Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Example

Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Example Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Essay Topic: All Quiet On the Western Front During the Great War Paul Baumer learns, in his comrades and within himself, that it is human nature to fulfil the most basic forms of human need by any means necessary: the refusal to be alone, and, most importantly, the will to survive. In the novel All quiet on the Western front Paul Baumer sees and experiences first-hand the specific and traumatic characteristics and changes involving human nature and basic human need.These characteristics include the suppressing of memories and emotion, the rejection of prior values, animalistic behaviour and the importance of friendship. Before the war Paul was a soft-hearted and sensitive 19-year old boy. After spending time at the Front however, he was no longer a boy with feelings and emotion; he had turned into an old man with suppressed memories of youth and death (REMARGUE1994, 61).His only lifeline during the war was the one thing he was still apart of: friendship. In the first chapters of the book Paul finds himself confused and shocked by the behaviour of his comrades, they appear shallow to him when he sees that they promptly disconnect themselves from the dead by concentrating on sorting out and dividing the food and cigarettes that were actually meant for the deceased soldier. Later Paul accepts this behavior and comes to the conclusion that mourning the dead in this massacre will drive them insane. Later in the novel, the once ardent young man is unable to fully mourn the death of a comrade, unable to express his feelings and emotions toward the war and unable to feel comfortable at home even when talking to his mother. He cannot recall his youth fully and cannot predict his future without war. Paul’s former-self seems vague and disconnected to his current being, his youthful emotions, memories and dreams have been suppressed in order to keep his sanity and survive while waging war. Paul and his friends cast aside their values in order to survive when one of their former cla