December 12, 2018
As I walk down the halls, I feel like I have a million eyes on me, everyone thinks of me as the girl whose sister killed herself. When I get towards my class, I hear two girls say, “That's Emily’s sister. Apparently she was the one who found her dead in their bathroom.” I then feel a pit inside my stomach and have no idea how to react. I walk into my science class and sit in the back. The teacher starts class and then over the loudspeaker I hear, “Students this is Principal Johnson speaking. I would like to give this time to take a moment of silence for Emily Willson” Then I feel 30 faces turn towards me and I just look down while a tear falls down on my paper. My mom told me to stay strong even though I know she has the same feeling of pain as I do. I know she feels the grief and sadness of Emily’s death. My sister killed herself and none of us thought she was feeling so sad inside. I sometimes even think its my fault she did. Maybe I hadn't been there to help her. I've been off hanging out with friends while she was feeling alone and hopeless. How I wish that I could just go back in time and prevent this from happening. As far as I could remember, Emily was the rock of our family. She was the one who always had a smile on her face and put others before herself. When our Dad left the family, Emily would always look at the positive side of life. She would make me feel happy even when things were going bad for the family. Emily was very studious, cared about her grades, and she was passionate about soccer. She applied for many colleges such as Penn State, USC, and Stanford. Her dream school has always been Penn State and when she found out she got accepted, she was the happiest I have ever seen her. Emily was the brightest person I knew and no one saw this tragedy coming. February 2, 2018 As Emily and I come back from soccer practice, we pull in seeing a bunch of our Dad’s belongings spread out on our lawn. We get inside and hear my mom screaming, “I can't believe you would ever do this to me and the family!” Emily goes up to our mom and asks what happened with dad? And why is all of his stuff outside?” My mom than gets up and says,”Your father had an affair with his coworker.” I then just dropped all of my things on the floor and ran up to my room sobbing. I get a knock on my door and then my dad walks in. “How could you do this to Mom? What's wrong with you!” I say while sobbing. “I can't explain how this happened, but I have decided that it's best for me to go and leave your mother.” When he finishes saying that, he walks out and that was the last time I saw him since. Our family was now broken into pieces. That night, Emily and I slept in with our mom and did not speak anything of it. The next morning in true Emily style, she wakes up early and makes a full breakfast for me and my mom. That's what I loved about Emily. She always went out of her way to make others happy. The next few weeks were rough at the house. My mom would always go straight to her room right after work. Emily and I would always make dinner every night because my mom would never have the energy to get out of bed. I would always look forward to that everyday because I would get to spend quality time with my sister and she was the one person who would help me get my mind off the situation. As time went on, my mom would become more and more happy and Emily was always the one who would make that happen. Life seemed like it was getting back to normal, even though we missed our dad more than anything. Emily met this guy named Troy and then started dating him. We would play soccer all the time. I was on JV and Emily was the captain of the varsity soccer team at our high school. Soon it was summer and I finally turned 16 and started to become more independent. I got my first car and I felt like I could have some freedom. I would spend my weekends with my friends, driving while listening to music, going to the beach, and going to parties. It was just overall a great summer. One night, I was getting ready to go out with some friends, I walked by Emily’s room and it sounded like she was crying. I then just walked away, not even checking in on her. I will always regret this night. Emily would never have left me if she knew I was alone crying. I soon found out that her boyfriend had cheated on her. Then things started to go downhill for Emily. Before Troy cheated on her, the only thing she would talk about is how she was so excited to start Penn State. But then I rarely heard anything about it anymore. Then one night, my mom came in and told me that Emily will not be going to Penn State anymore because she thinks it would be better if she is home with us. I was so shocked, but never said anything about it to Emily. The next week Emily started going to the local Junior College. She knew a few kids from our school and seemed to be settling in to her new life. I was starting my junior year of high school and was starting to look at colleges myself. Things seemed good in our home, but not perfect or how they used to be when my Dad lived with us. November 30th, 2018 My alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. and I started getting ready for school. I went downstairs to join my Mom and Emily for breakfast, like we did every morning. This was one time every day that we could all be together and catch up. Normally, Emily was filled with stories and happiness, but this particular morning, she seemed...not herself. I thought perhaps she was just stressed out about mid-terms and school in general. She was so quiet that morning that it felt like she wasn’t even there. When we all went our separate ways that morning, I felt that something was really off with Emily. I should have checked in on her throughout the day, but I was so preoccupied with school and my friends that I selfishly forgot about her. December 1st, 2018 I woke up late and didn’t have time to have breakfast with my family. I gave my Mom and Emily a quick kiss and ran out the door to make the bus. School was fun that day. I found out that I made captain of the varsity soccer team. I couldn’t wait to tell Emily. She was going to be so excited and proud of me. I made the early bus and ran to the front door. It is usually unlocked because Emily gets home before I do, but today it was locked. I get my key out and unlock the front door. I burst through the door yelling, “Emily, Emily, where are you? I have the most exciting news ever!” I run upstairs and see the bathroom door slightly cracked open. I knock on the bathroom door and it opens and I see Emily lying on the floor unconscious. I scream hysterically and start shaking Emily. I feel a rush of emotions hit me all at once. I then start sobbing and shaking. “This can’t be happening-- Emily please wake up.” But she doesn’t move at all. I grab my phone and dial 911. I tell the operator that my sister isn’t breathing and that she may be dead. I turn to the right and see an empty bottle of sleeping pills. I am now crying hysterically on top of Emily. Ten minutes later the ambulance and police arrive and run up the stairs. They move me out of the bathroom and told me to phone my Mom. I am shaking and freaking out. My Mom answers the phone and has no idea why I am crying and screaming. “Mom, something terrible has happened to Emily and you need to come home right away.” I hang up the phone, and she keeps calling back. I don’t know how to tell her, so I don’t pick up her call. My Mom arrives moments later to find an ambulance and the police at our home, carrying out my sister in a body bag. A police officer pulls my Mom aside and tells her that her daughter has committed suicide. I will never forget the look on my Mom’s face as her paralized body falls into the police officer’s arms. I run to her and we hold each tightly for what feels like forever. December 15th, 2018 I wake up knowing that today is the final day I can say my goodbyes to my sister Emily. She was my best friend and I don’t know if I am ready to say goodbye. My Mom and I drive alone to the funeral home. The entire school is there. We walk in and approach the open casket. I haven’t seen my sister’s face since the day she died. She looks different, pale and lifeless. I sit next to my Mom in the front row and notice an open seat next to me. The service is about to start and I hear a set of footsteps walking down the aisle. I turn around and see my Dad. He is so pale that he looks like a ghost. He sits next to me and all I can do is cry into his arms. My Dad reaches out to hold my Mom’s hand, and she grabs his hand back. We are all sobbing as the service begins. My Mom had put together a slideshow of Emily’s life that really showed what a special person she was. So full of life and joy. How could she have taken her life? What could have happened over those last few days? This is something I will never get, nor have closure on. My sister would always say you will get through anything no matter what. However, I will never be able to get through this without her by my side. But I know she would want me to live my life with the same joy and happiness that she had and shared with everyone that she encountered. December 1st, 2019 It has been a year since Emily died, and my Mom and I are still trying to cope with our loss. We go and visit Emily’s grave site every Sunday and tell her about how our week has been. Emily will always be a part of our lives no matter what, and her legacy will live on forever. My Mom and I have recently started working with the suicide prevention hotline program to try and help people who have suicidal thoughts and may suffer from depression. I have decided that when I go to college I want to study psychology and become a youth therapist. I miss my sister so much every day and I know that if she was here with us she would be so proud of me. Thank you Emily for making me who I am today, and I miss you every waking minute. I will never take anyone for granted again.
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Throughout the history of humanity we have segregated and divided ourselves based on minute differences and similarities. These factors can take the form of race, culture, gender, family name, and countless other traits. These divisions inevitably lead to hatred, persecution, and violence. In Romeo and Juliet the lovers were forced apart by the feud between their families, a feud maintained only out of hatred of the opposition’s name. I chose this topic because not only is it critically important to Romeo and Juliet but also it is a defining factor of how human society functions.
Even in the beginning of the play we are informed that there is a bloody feud between the Montagues, the family in which Romeo was born, and the Capulets, Juliet's family. This feud has claimed many lives, although there is no apparent reason for the feud asides from the differences in name, and the hatred that has developed for that dreaded name in the opposing family. In the play Romeo and Juliet fall in love even though they are from the opposing families. As a result the lovers are forced to act only in secrecy as detection would likely mean death. Throughout the play the lovers voice their discontent and hatred of the feud and speak of its stupidity. For example Juliet says in act 3: “Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name, which is no part of thee Take all myself.” In this she explains that the only thing keeping them apart is the abstract notion of a name, something that has no mark on their character yet defines how they live and eventually how they will die. Yet even though the two lovers may have abandoned the confines of their name, the rest of the world has not. As a result of their love they are forced to take drastic action which leads to their tragic deaths, all because of the names they bore. Just as a name defined the protagonists of Romeo and Juliet, differences define the lives of millions of people across the world. In Rwanda Hutu and Tutsi, largely manufactured ethnic groups with little to no physical differences, have long oppresed each other solely because of the named they were branded with at birth. For centuries the Tutsi oppressed the Hutu and treated them like slaves, this practice only strengthened by European colonists attempts to strengthen their position while weakening that of the natives. Then when the Hutu seized power, a great retribution took place where over a million Tutsi were murdered by the Hutu. Very few of these Tutsi were responsible for the wrongs to the Hutu, but they were still killed purely because of their name, manufactured and artificial label. This hatred of those in an opposing group, of those with another name race or trait, has fueled some of the greatest horrors in history. From the Holocaust to Romeo and Juliet, people are defined and persicuted purely for abstract charesterics. Humanity has made great strides in inclusion and the breaking down of group barriers over the last century; however total victory is impossible. All of society is structured around different and distinct groups working in tandem to achieve a goal. Most of the time this can lead to great good, but it also has the possibility of great evil. From the racial based discrimination of supremacy organizations, to financial based discrimination of people of all classes by the others, there will always be division and segregation. It is like a hydra, when one group is blended into others two more will take its place. Although there will always be divisiveness, we can work to make our society better and decrease the rampant hatred and division we experience today. The best way to do this is to connect and meet with people of other groups; this allows them to see that you are a human and not just a label or a name.This can also provide the same service for you in turn, greatly widening your world view. In the end people are for the most part good and honest, they just want the best for the people they love. However, they are often led astray by those who have been hurt and are unloved. The essential question asking are we controlled by fate or free will grabbed my attention because I think about this kind of thing a lot. I believe that there are many different unseen and seen forces that play into our everyday lives.
In Romeo and Juliet, there were many things that played into the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet. I believe that it wasn't fate or misfortune, but simply a series of deeply unfortunate events (mostly poor communication) that killed them. If even one of the servants knew how to read or if Juliet felt comfortable speaking honestly to her parents, the whole story would change drastically. Romeo and Juliet died because of free will, not fate. While free will is a truly amazing thing, power does corrupt as C.S. Lewis said “evil comes from the abuse of free will.” I believe that people are controlled by actions and reactions. We are controlled by our own reactions and actions in addition to those of others. This is the Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle states that for a good majority of events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the cause. In other words, everything is 80% reaction and 20% action. 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results. While you can't always control your circumstances, you can always control your reactions. I believe that this proves that you make of life what you will and we control our destinies. Our reactions shape our identities and who we are as people. Of course, human beings aren’t all powerful and there are many things we can’t control, like natural disasters. The question is, are these outside forces fated or are they just another series of actions performed by objects or elements? Does everything happen a certain way for a reason and that’s just the way it is or is fate malleable like clay and everything slowly takes form after a series of unpredictable events? This brings into question reality. Are there billions of realities in which the smallest of actions could have been performed differently or neglected entirely and the whole world is changed forever or is everything set in stone and this is the only reality? As it is such a flexible and controversial topic, many different philosophers and intellectuals have differing opinions on the subject of free will. For example, Stephen Hawking said, “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” While Scott Adams said, “Free will is an illusion. People always choose the perceived path of greatest pleasure.” These people mean that even your beliefs on the subject are corrupted by our need to live up to our preconceived notions of greatness and our animalistic survival instinct. Free will controls our lives. Our actions and reactions affect ourselves just as much as the ones around us. The butterfly effect is quite real and people are all connected in a complicated web of actions and reactions. Our choices and reactions shape who we are as people just as much as they become us. As R.A. Delmonico said “free will is factual.” Names and labels can be used as identifying factors in one’s life, even if the placed identity isn’t true to who they are. I chose the essential question, What’s in a Name? because it reoccurs throughout the novel, Romeo and Juliet, and it is often recognized in the world today.
In Romeo and Juliet, the essential question, What’s in a Name?, is often brought up. A main factor of the story is that there are two families, Capulet and Montague, who have been in a feud for many years. This feud has disrupted their town multiple times, and everyone knows about the division created between the families. The feud created this unspoken rule where anyone with the name Capulet, is forbidden to have any type of positive relationship with anyone named Montague. This “rule” is also applied for anyone born into each family. When Romeo and Juliet meet, some might say they experienced love at first sight. Juliet fell in love with Romeo without knowing that his name, and they fell in love with the other’s organic self. When they discovered each other’s names, their love suddenly became forbidden. One small factor of their identity ruled over what choices they could make, and created a huge division in their love. When Romeo and Juliet were born into those certain families, they already had expectations set on them that they couldn’t change, or didn’t have a say in. It was like they were born into a category that they couldn’t break out of. A name is such a small piece of one's identity, but in the novel, those two names controlled and affected the lives of many. In the world today, many people are identified or put into groups, based off of small factors of their identity. Whether it be the way they look, or even who they’re friends with, people are constantly divided up into categories. This has created many separations and divisions in society. There are so many stereotypes floating around that it's unlikely to see someone who doesn’t fit into a stereotype, and many people subconsciously place others into these stereotypes. The groups and stereotypes that people are categorized into can set certain expectations on how they should act, but most of these groups are created based on the outermost layer of someone, not who they truly are. This can result in people getting categorized into groups might express a different identity than how they truly feel. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet were separated by their two families that were in a fued. This created certain divisions and expectations in the families that we can similarly see in society today, with stereotypes and categories. I wonder if everyone in the world looked through certain lenses where differences couldn’t be categorized, would these set “rules” in society be different? Aggression can be hurtful or helpful depending on how one uses it. I’m writing about how to respond to aggression because it’s important to understanding human conflicts and why we treat each other the way we do. There are many ways to respond to aggression and that’s because different situations require responses that are appropriate to that situation. There are great examples of characters' responses to aggression, and how those decisions can have negative or positive effects, in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
One example from the play that happens very early on is with Sampson and Gregory and the Montague men. Sampson and Gregory wanted to start a fight with the Montagues so Sampson bit his thumb at them which was basically Shakespear’s version of flipping someone off. This eventually resulted in the two groups fighting. Sampson and Gregory wanted to start a fight, so they angered the Montague men until they drew their swords. Benvolio, a Montague, entered the fight and drew his sword, not to brawl, but to stop the others from fighting. Sampson, Gregory and the Montagues response to aggression was with violence, and Benvolio’s response to aggression was trying to make peace. In this situation, the correct response was to make peace because starting a sword fight over a small confrontation could result in injuries or deaths that are ultimately pointless. However, the response to conflicts with aggression is common in this play and in real life. Aggression isn’t always the wrong choice in response to aggression. In a situation where you have to defend yourself it would be the right choice for your own health and well being to be aggressive. In football, being aggressive is a very important part of the game. If the ball carrier is running at you and you let him hit you at full speed while standing still, you’re going to get trampled and probably hurt. If you run at the ball carrier and try to tackle the guy, there’s less of a chance of you getting hurt and a better chance of you making a play. You need to be aggressive in football in order to play the game, but too much aggression can give you a penalty or get you ejected. It all matters on how you choose to act in certain situations. The right situation to be aggressive is during a play, not after it. If an opponent tries to start something after a play, the best choice is to ignore it. This is the same with everyday life. You should respond to a physical threat by defending yourself because that benefits your personal health, but if your friends are fighting over something meaningless it would better if you stayed out of the conflict in order to not escalate to problem. How we choose to respond to aggression, either with violence or peace, can negatively or positively affect you or others depending on the situation. If adding more aggression to a situation would just escalate the problem, you can use common sense and try to figure out what the right response to give would be. There will be many times in your life where you’ll have to respond to aggression, and when those times come, think about what you could do that would benefit the whole situation and everyone involved. I chose the topic of drugs because of the effect drugs had on Romeo and Juliet, and the effects drugs have had on my life, especially marijuana. I am interested in this topic because, arguably, drugs can be a good thing. Hospitals use drugs as an ingredient in some kinds of medicines. But at the same time, drugs can be a bad thing. You could get easily addicted, and it could potentially ruin your life. There is a lot of disagreement when it comes to drugs, and that is why I find it fascinating.
In Romeo and Juliet, drugs came up in scenes four and five. In scene 4, Friar Laurence gives Juliet a drug to make her appear dead so that she can run away with Romeo and not have to marry Paris. So she takes takes the drug the night before the wedding, and her family falls for it. They put her in their family tomb, thinking she is dead. Drugs come up again in scene five, when Juliet was being put into the tomb. Balthasar, a man who worked for Romeo, saw Juliet being put in the tomb, and immediately ran to Romeo. Friar Laurence had the intention of sending a letter to Romeo, explaining his plan of making Juliet appear dead so Romeo and Juliet could run away together, but the messenger was quarantined with a family since it was believed that they had the plague. The messenger couldn’t deliver the letter, and Romeo actually thought that Juliet was dead. So Romeo decided he would kill himself, and he went to a nearby apothecary to get poison. Romeo goes to the tomb, and drinks the poison. Soon after, Friar Laurence came by to the tomb, since he promised Juliet he would be there when she woke up. When she woke up, he explained that Romeo was dead, but in a bad way. He didn’t give her time to process what happened, ad he just flat out said that Romeo was dead, and she would go to a home for nuns. She clearly didn’t like this, as she took Romeo’s dagger, and stabbed herself. In this way, drugs killed both Romeo and Juliet. In my personal opinion, I think that drugs are a very bad thing, with the exception of them being used as a medicine. But even then it’s risky. So many people have died of opioid overdoses, that the downsides outweigh the benefits. Aside from medicine, California recently legalized marijuana. I think this is a very bad thing, since many kids are getting addicted to it. The scariest part for me is that many kids, including kids that I have known since before Kindergarten, don’t see marijuana as a threat. During our class discussion on this subject matter, many kids said that marijuana should be legal for kids. One kid even went to the extreme of saying that marijuana should be legal at 6th grade. Really? For me, that’s not even the most disturbing part. The oldest age that the students in my class said marijuana should be legal at was sixteen. So if that was a real law, I could legally smoke marijuana in two years from now. If marijuana were legal at 6th grade, I could have been smoking marijuana for three to four years. Am I the only one who sees how crazy that is? I felt like it in that class. In conclusion, I think that in Romeo and Juliet, and real life scenarios, drugs are a bad thing. Drugs essentially killed both Romeo and Juliet, and ruin lives. I think if awareness isn’t spread about drugs, especially marijuana, more and more states will legalize marijuana, and more and more kids will get addicted. My mom runs West Marin Little League, and we have a field in Fairfax where kids regularly come to play games and practice. Most of the time, it reeks of weed, since I think people regularly smoke and sell weed in that area. It’s disgusting. So many little kids go there, and since it usually smells that way, they think of marijuana as a regular, normal thing. That is when people need to draw the line, and I think they need to do it now. The question I chose to respond to is “How To Respond to Aggression?” I chose this question because I think it is the most relevant to our lives today. This question can be linked to our individual lives and to our society as a whole. The answer to this question could decide the fate of many people.
Responding to aggression has huge implications in the play Romeo and Juliet. The whole backdrop to the play is set in a place where two influential and wealthy families are having a fued which has already caused the deaths of many people. If the families were more relaxed in their responses to aggression and settled the original disagreement in a diplomatic and civil manner, then there would have been less bloodshed. Throughout Romeo and Juliet several main characters have to choose how they will respond to aggression. When Romeo is confronted by the aggressive Tybalt, he at first is passive and attempts to settle down the situation. However, Romeo’s friend Mercutio has a different reaction and duels Tybalt. Mercutio dies and this causes Romeo to duel Tybalt, setting the plot and eventual tragedy forward. These responses to aggression end up having dire consequences and cause the deaths of four more characters before the conflict is finally squashed. I believe we should all attempt to extinguish situations and as Jesus of Nazareth said, “Turn the other cheek.” Continually amping up disagreements will result in violence and bloodshed. But Michael Eisner said, “My father never got over his anger about his brother getting killed in WWII. That’s one incident sixty years ago. This is happening every day in the Middle East.” This is where the question really lies. Should we really expect people to get over horrible things that happened to them or a family member? Even if forgetting would be better for society? If we never get over these events, then our anger and resentment will spiral out of control and go on from generation to generation. This is the backstory we are presented with in Romeo and Juliet and this is the choice the characters were confronted with. Unfortunately, they choose to respond with aggression. However, lessons can be learned from violence and bloodshed. In Romeo and Juliet the families ended their feud and forgive each other after the tragedy occurred. On a larger scale, the major powers of the world have not gone to war against one another since WWII, the longest peace in the history of major powers. If we all make attempts to cool our rage and extinguish aggressive situations, then the world will be a better place. Often getting revenge and responding to aggression in an aggressive way will help nobody and pointlessly worsen the situation. I love your natural beauty. I love your cascading waterfalls. I love your rocky mountains and sandy shores. Your incredible trees and vast hot deserts. World, I love your technology. Access to the world within my pocket. Endless information and knowledge reduced to 1s and 0s. I love your food, a global showcase of unique flavors and textures. Your ingredients combine cultures and create community within us. Medicine, how we can fracture the structure that keeps us together, then repair it within weeks. Our advancements being a huge step towards immunity in this modern world.
Love, Cass, Nilyiah, Evan, BT Comment: Both the novel, Station Eleven, and the letter above contain sentence fragments. Question: Can sentence fragments be stylistically effective? War: the one thing the human race can agree on. Fighting for your opinion, your freedom, your glory, your rights- at the hands of the drafted teens and experienced militia. Centuries upon centuries, eons of warfare has defined each generation and their history. It changes people and shapes their outlooks. It creates an advancement of technology, an intellectual renaissance, and gives the citizens of the country a beacon of trust in their leaders. However, war causes the loss and destruction of hope, humanity, and youth according to literature such as All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, and War by Miguel Hernández.
War causes the destruction and utter annihilation of hope. Soldiers, after fighting in trenches, can lose faith in authority, teachers, and loved ones. “We distinguished the false from true, we had suddenly learned to see that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone; and alone we must see it through” (All Quiet, 13). The narrator from All Quiet on the Western Front and real soldiers had witnessed death in its truest form- on the front lines and still had to fight to enforce that what they did was purely patriotic. War changes not only soldiers but also the victims, from full of fight and fervor to “quite apathetic and listless.. They stand at the wire fence, sometimes one goes away and another at once takes his place in the line...I perceive behind them only the suffering of the creature, the awful melancholy of line and the pitilessness of men” (All Quiet, 192-194). Human beings naturally crave a will, a light to look forward. To emaciate the masses, to convince them that what they do is glorious as their friends and foes blow to bits without dignity will destroy their hopes in survival, in their idol, their parents, and their authority figures. “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest / To children ardent for some desperate glory, / The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori” (Dulce et Decorum Est). The lack of truth causes rude awakenings in innocents; it further destabilizes hope. If they are told it is an honor to die for their country and forefathers, does it not reinforce their idea that they die and fight senselessly? To determine that death equates to honor- to determine that it means glory- what does that so-called glory mean in the grand scheme of things? What is its purpose? (Isabelle Barry) The loss of humanity refers to the disconnection to reality that the narrator, and many other characters face in All Quiet on the Western Front. Due to extreme trauma and the constant threat of death, people are forced to accept new normalities, such as the gruesome sights of bombshell-inflicted wounds. At one point in the book, the narrator describes the effects of war on the minds of the front line soldiers, noting the insanity of the things they had been driven to do. “For these cases of frontline madness became dangerous . . . It affects others so that they begin to rave, to run away-- there was one man who even tried to dig himself into the ground with hands, feet, and teeth.” (All Quiet, 275-281) This example shows the soldiers’ loss of distinction between what is real, and what is not, as well as what matters most. Life gains and then loses importance, and the dignity and pride are stolen as they are stripped bare of all that makes them human. The intense horror of war takes priority in the minds of all, and eats away at their sanity. The soldiers are destroyed, both physically and mentally, to the point where they cannot function, and their humanity is eventually lost. (Ruby Hannon) The youth of soldiers was also lost in war. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the narrator went into the army straight from highschool. He had expected it to be glorious and pride full, but what he discovered was the opposite. “It brings a lump to my throat to see how they go over, and run and fall. A man would like to spank them, they are so stupid… for most of them the uniform is far too big… no uniform was ever made to these childish measurements”(All Quiet, 129-131). The narrator is talking about the youthful reinforcements sent into the front-lines having little to no knowledge of battle, and dying. He talks of them as if they are children, even though he’s only a year or two older than them. The narrator’s experience in war, watching men die, has aged him in an unnatural way. It has taken away his youth that these young reinforcements still had, but lost in death. The poem War by Miguel Hernández touches on the youth dying in battle. “A tree, withered and alone / A woman like a log / Widowed in her bed / Hatred has no end / And youth? / In the coffin” (War). The youth is lost in war, both literally and ones youth as a child. The narrator from All Quiet on the Western Front matured rapidly due to all the death he witnessed, and a lot of the men who were dying weren’t men at all, but children. (Max Henzl) War takes so much and gives so little. Hope, humanity, and youth are all taken by war. It leaves people a hollow shell of the person they were before, and for what? Battles are fought, people are killed, and people are killed more. Our differences are settled, but what is achieved from all this loss and destruction that benefits the human race as a whole? (Max Henzl) |
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