All Quiet on the Western Front

TEN

I cannot figure out how to feel. I am already forgetting the feelings that were so present in the moment. Being back at the trench surrounded by comrades, I am quickly calming down; I fear forgetting him altogether. Fear and crave it simultaneously. It is for that reason that I will not tell my comrades of the experience. If I do not say its name, it cannot hurt me.

Despite this knowledge, I must tell someone. Even just to set my emotions free.

Without thinking I move to find spare paper and start writing. Writing. And writing. And writing. I want nothing more than to get all of my thoughts out and bare my heart on paper.

I address the letter to my mother. Who else could possibly piece together the feelings that I cannot comprehend, and who else could understand my pain better than I can myself? I know that I will not receive a response before I have to move on and continue with my duties, however, just ranting to her and knowing that she will read it brings me peace.

I write of the soldier's eyes, of his humanity, and of his fear. I write of the way that the rest of the war disappeared for a moment, while I stayed with an injured comrade and tried to save him. I should ask for news of those that I left behind. Of my father and of my sister--who has no doubt grown in the time that I have been away--but to reminisce on what I left at home feels immensely cruel to the memory of the soldier. Another knife in his corpse. He can no longer miss his family, and he will never get to learn how his child may have grown and changed. He will never send another letter to his wife, and she will be left with her husband’s killer as a consolation prize. With this in mind, I end my letter without a single question about my family’s life.

Sealing the letter in an envelope to be sent away feels like letting go. The enemy soldier is left behind in the bomb-hole, and I stand and walk towards my comrades.

“Come rest, Paul,” Kat calls out to me.

I approach Kat and Albert, I sit in between them in the trench, and I do not say a word. Doing so would only open wounds that have just barely scabbed over. I do not mention my family or the soldier, and they do not ask for an explanation. It is far from unusual for soldiers to write letters home, but following my recent experience, I imagine they must have some suspicions of what I was writing. Still they say nothing. We sit together in a comfortable silence that can only be achieved with people that have shared your experiences. Kat and Albert have watched people die by their hands, and have had no choice but to move on. Now, they are allowing me to leave my feelings in the past, just as they did. Tomorrow, we will be told of our next duty, in which we will have no say, and we will complete them without complaint. On any day, I could wake up and be forced to fight just to stay alive. I cannot afford to hang on to a dead man’s memory when I could share his fate at any moment.

Reflection

In this adaptation of Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, the aim was to communicate Paul Bäumer’s struggles with his emotions and empathy, as well as the harm that the war had on soldiers. Remarque uses a variety of techniques, which are imitated in the adaptation, to express a similar message. These techniques include first person narration, language features, word choice, and a variety of sentence and punctuation types. Remarque doesn’t use contractions in his writing, creating a more serious tone. This is appropriate for the tone of the story, and typical for the time period. The use of rhetorical questions also helps create the tone of the adaptation. It creates an air of existentialism. “Who else could possibly piece together the feelings that I cannot comprehend, and who else could understand my pain better than I can myself?” This quotation is referring to Bäumer’s mother, communicating his desire to be understood and supported as he was before leaving home. It also communicates how the war has left him unable to identify his own emotions. Throughout the entire adaptation his emotions are the central focus of the writing. Using the first person narration and stream of consciousness style, Bäumer’s conflicting and difficult emotions are continuously presented. The way that he feels, in relation to the event, is communicated to readers from his point of view, allowing a more complete understanding of what he is feeling. Through thoughts about the French soldier, he is portrayed going from fearing “forgetting him altogether” to leaving the soldier “behind in the bomb-hole.” This insight provided by the narration, communicates the way his outlook changes after he writes a letter to his mother, and how it allows him to let go of the empathy that was so present as the soldier was dying. A variety of sentence types in the narration also allows Bäumer’s thoughts to be expanded on. “Being back at the trench surrounded by comrades, I am quickly calming down; I fear forgetting him altogether. Fear and crave it simultaneously.” These sentences, for example, communicate Bäumer’s conflicting desires in relation to the pain that the war has caused him. The quotation also contains a semicolon, which imitates Remarque’s use of punctuation, and serves to present Bäumer’s fear and guilt of moving past his grief for the soldier. His experience in war has forced him into actions that cause this guilt, and it is the war that is forcing him to move on. Remarque also uses numerous dashes in his writing, when speech or thoughts are interrupted. This is utilized in this adaptation when Bäumer interrupts his thought to acknowledge how much his sister must have changed. “Of my father and of my sister--who has no doubt grown in the time that I have been away”. This was included to communicate how disconnected Bäumer feels from his past life, and the emotions that must bring up inside of him. Lastly, the word choice in the adaptation is very intentional. When the narration states: “The enemy soldier is left behind in the bomb-hole” Bäumer has transitioned from calling the soldier “comrade” to calling him the “enemy”. This portrays the way that the war has forced him to abandon his empathy. He will continue to fight and kill.

Writing in a style that highlights emotions came quite naturally. The introspective style was not very challenging. Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front for an older and more politically aware audience, meaning his writing style was quite serious and did not use particularly simple language. This style was not very challenging to imitate. Remarque’s writing also did not include much description of surroundings, mostly focusing on emotions and actions. This was the most natural aspect of his writing to imitate. The adaptation did not consider Bäumer’s location any more than saying he is in the trenches. It instead focused on how he is coping and his relationship with the people in his life. Including similar language features to the original, however, presented more of a challenge. For example consideration was required when deciding where a metaphor may feel most natural. The metaphor comparing Bäumer asking about his family to “another knife in his corpse,” referring to the corpse of the French soldier, felt appropriately placed. It expanded on the reasoning for Bäumer’s guilt while tying back to the previous events in the book. It was also a minor sentence, which Remarque often utilizes.

Works Cited

Remarque, Erich Maria, 1898-1970. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York :Fawcett Crest,

1975.