...I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert. Take twenty years of my life, comrade, and stand up—take more, for I do not know what I can even attempt to do with it now.” At this moment it was obvious that Paul was broken in the inside. He would have to live the rest of his life knowing that he killed an innocent man who had a lovely wife and maybe one day he could grow a...
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...to support the common cause. 2. Demodocus’ song explains Aphrodite’s affair with Ares, while she was married to Hephaestus....
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...comradeship between soldiers. These three themes combines help mold All Quiet on the Western Front into the greatest war novel of all time War is very gruesome and grotesque, which Remarque gives insight to throughout the book. Death is continuously around the soldiers, and it almost becomes the norm. “Death is working from within” (Remarque 14). The soldiers feel as though they are slowly dying with all their fellow comrades. Death dehumanizes the soldiers in a way that it makes them forget to realize death is a sad thing. The...
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...“They shared the weight of memory, They took up what others could no longer bear.” Tim O’Brien in his book, “The Things They Carried,” portrays the theme of the story through the painful memory of himself as well as his fellow comrades; before, in, and after the Vietnam war. “He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead.” Here, through this memory of Jimmy Cross that he took along with him to the war, the theme [Guilt and Shame] that basically gives the story more than half of its meaning as a whole was portrayed. He blamed himself for the death of Lavender; he thought that him just loving Martha causes his distraction which causes Lavender’s death, which to me , is a partial truth. Now, he would have to carry the guilt “like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war,” and probably for the test of his life. Another theme portrayed in this story is ‘Respect and Reputation.’ The soldiers at war are not there because they want to, but “rather, they were too frightened to be cowards”[pg 77]. Sometimes, the soldiers have to do things they will normally not do because they do not want to be seen as being weak by their friends and family and particularly by themselves. Such is the case of...
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...However, I would argue that Achilles fits his own category for a tragic hero. Unlike the standard tragic hero that the audience sympathizes with, Achilles tends to lose audience support after his continued refusal to swallow his pride and save his dying comrades. Achilles' pride, greed, sense of honor, and hard-hardheadedness, eventually leads to the death of many of his friends, among them Achilles “beloved” Patroclus, as well as numberless other Greeks. Although Achilles never lost his life and the Greeks did not lose the war, it is tragic nevertheless. Achilles has remarkably few traits that would be seen as admirable by people in the world today. Achilles is primarily motivated by greed, thirst for honor, and an outrageous sense of his own self-importance. Initially, Achilles does not seem like he is in the wrong for holding a grudge against Agamemnon. Agamemnon shamed him in front of all the Greeks by publicly ordering Achilles war-prize, Briseis, to be taken for Agamemnon's own use. It seems right that Achilles should be angry, and his refusal to participate in the war seems perfectly justified. Achilles' actually seems wise and admirable when, in his frustration, he begins to question the unjustifiable cause for even being at war and exclaims: Why do the Greeks have to fight the Trojans? Why did Agamemnon lead the army...
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...What better way to learn about the men that fought in the Civil War than from journals and letters from the soldiers themselves. For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War by James M. McPherson pulled from copious amounts of personal letters and journals to show the history of the thoughts and reasoning behind the war. You are able to get exceptional background why the Northerners and Southerners enlisted in the war, and see how both sides had very diverse reasons why they enlisted, from the sense of manliness to patriotism. During the time of enlistment, there was considerable pressure to enlist. If a man did not enlist, they were thought of lacking manliness and a disgrace to their family. McPherson stated, “The belief of duty,...
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...All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, tells the story of Paul Baumer, a German soldier, and his comrades’ experiences in combat during World War I. Paul Baumer, along with a few other men, enlisted in the military after being persuaded by their school master, Kantorek. Although “no one [had] the vaguest idea what [they] were in for” (Remarque 11), the men still decided to join the war. Throughout the story, Paul instantly discovers that the war is not all that it is made out to be. Paul and his comrades struggle to survive on a daily basis. The men realize that the only way for them to stay alive is to develop friendships between one another and stick together. The horrifying images of death and the sacrifices they are required to make cause the soldiers to lose their identity. Through the eyes of the “Lost Generation,” Remarque is able to portray the sacrifices, comradeship, and the brutality of war a typical soldier of World War I endured....
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...home or about being from Crete, Odysseus is fermenting a memory in his audience that portrays himself as a strong leader/soldier that has endured much pain on his journey home. After telling the Phaiacians his story thus far, Odysseus is telling the story in a way where he has amassed enough grief, from fallen comrades and from longing to be back home on Ithaca, to cause him pain. However, Odysseus is also telling his story to bring light to his cunning intelligence and portray himself as a strong leader. By tricking Polyphemus into a drunk state, enduring the calls of the sirens, travelling to the underworld, freeing his men from Circe, etc. As Odysseus begins to wrap his story up, the Phaiacians are frozen in awe. “And they were all spellbound, hushed to silence throughout the shadowy hall,” (Odyssey 13.2-3, Lombardo translation). This state of being “spellbound” can be from an understanding of how much grief has been built up in Odysseus or from seeing Odysseus as this great warrior who went above and beyond to save most of his comrades. Or it can be from a combination of the two where the Phaiacians see Odysseus as a great warrior grieving in pain. Whichever the cause, the Phaiacians, and Odysseus, are left with a memory that solidifies the heroic journey back home. Furthermore, Odysseus has also created a story where he has named himself Aethon from Crete. Penelope receives a story about Aethon’s perspective of Odysseus’ arrival to Crete and a story of how he entertained...
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...Modern Connection Essay Throughout the course of the story, the development of PTSD is one of the many factors that develop the major theme of insanity. Within the novel Catch-22, Joseph Heller implements many elements and signs of future PTSD to add to the depth and further develop the theme of insanity and the causes of it through the main characters. The common theme of insanity is developed by the author through elements that can now be described as precursors to PTSD. The news article written by Sebastian Junger describes the characteristics and statistics of PTSD within the United States. PTSD is described as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which typically occurs after battle experiences for veterans. During the story, Yossarian encounters...
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... Major adopts an engaging tone in order to captivate the animals to overthrow the humans and take over the farm. He reveals this notion by using pathos to appeal to the animal’s emotions, having an urgent tone, and by the use of anaphora and asyndeton. Major commences his speech by addressing that humans are the cause of all the animals grief. Major states, “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever” (7). This appeals to the farm animals because they now have a figure to blame their suffering on. The use of pathos provokes a call to...
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...Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. ("Definition of Foreshadowing." Literary Devices. N.p., 2016. Web. 11 Dec. 2016. ) The novella Animal Farm written by George Orwell and the tragic play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare display various examples of foreshadowing that illustrates future events that happen later in these stories. In Animal Farm, George Orwell foreshadows the pigs’ gradual abuse of their power. “Never mind the milk, comrades!” cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. “That will be attended to. The harvest is more important. Comrade Snowball will lead the way. I shall follow in a few minutes. Forward, comrades! The hay is waiting.So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared” (Orwell, 26). The animal’s had wondered what to do with the extra milk and tried to discuss it, but Napoleon, the pig, told them that it wasn't important compared to the harvest. Napoleon told the animals to follow Snowball and he would be with them, but once the animals had returned for the evening the milk was gone, implying Napoleon took it or did something with it. The soon betrayal of the hard working horse, Boxer is foreshadowed after the attacks Napoleon made. “To the amazement of everybody, three of them flung themselves upon Boxer. Boxer saw them coming and put out his great hoof...
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...time period (Poets.org). The poem starts out with Owen describing the troop of army men of which he is a member. He chronicles the men as been doubled over, “coughing like hags” as they “cursed through sludge”. He paints a grim picture of trench warfare that was so prevalent during WWI; describing the men trudging through the mud, saying “many had lost their boots but limped on”. In the next stanza comes utter panic as gas shells are dropped and hurled in troops direction. They rush to put on their helmets on and run to safety but by the end of the stanza Wilfred notices one of his comrades is in trouble, writing, “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning”. In the next two lines Owen uses powerful imagery talking about the helpless soldier. Saying, “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” He truly gives you a sense of the awful noises his comrade was making. The lines also display the obvious onset of pain the man was experiencing. In the succeeding stanza the poet and his fellow soldiers quickly load the man into a wagon, as Owen describes the life slowing leaving the helpless mans body. Again he vividly talks about the audible noises the soldier is making. The last and final quatrain Owen heeds an...
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...“Human Animals”: Dehumanization Through Words in Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front “We cloak ourselves in cold indifference to the unnecessary suffering of others, even when we cause it.” – James Carroll War ruins men. It is a beast, which destroys their bodies, minds, and morals. Facing the all too personal horrors of war, Erich Maria Remarque places his protagonist, Paul, and his comrades into situations where detachment is one of the few ways out, leading to their eventual regression. They begin to lose themselves into an abyss of shockingly unaffected and detached behaviour in order to cope with the war and the loss of their comrades. Through the use of the first person point of view, recurring motifs, and strong characterisation, Remarque explores the isolation brought about by this dehumanization on the front lines of the First World War in All Quiet on the Western Front. In choosing to use the first person point of view, Remarque allows the reader to identify more closely with, as well as understand more clearly, Paul’s evolving detachment from the world around him. From the novel’s opening it is Paul’s thoughts which set the tone. Paul first appears to be an optimist who does not dwell on the deaths of those whom he does not know. Despite the fact they left one hundred and fifty men strong and returned with only eighty, Paul describes the day as “wonderfully good”, after all “the mail has come, and almost every man has a few letters...
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...He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage.” Trying to justify his cowardice, when he returns to camp Henry lies about his wound, claiming to have been grazed by a shell, but his comrades see through it, which only contributes to his mental turmoil. Furthermore, to add yet another dimension to Henry’s complex, philosophical scrutiny of man, he is unpleasantly aware that the men with red badges of courage, who he envies so greatly, are suffering nonetheless, and will most likely die. The question of whether or not it’s all worth it rises in his mind and continues to resonate in the theme throughout the book. As time passes and Henry sees more and more battle, and more and more death, he becomes hardened. His internal struggles and his childish ways of talking himself out of shame never completely disappear, but certainly become overpowered by a sense of duty and...
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...leads to Polyphemus throwing a rock after Odysseus and his men. This shows us that Odysseus is not a hero, since a hero wouldn’t brag to others, a hero would have listened to his men when they told him to stop. Again, traits a hero wouldn’t have. This nearly got them killed too. A hero wouldn’t have acted that way, he wouldn’t have let his arrogance get the better of him. And he wouldn’t have let himself be the cause of his men’s...
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