When you hear about war veterans, you think ‘wow, they’re lucky to have survived’ and you can’t help but wonder what it would really be like to serve in a World War. This novel described the Great War like I have never heard it before and it was absolutely horrific. All soldiers in this war had the same problems, which is why I kept forgetting that these were German soldiers I was reading about. Situations for soldiers these days are better, but back then it was much worse, especially in World War One because of the trenches. These trenches were unsanitary in every way. They had infestations of lice and very large rats. Then there are all the other things that make any war unbearable. Imagine leaving behind all family and friends, knowing that you may never see them again. There’s of course the fear of dying or of being killed slowly and painfully like so many did in this novel and in the real World War One. With this comes the thought that you’ll never be able to live a full and happy life with a house, a family and a job you enjoy. I think that killing another human being would be scarier than being killed. Even after the war, soldiers suffer severely from things like shell shock (this was a huge problem in WW1), depression, survivor’s guilt, the guilt of killing another person, and Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder.
There is another thing I considered as I remembered that Paul is a German soldier, fighting against what our country, Canada, believed in. Instead of thinking that our enemies are bad people, think about the situation from their point of view. It’s one thing to want to fight for your country, but Paul does not even agree with his German politic leaders. He is fighting in a war he doesn’t believe in. How helpless would you feel?
No comments:
Post a Comment