Summary:
In the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" the protagonist Paul Baumer experiences many mental and emotional conflicts throughout the film.
In the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" the protagonist Paul Baumer experiences many mental and emotional conflicts throughout the film. One mental and emotional conflict was when he stabbed and killed the Frenchman in the ditch. Another conflict is when he remembered the good old days back in school with all his friends. The third conflict is when he went home on a two week leave from his duty after getting injured. This movie portrays many of Paul Baumers emotional and mental conflicts.
The first mental and emotional conflict that Baumer experiences during the film is when he kills the Frenchman. Baumer, after a charge into the allies, was abandoned in a ditch and could not get out because the allies soldiers were watching him. Then all of a sudden Baumer got his knife out because he heard a Frenchman coming. He ended up inflicting much pain into the man. After stabbing him, Baumer realized that they were both alike except fighting for different sides for a prideful government. Throughout the whole night, which he spent with the dying Frenchman, he had to listen to his painful groans which were piercing his mental and emotional thoughts. In this situation, Baumers mind was in a deep conflict on what he done.
The second issue that Baumer had to live through in the mental and emotional realm was constantly getting reminded of his school days when everything was chipper. While he was in the war, in cruddy situations, he could not help himself to think of what he had before he enlisted. While thinking of these pleasurable moments, Baumer got a mere moment of peace without war and its effects. In this situation, Baumer would always have conflicts with himself and what he got himself into. He experienced a dreadful time when he would think of school days and then faced the realities of war.
The third unpleasant experience that the main character in this book had to endure was when he was supposed to have a soothing time at his mother's home. Before he enlisted in the "Great War" due to German glorification of the military and pressure from his professor, he had a good enjoyable life at his mother's home. Then when he got shot in the leg and got a two week leave from military service and got to go home, Baumer had to go from rough way of living to a comfortable environment. This led to him getting mentally and emotionally distressed because he had to lie to his mother about the procedures of war and the fact that he has to go back to the horrid war after his pleasurable stay. Also, when at home, he started writing a letter to his mom about the reality and truth of how the war is. But he knew if his mother were to read it, she would probably die which contributes to his mental and emotional stress.
In the movie "All Quiet in the Western Front", Baumer was ready for a glorious war, as portrayed by his professor. Therefore, throughout the last two years of his service in the war as a German soldier, he did not expect real life wars which lead to his many mental issues. One event that pertains to his mental unsteadiness is when he encounters the French soldier, who was actually a printer back at his home. Another instance that added to his mental struggles as a soldier was when he would remember his youth as a student back home. The final experience he had to endure that added to his emotional crisis, is when he had a two week leave from vigorous fighting to go visit his mother and sister. Throughout this presentation of the Great War as seen by Eric Maria Ramarque, the protagonist or main character Paul Baumer experienced many emotional breakdowns.
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