The Man I Killed Analysis

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War leads to the destruction of cities, wildlife, and human lives everywhere. In All Quiet of the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, and“The Man I Killed” written by Tim O'Brien, war shows death, destruction, and disaster. Paul and Tim are alike because neither one of them wanted to kill anybody else, but both were forced to fight in a war. All Quiet on the Western Front and “The Man I Killed” both show themes of war such as, horror of war, betrayal of the younger generation, and soldier’s perception of the enemy. The horrors of war includes the death of a close friend, as shown in All Quiet of the Western Front, or the bloody remains of a young boy, as shown in “The Man I Killed”. In All Quiet, Paul’s close friend, Kemmerich …show more content…
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul’s entire class is betrayed when their schoolmaster, Kantorek, tells the entire class to enlist into the army. Before going into war, Paul believes that “ the war [is] ideal and almost romantic” (Remarque 21). Paul wants war to be a fun and heroic experience but after the “first bomb, the first explosion, [it] burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war." (88). Paul started off wanting to fight for his country in honor, but later realised that war was horrifying. In “The Man I Killed”, the young boy that Tim killed was part of a younger generation that was lied to. The young boy would have been told the lie “that to defend the land was a man’s highest duty and highest privilege” (O’Brien 125). The man died a horrible death, and didn’t get to live life to its fullest, all because an older generation lied to him. An older generation may lie to a younger generation about war, but an older generation could alter a soldier’s perspective of the enemy and make the younger generation hate the enemy, even if they don’t know the
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