2.
Dear Mother,
I am well, but that is more than I can say about some of my comrades. Our meal today was bitter sweet. What was meant for 150 servings, was divided among the remaining 80 in my company. I know the rations will continue to grow as the war presses on.
When I first enlisted in the army, I felt it was my patriotic duty. Kantorek had told us it would be the noble and right thing to do. If he truly believed this, why didn't he enlist? The war has opened my eyes to reality. Some of my friends from school have died, others are injured. The time I have spent in the front line has made me feel as if I have aged well beyond my years. The cause I am fighting for is not as patriotic or noble as others have made it out to be. Not even having begun to live, soldiers like Joseph Behm will never get the chance to expreience life. I have seen more corpses than a mortician and what is worse is when they are a friend from school. The life I lead a year ago seems more like a distant fantasy everyday. With my youth and innocence gone, all I know now is hunger, death, and depression. They have become my reality.
What will I do with myself when I return home? Nothing will ever be the same. What used to seem important in my life will no longer reach me, not after this ordeal. Life is simpler now, yet I will admit, not as pleasant. All that matters is trying to survive and forget the nightmares that have become my realness. My one hope is that the "iron youth" can put a stop to this senseless war. There is nothing for me to do but fight my hardest and hope the next battle will be one step closer to reaching the end of the bloodshed. Don't worry about me; I'll be alright. I've gotten this far already and how much longer can this endless battle last anyway? I think of you every day and hope you are well.
What will I do with myself when I return home? Nothing will ever be the same. What used to seem important in my life will no longer reach me, not after this ordeal. Life is simpler now, yet I will admit, not as pleasant. All that matters is trying to survive and forget the nightmares that have become my realness. My one hope is that the "iron youth" can put a stop to this senseless war. There is nothing for me to do but fight my hardest and hope the next battle will be one step closer to reaching the end of the bloodshed. Don't worry about me; I'll be alright. I've gotten this far already and how much longer can this endless battle last anyway? I think of you every day and hope you are well.
Love always,
Paul
“Base Details”
If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
I'd live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
You'd see me with my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honour.
'Poor young chap,' I'd say-'
I used to know his father well;
Yes, we've lost heavily in this last scrap.'
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I'd toddle safely home and die - in bed.
This war poem is called “Base Details” by the english poet Siegfried Sassoon. It reflects the thoughts of Paul throughout the story. The whole time Paul is on the front he sees people dieing, people that he had gone to school with or men he was with in training. Paul was there when Franz died. He had gone to school with him and they had been friends before the war. Just as the poet knew the “young chap[’s]” father, Paul lost someone he had been close to because of the senseless violence. This poem directly relates to the war because the people that want to go to war aren’t actually the ones fighting. The government wants to stay at war, but they are not the ones who put their lives at risk to defend their country. The men who are “guzzling and gulping in the best hotel” are only thinking about themselves and are not taking into consideration the innocent, adolescent lives being fruitlessly taken away.
3. I felt this picture represented the chapters of this book because of the way it shows a town in ruins and the destruction war can cause. It reflects the mood of the book because you see the wreckage of a place that was once called home and soldiers standing in the middle of the ruins. The caravan of soldiers is driving through the town like it is something they see every day, which they do. The devastation of the broken buildings represents the innocence lost of the people at war. Their traumatized lives are now traumatizing other lives because that is what has become their norm. Overall, this picture embodies the emotions of this book and gives a visual for the descriptions mentioned.
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