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Fighting in World War II in Reflection to Paul Fox and His Friends and Remarque’s Desire

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Gertrude Stein once famously referred to the young soldiers who went off to fight in WWI as a lostgeneration. How might this idea be applied to Paul and his friends? In what ways have they beenaltered irrevocably by the war? One scene worth keeping in mind is Paul's furlough back home, whichraises the possibility of his ever being able to truly go home. Another possibility could be to consider the circumstances of Remarque's life following the war (here you would need critical/biographical sources). In what ways do the young men in particular seem to fear the end of thewar as much as they do the war itself? Likewise, in what ways does the novel reflect Remarque's desireto tell the story of those who, even if they escaped the shells, were destroyed by the war? If All Quieton the Western Front is a Bildungsroman, what growth does Paul show or is able to show?

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Fighting in WWII in reflection to Paul and his friends
Introduction
War confers different things on young soldiers, learning the true meaning of living a fearful life. The war process provides the opportunity for the young soldiers to test their capacity for courage, limits to human endurance on the physical and mental front. Many of these young soldiers survived the wars with deep physical or emotional wounds. They lost friends, careers and sadly, there was a complete disruption of most of their family plans(Fox 249). During the prime periods of their lives that they would have otherwise anticipated joyful rites of passage in graduations, weddings, and parenthood, instead, they felt lonely, uncertain, disabled and pessimistic concerning the future. The “Lost generation” term refers to the aspect that even though their lives appeared physically speared, many felt very lost and had no connection between their past and present. In this case, the word lost as applicable by psychologists, refers to the condition of feeling disoriented, directionless, and wandering haunting survivors of horrific wars.
Soldiers as a lost generation
The war that consumes the strength of the young men, especially those who fought in WWI, generates some sense of heroism as well as trauma post-war (Fox 252). This is true since postwar discourse majorly revolved around the theme of heroism and trauma that revealed the existing voids alongside contradictions relating to politics of shame. The discourse on heroism may be attached to the achievements attained by these young men on a selective basis. However, the associated dangers of anxiety disorders that relate to the wars are also very eminent. The soldiers are referred to as the lost generation due to the post-war effects that rendered the majority immobile and even ineffective for the rest of their lives. Different psychological trauma clouds their experiences from the stressful incidences making the trauma manifest in the symptoms relating to anxiety disorder. Some of the major effects entail irritability, headaches, and fatigue, amongst other aftermath effects.
The entire losses on the young soldiers manifest in the form of unconscious conversation that eventually affects their entire sense of speech. In such cases, the young soldiers were rendered paralyzed in many aspects (Fox 251). In matters related to post-traumatic stress disorder, the young soldier experiences persistent images of traumatic events alongside nightmares that interfere with their normal lives—the effects associated with insomnia, including irritability and some form of depression, mares their day-to-day experience.
Despite Paul dreaming concerning his life before the war, the dominant thought is that returning to it is a nightmare. The entire generation was rendered “lost” by the war, which means that these soldiers were negatively affected physically and unable to readjust to normal lives (Fox 253). Their experiences in the war field permanently transform them to the extent of feeling completely out of place within their former village environments. For instance, Paul’s childhood interests in art and literature as represented by the books on shelves suddenly become unrealistic and childish. There is further alienation from former teachers alongside parents who expects the role of heroism from him. The war experiences seem to create a great divide between the young soldiers and their communities, owing to their real experiences and community perceptions.
The entire experience, according to (Tighe 52) sounds like an accusation that points to a lack of purpose and drive from the universal expression of war. Such experiences relate to the connection on various forms of disillusionment experienced by the young soldiers who lived through the war in trenches. The various experiences such as seeing wholesale deaths led to the loss of traditional values such as patriotism, courage as well as masculinity. The process interfered with their original beliefs, making them instead focus on wealth and not believe in abstract ideals. The stuttering of the young soldier’s ideals through war experiences led many to adopt hedonism as a way of life. The theme helps expose the sordid nature of the shallow lives of various young as well as independently wealthy post-war. Fox argued ...
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