Free Custom «Paul Baumer and World War 1» Essay Paper

It has been said from time in memorial that a person must not waste time in looking at the mess that has taken place in the past or in vainly complaining against the change that causes us discomfort. However, Paul cannot help it all in, "All Quiet on the Western Front." The World War 1 has caused enormous change in Paul's life and has made him pessimistic. He sees no value of living. His life starts to culminate before he could begin enjoying it. Paul does not have any other experience in life. The only experience he has had is this time of war where he spent with his friends. Paul is barely nineteen years old and has just left school. He has absolutely nothing of his own not even a family or a career of his own. War seems to occupy him and he knows nothing apart from it. This essay paper points out that World War 1 made Paul Baumer a miserable person whose dying was the best blessing ever for him.

The more a person tries to recall the earliest impressions of his or her early life, the more surprising the result comes. Paul Baumer has nothing to be happy about. The things Cherished so much by Paul like poetry and his family as well completely took a huge turn around altogether. It is amazing how his passion is affected by the war and its ravages. The war has made Paul a miserable piece of cowhide. Even if he had the option of going home, he had no one to go to. In fact there was nothing to go back to. All his dreams and aspirations have become a by word. He only steels himself through illusions and dreams while he has an unbounded hope in a future which never comes his way.

 

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Before he physically died, the World War 1 had completely killed his dreams and ambitions. The deaths of his friends have made Paul see things differently and he has completely given in. He does not seem to make any effort of changing the way things are. The weight of the war has completely overwhelmed him. Life has lost meaning and Paul is reduced to dire predictions and lamentations. Paul like other soldiers has been dehumanized. He is like an animal and now operates with instincts. The war place was the point where he could meet friends; the place where his adulthood life had been spent. The war completely disconnects him with his aspirations and plans in future. He is completely in a muddle position at the war. The soldiers are like people suffering in a devouring world let loose; staring at the empty eyes of the soldiers of uncertainty like Paul.

The complete turn of events has left dying the only option for Paul to relieve himself from the realities of life. Paul says that the war has messed them for everything. He admits that they are no more young men. There is no desire in them to conquer the world. This shows how desperate the young man who was once full of vigor has become. Paul has lost everything to the war. He considers himself a refugee. Paul sees no progress in the war. He has been psychologically affected as the war has cut off his dreams. It is a very saddening fate for young men like Paul who had just began to embrace the world and to love living in it. Instead of loving the world, the war has taught them to shoot at it. What an irony? The picture portrayed here is that of a hopeless generation occasioned by a horde of events.

Men like Paul Baumer are not the necessary result of wars like World War 1. Men of all walks of life and in whatever circumstance are expected to exude calm confidence in whatever thing they embark on. War is not an easy thing and any person taking it for granted is making the worst assumption of all times. In war, it is either a do or die mission. There is no time for ceremony. Therefore such men like Paul Baumer leave a lot to be desired. The war has completely replaced every aspect of their lives. The young men as represented towards the end by Paul no longer have confidence in the things they held too close to their hearts from the beginning.

There are no more ambitions and aspirations. Life has come to a halt. Paul laments all day long. He wastes his time in complaining against the war which has brought such a kind of discomfort in his life. Young men are expected to lead and show the way. The war is not everything. Life is expected to go on for the survivors. No amount of lamenting will bring any goodies to the victims. Therefore men like Paul are not the needed result of such like a war. The required and necessary result of men form a war like World War 1 are such men who are ready to take the bull by its horns. No matter the circumstances, such men will stand and pass the test of time. They die while fighting. There is no point they will be expected to retreat. The manner in which he is presented following the deaths of his close associates makes the reader prefer him dead. There is no point staying alive doing nothing significant. From the emotional and psychological effect as seen in his life, there is no hope left in him that he will ever recover and do something meaningful. Paul cannot make any peaceful walk at home. He is completely disoriented.

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In conclusion, the ravages of World War 1 were of great impact to Paul Baumer. It affected every dimension of his life. He was left in a very traumatizing condition. His failure to meet his obligation and what he dreamt of was really a humiliating affair. He had great potential and courage initially which was later eroded at the war place. Paul was completely overwhelmed by the war and left to wailing and complaining against the things that befell him. All his dreams were cut short. There was nothing important any more. The young man did not have any experience in life other than that of war. It was not a nice reception after all, especially after leaving school. All the same, men like Paul are not the necessary result of a war like World War 1. Such was his desperation that he too died at the war. The war therefore changed Paul Baumer absolutely in negative way.