“I hate warfare as only a soldier has experienced it, only one who has seen its brutality or its stupidity can,” (Eisenhower 1). These are words by Dwight Eisenhower. A Five Star General in USA Army and a WWII veteran soldier, Eisenhower describes how, even though his death was not in the Second World War but he still remembers the horrible events that happened and the lasting impressions they left on him. Eisenhower’s inner thoughts are likened to the fictional character Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front. The First World War saw soldiers keep their hearts shut because of isolation. Paul Baumer’s All Quiet on the Western Front author Erich Remarque shows that soldiers also experience isolation from other people. Soldiers are taught to be independent killing machines and have no sympathy for their comrades or enemies. Paul Baumer is forced by the French artilleryman to stab him. Baumer has a conversation with the man, which results in his feeling of sympathy. Baumer is shocked when the artilleryman dies. “I don’t mention the dead print printer” (Remarque 228). Baumer doesn’t tell his fellow soldiers about the encounter with an enemy soldier because he knows he will be ridiculed for sympathising. Soldiers are told to distrust anyone. Soldiers were unable to love because of the First World War, which led to their demise. The war also caused soldiers to feel lonely and isolated. Baumer remarks towards the end that soldiers in war experience loneliness and the feeling that no one can relate to them. I feel so alone, and without hope, that I can face them without fear”(Remarque 295). The world around soldiers is desensitized by war, especially World War One. Baumer feels lost without his last comrade “Kat”, and is unable to connect with anyone else. Isolating yourself from a family member is worse than being alone with non-family members.
Soldiers returning from war experience isolation. They feel isolated from their families and others. They feel that they are alone when soldiers leave the front. The horrors experienced by soldiers are often not understood by ordinary citizens. Chapter seven tells the story that Paul Baumer gets a temporary leave from war to “home”, but Baumer implies that Baumer does not feel at ease in his home. “I take a deep breath and think to myself, ‘You’re at home,’ but a feeling of alienation won’t leave me. I can’t feel at home in this world.” (Remarque 160). Baumer spent his childhood in a home he called “home” and with family members he calls his “family”. But the house is unfamiliar to him and the people feel like strangers. Baumer states later that “There’s my mother, there’s my sister…but I’m not there myself.” There is a barrier between us that is hard to overcome (Remarque 160). The war creates barriers between soldiers and society. This microcosm is by Baumer, his family. Soldiers feel isolated. This includes their families. Most importantly, soldiers feel isolated from their families.
Soldiers felt desperate and lonely during the First World War. They were forced to flee the front lines to escape the loneliness. Suicide was an easy way to escape the horrors that war brought. “He looks for the fork, takes it, and drives against his heart. Paul Baumer is a soldier that he shares a hospital room with. To escape the mental and emotional torture he is experiencing, the soldier disregards his physical pain. This mindset is what causes soldiers to feel isolated from their own lives. Baumer imagines that he can escape reality by reading a book at his home. “The desire to read a book, the breath of which arose from the coloured pages of books, will fill me again. It will melt the lead lump that lies in my body and awaken the impatience of tomorrow, the quick joy of the worlds. It shall restore the youthful eagerness.” (Remarque 171). The ideal soldier was one who felt no emotions during the First World War. A destructive killing machine that does not feel remorse is the best kind of soldier. Soldiers can become emotionless, isolated, and solitary by becoming a solitary, blank-faced person.
Soldiers are often isolated from family and friends and eventually die physically and mentally as a result. Soldiers feel isolated from their families and society because of this isolation. Soldiers also feel isolated from their families and are unable to share the horrors of war with them. Soldiers also experience isolation from their families, which can lead to self-mutilation or suicide. Paul Baumer’s view in All Quiet at the Western Front shows that soldiers not only feel isolated from other people, but also feel isolated from their families. “This book will only tell the story about a generation who, although they may have escaped bullets, were decimated by war” (Remarque, Prologue). Paul Baumer’s death in combat is only the beginning. He also suffers from mental and emotional traumas from being cut off from his family, friends, and himself.
Works cited:
“Eisenhower Presidential Library.” Eisenhower Presidential Library. Presidential Libraries System. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet, Western Front. New York: Ballantine, 1982. Print.
