#detering

[appleblossoms08]

Nooo the parallels :((

[vera-gemini]

Thinking about them (Tjaden, Westhus and Detering in the 1930 adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front)

Have some shitty pictures bc I love their dynamic

[vera-gemini]

I would love to see more fanarts of Detering, Haie and Tjaden... I find their relationship in the 1930 film so cool 

[elliotironmaidenfan]

Let's talk honestly about Detering from the book All Quiet on the Western Front. Specifically about his actions at the end of the novel.

Detering is "a peasant, who thinks of nothing but his farm-yard and his wife" (quote). In chapter eleven, Paul (Remarque) describes Detering as follows: "He was one of those who kept himself to himself. His misfortune was that he saw a cherry tree in a garden." His misfortune. Later, the reader sees him desert. Paul recalls that it would have been better to flee through Holland, but Detering went straight to Germany, for what he was captured as a deserter. And if the reader decides to search for the punishment for desertion during World War I (or tries to guess for themselves), they will understand that Detering was most likely shot. And that's exactly what I want to talk about.

Just think about it: people are torn away from their normal lives in various ways — whether through mobilization or propaganda — and sent to fight on the front lines. I won't repeat what happens in war; Herr Remarque has already written about it. And any things from one's "past life" (like the cherry tree in Detering's case) can have a powerful effect on a person in inhuman conditions.

In German, there is the concept of Heimweh — longing for Motherland. And I think this is exactly the case here.

Allow me to quote another passage from the same book, chapter one, my italics: "But for all that we were no mutineers, no deserters, no cowards—they were very free with all these expressions."

They try to instill in us that a "deserter" is something bad, that he is a traitor to his country. But tell me, please, how can one kill a man for wanting to live!? How can you punish a person for not wanting to take anyone's life!? Is it ethical to kill a person who wants to go home!?

And most importantly... in Remarque's time, people were not stingy with the words "deserter" and "coward"... and what has changed? Nowadays civilians are standing for the war to continue, to "win," to "restore the borders." Propaganda has convinced them that their homeland must "win" the war, that THIS war is "fair" and not a terrible attempt by the rich to make money. The state has always said and will continue to say that "true patriots" must "do their duty to the Motherland," and therefore they introduce compulsory military service (which, in my opinion, is a violation of human rights) and shout about "patriotism."

And what about the people who were taken to the front? They desert. And they believe that it is better to drown in a river while escaping than to die for the "Motherland."

[tenth-sentence]

''Course not – I just can't get to sleep—'

"All Quiet on the Western Front" - Erich Maria Remarque

[itlehrer]

Was wir von Sprache lernen können

Was wir von Sprache lernen können

Es gibt viele kluge und einige weniger tiefe Aussagen zu Sprache. Der Sprachgebrauch erlaubt es uns, miteinander zu kommunizieren. Sprache hat eine Symbolebene, die wir an Buchstaben und Wörtern festmachen können. Ergänzt wird diese Ebene durch Bedeutung und Kontext. So erschließt sich uns ein Sinn, der über die Wortbedeutung hinaus geht.

Viktor Klemperer schreibt: “Das ist wohl auch der Sinn…

View On WordPress

[shutupwyl]

All Quiet On The Western Front Rant (so many typos)

So I finished All Quiet On The Western Front today, and if you haven’t read this book yet. I would recommend reading it right now. When I first started reading it I was all like “this is a war novel, I’m not gonna get attached to these characters.” And I stayed true to my word. Until Haie Westus died, and then it was just a spiraling down ward fall into madness. But the end of the book, I was sobbing in third period and in denial. And yes, I was sobbing over a World War 1 novel about 8 guys in the war who take group poops. (Oh god Ms. Pope thank you for saying they take group poops. Favorite thing.) By the time I got to Detering’s fall into madness and I knew I was gonna be in tears. I mean, he got so homesick when he saw the cherry tree. Paul was all like, “yo why did you take the cherry tree branches?” And Detering (my precious horse loving farm boy that he is.) took off, in the dead of night. Didn’t even go the way as to not get caught, he just went straight for home. He just wanted to see his wife again. But my poor stupid baby got caught. (I’m still in denial about his “death” he’s fine and happy with his wife.) I mean, Eric Maria Remarque killed off all of my precious little war babies in less than 3 pages. Not to mention Kat’s death. It was so devastating for Paul. Kay was all Paul had and they had been talking not 2 minutes before he got Kat to the trenches. I mean Paul carried a 40 (I think he was about 43ish when he died.) year old man back to safety because they were comrades. Just like Kat and Albert did for him when he was stuck in that she’ll hole for a full day. By the time I finished this book I felt numb. I told my self I wasn’t gonna get attached. Yet here I am. Crying over fictional soldiers from WW1. I have lost control of my life.