Personal Narrative-All Quiet On The Western Front

The great man tinkered with his little motor. He worked in an eerie silence. The echoes of metallic tools reverberated through the area. The workshop was very spacious, a large opened room with several cluttered work desk scattered about the area. Loose pages littered the tile floor, stretching from wall to wall; illustrated with the man's genius rantings.

“GAS! Gas! Quickly men!” I remember that day like it was yesterday. The new recruits were training and were trembling in their boots. Sergeant Williams they called me. I was the officer in charge of B company, preparing them to protect themselves from the mustard gas bombs they would encounter in the trenches. “GAS! Gas! Quickly men!” I would roar like a great lion and they would rush to get their masks on.

The soldiers begin to lose track of days and weeks, counting time only by season and time spent at the front. Paul Bäumer feels that "it is as though formerly we were coins of different provinces; and now we are melted down, and all bear the same stamp." However, Paul still takes solace in the brotherhood of the soldiers. All their energy goes toward the same goal—survival. The violence and death that surround them feels as common to them as a case of the flu.

Germany flourished on the nationalism in the early 1900’s of its people. Ready to encounter an attack at any moment and any time. People forget the decision of war until they are in the flame of its fire. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque explains his experience of the war in World War 1 through a character Paul Bumer. Bumer was a kind and sensitive man. Back in school he used to write poets. Pual’s Bumer teacher brainwashed him and other students who where his classmates. He convinced them by the idea of glory and dramatic rhetorical for war and fighting for the sake of their country. After that dialog, the students were encouraged to enter the war. In the book many scenario are shown, the most critical

It is March first, I miss you so much it is unbearable. Sleeping can be awful out here in the trenches only because I want to be home in a comfy bed again safe and sound where war isn’t the only thing on my mind. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I can’t breathe because I dream someone has invaded our trenches and shot me. It isn’t easy being out here but if it means fighting for you then it is what I will do.

Meanwhile, a specific sergeant tried to make my life harder. This sergeant enjoyed agonism which “occurs among those who enjoy fighting for its own sake and who perceive trading insults as a type of game” (p.21). I constantly tried to filter out the words being filled in my head, but my internal dialogue had been so negative and judgmental for so long I really believed the bad things. I could not and did not understand that I was good person with many good characteristics. I was fighting 2 wars in a combat zone, one against terrorists in the desert and the other inside my head.

In regards to war, famous pacifist revolutionary, Mohandas Gandhi, had suggested that wars are instigated for reasonable intentions, but the short-lived outcome is not worth war’s deplorable and irreversible effects. A historical example supporting Gandhi’s belief is World War I, which was fought between the Central Powers and Allies and infamous for its devastating repercussions and savage warfare that occurred from 1914 to 1918. In his historical fiction novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque describes the traumatic and deadly war conditions of WWI from the perspective of a German soldier named Paul Baumer, who provides readers with firsthand insight on war’s atrocious nature. Nonetheless, war’s violence did not deter nations and soldiers from partaking in World War I for nationalistic and social elevation reasons, in spite of its inevitable detriments to human mentality and nature, as well as its substantial economic damages on nations.

War is dreary. when a soldier goes off to war it changes him to never be the same person ever again. Paul Baumer captures this aspect of war in multiple excerpts in his novel all quiet on the western front. In one of the passages describing the storm thundering on the german front Baumer captures the depression and hopelessness of the soldier's condition through his use of diction describing the depression and loss of identity of the soldiers experience on the front.

It’s June 5, 1944, the day before D-day. The 101st Airborne Division led by their vigorous lieutenant Alex Hodulik is deployed behind enemy lines and they are known as paratroopers. The soldiers mission was to anchor the corps southern flank and to destroy the 2nd defense of the German forces on the hazardous beach. The day before the mission was a go, I lieutenant Alex Hodulik, was informed by my commanding officer that we have a few replacements for those who have fallen in our division. Little did I know, my little brother had volunteered for the paratroopers. “The replacements just showed up,” yells sergeant Ryan, “there's my little brother.” I immediately ran to him and asked, “Why the hell did you join the paratroopers? You had

In the text, “How to Tell a True War Story” Tim O’Brien expresses his thoughts about the true war story and how the war story is changed according to the person who tells it. Jon Krakauer illustrates Chris McCandless’s journey into the Alaskan wilderness and reasons for McCandless’s gruesome death in an isolated place, in his book “Into the Wild.” O’Brien relates introspection and a soldier’s war story by saying that the war story portrays the feelings of a soldier. A soldier’s war story is not the exact war story; it is the illustration of that particular soldier’s perception. Narrating a war story is not like inundating others with facts and numbers however, it is about the introspection of a soldier, because that soldier determines

Cornered, Terrified, and feeling the despair of the situation creeping in, I was numb. Staring at Drew and trying to grasp the situation, a flash of rage overpowers my anguish as I suddenly have a flashback of Drew welcoming me into the squad with open arms. The warmth of that time would be heaven compared to this agonizing heat and sand blasting into my face. Now though, here he is in my arms, with his pulse slowly fading. I get snapped out of it by gunshots followed by hoarse screams. We were being subdued, I had to think fast. My heart was racing out of my chest, wanting to escape this hell but my eyes scanned the situation. For a split second, everything seemed to be in slow motion and I sensed danger and instinctively ducked. Something grazed my hair, I look up to see a bullet zoom on by. With nowhere to run and location found out, I had to plant my feet and fight.

Today we finally beat the British in battle, it was an amazing victory, although i must say, I really miss my long hair. Its a lot harder than I thought it would be to hide that I'm a girl, I cant go to the bathroom, and getting dressed is complete hell. I remember being called out of my deep slumber after Paul Rever saw the British coming. As we were all standing waiting for the British soldiers at around five a.m. I heard the shouting, “The lobster backs are down the road!” Led by Major John Pitcairn, the British troops approached Lexington. As we were lined up, preparing for battle, we were told to not fire unless we were fired upon. Our leader Captain Parker called for us to back down after seeing how many soldiers the British had and

I was assigned my first mission, I was transported to the German army I have waited for this moment; for my line of duty that I would be apart in. Everyone was in a complete panic; all over the news was constant reminders that Austria army has declared war against Serbia. I knew that it wasn't going to end well, then again, doesn't war never end well? Bloodshed, men dying. Bombs. It was going to be complete chaos. Chaos, chaos, chaos. The thing that never ends. Everyone always getting their underwear tied in knots; because of something someone didn't like; or got accused of, and is determined to prove that it wasn't them who did it and decided to point their finger and get another country of billions of people. Now, everyone in every once

turning my head again I saw Simon dive to my aid. He did not utter a

After the war was over the family left the internment camp and came home and everything changed. “When we came back after the war it was fall and the house was still ours. The trees on the streets were taller than we remembered, and the cars more run down, and the rosebush our mother had once planted alongside the narrow gravel path they led up to the front steps of our house was no longer there” (Otsuka 106). This describes how during the years they were gone the entire street changed. When the family entered the house it smelled really bad. “We did not care. The paint was peeling away from the walls and the window frames were black with rot. Shreds of lace curtain dangled in front of the soot-covered panes and the floor was littered with