourself, but that does not make it adequate for the soldier. No one is born inclined to pull a trigger or transpierce with a bayonet. The obligation he has in war is mentally taxing, leaving him despondent in the moment and possessed by the nightmares for a lifetime. For instance in All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul exclaims, “Comrade, I did not want to kill you… But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind called forth it’s appropriate response… thought of your hand grenades, of your bayonet; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me comrade. We always see it too late”(Remarque 223). Being responsible for someone’s death, creates a large amount of remorse. As Duval is laying deceased from Paul’s wrath, realization bombarded him. Despite the fact of having to fight for different countries, these men are very similar. Parts of the reason why these feelings were not erupting before were because of their distance. If Paul’s victim is substantially out of view, it allows him to create an evil interpretation of the enemy.
When the object oft attack is nameless, unrecognizable, and far away, the mental consequences are far less, it is not difficult to demonize someone and not feel repentance for your actions. Now that the bridges built between the two men have been broken, there is no denying the strong identicalness. Becoming aware of these things can be agonizing. These atrocities of war also cause men and women to feel unreal.. The importance of things change. Their emotions become out of whac and their feelings of selfpreservation minimize but that is how they are able to carry out the mission.
As said in “Why Soldiers Don’t Talk”, “During this time a kind man is capable of great cruelties and a timid man of great bravery, and nearly all men have resistance to stresses beyond their ordinary ability”(Steinbeck 7). War has forced them to overcome their original and regular feelings so they can perform for their country. Most of them can put up a wall to shield their system from their unharmonious memories, but not all of them can. The rest that cannot put up a resistance to the cruelties, have to endure through them and figure out a way to deal with it effectively.
Trying to manage the out of control emotions, is always an arduous burden. In some cases, theses severe emotions even lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). Paul frequently explains his experiences, feelings, and thoughts that demonstrate signs of PTSD. This mental disorder is triggered by terrifying event and usually results in flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety. In Paul’s scenario, the sound of a tramcar sounds quite similar to artillery. Like in the “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)” article, it is written that, “You may startle easily… “(United States Department of Veteran Affairs).
That sound that may seem meaningless to any other average person but it causes him to re-experience the traumatic events that resulted in his current mental state. With PTSD, a soldier may also feel depressed, guilty, and angry. At last, war not only changes the men and women physically, but it remains painfully incised in their mind incessantly. Death is a predisposed feature of war. Whether it is welcomed or not, it still can either blind side you or you can be yearning for it not to arrive. During battle, it is hiding in every nook and cranny waiting to spring upon its next unfortunate victim.
The frailty of life in combat is very high. Soldiers are not toys that can be repaired or replenished easily. It may seem like the enemy someone is fighting is the person they oppose but death is the realest and greatest enemy on the front lines. Death came quickly to Paul and his heart. Initially in the novel, his childhood friend and former fellow comrade dies. Paul had promised to his mother to protect him and he was unsuccessful with his duty. For the first time, he is confronted with death. He notices several things. Paul describes his passing as Death is working through from within.
It already has command in the eyes. Here lies our comrade, Kemmerich, who a little while ago was roasting horse-flesh with us and squatting in the shellholes. He it is still and yet it is not he any longer. His features have become uncertain and faint, like photographic plate on which two pictures have been taken(Remarque 14). Paul is personifying death as being that it is overcoming Kemmerich’s body. This accentuates the fact that the man is defenseless at the hands of death. In this way, you observe his disapproval of the war and his celebration of life.
Death is often mourned and honored by someone like in his case but not always. Sometimes someone’s demise is treated with disrespect. For example, a man retells to his parents that, “They weren’t dead but dying, tied and staked to the ground, their guts cut open and their private parts stuck in their mouth”(Johnnie 2). These deaths are being insulting and they are horrendous. People were cruel enough to do this to them. Deaths of people should always be treated with a high level of reverence. Soldiers who were missing in action(M. I. A) and killed in action (K. I. A. in the Vietnam war are all remembered and appreciated on a 2-acre wall of names in Washington, D. C. Their deaths meant a lot to their families, friends, and fellow survivors and they deserve that amount of deference. Just because death is inevitable, does not mean it does not demand honor. Evidently, death is a paramount characteristic of the gruesome combat that prevails periodically. The unbelievable part of war is that the repercussions of war are very detrimental to the ones who survived or waited patiently for their spouse, uncle, or sibling. Family and friends are lost.
Different thoughts are stained in the minds of the survivors who could not assist the ones they wanted to save. Many feel as if they are meant to be resting in peace with their fallen loved ones. One man said that,” After 18 years I still can’t forget what we did, what we saw. We fought for our country, but our country screwed us all. I’m sorry my name is not on the wall”(Huey 68-69). He does not think he should breathing while his comrades are laying perished, but also feels as if his country wronged them all by plunging them into the situation that caused all the casualties.
When trying to comprehend the situation, soldiers think they are accountable for the harrowing things that happened and eventually that can induce them to believe what eventuated was inequitable because they were propelled into the hell not being conscious of the ineluctable. Another nurse even wrote in a melodic poem that she feels great guilt because she had to witness numerous losses of life and it was out of her power to assist them all efficiently (Nurse in war). You feel so incapable and trivial when something horrible is happening, but you cannot possibly change or eliminate the issue or situation.
You go about your everyday life never forgetting the names, the faces, and the identities of the people you could not save. In other cases, people feel bitter about that that the fact about the person they deeply adored went to go fight for their country just to end up dying and their time was cut short with them. On the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall someone wrote, “Dear Nick, The little baby you never saw turned 17 in August. She looks like Scott now; she used to look like you when she was younger. This was all such a waste. Maybe your sacrifice won’t happen again”(Dan, Shrapnel in the Heart).
This person is not writing this to be spiteful, but they are just grieving for the fallen soldier and wishes he could have seen his daughter and spent more quality time together. Negative feelings always emerge in the process of coping with a life-changing event, especially when losing a beloved relative or acquaintance. All in all, the after effects of the different wars deeply impact the ones who have to walk the earth without the ones they cared about. In conclusion, war is very strenuous to anyone who steps near or into its realm of havoc. No matter what age is it, war continues to be odious.
Simply odious. No one departs without being touched by its odious grasp. Immense quantities of emotional anguish target the people closest to war. Death takes over people uncontrollably, whether it is embraced or not. The aftermath of war is as a disturbing as the fighting that took place. However, as a society we can overcome these indiscretions. People can stop struggle assembling themselves back together. Indeed, war is very complicated state with a multitude of aspects, but no one should ever have to involuntarily suffer through the ruinous war world. Ever.
