The Protagonists Experiences in the Diary of a Napoleonic Foot - Essay Example

Introduction In the present times, the past becomes difficult for people to understand because of lack of information. Itis hard for anyone to understand the past events and only rely on the written sources to explain the people’s experiences especially during war. The major causes of war included intense nationalism, colonial rivalry, economic and naval rivalry and fighting over raw materials and expansion of markets. What lacks is the first hand information from the actual people who took part in the war. In this study paper, we explore the war experiences from people who survived and lived to tell the tale. The paper also explores the lead characters motivation to join the war and motivation behind their continued fight in the war despite the tough conditions. The books and memoirs provide more information on the protagonists’ views of the enemy and later changes. Finally, the paper will also identify the similarities and differences in their wartime and the role of technology in shaping the war experiences. The focus of the paper will be on the following books and memoirs; Jakob Walter’s The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier, Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and I O’Brien’s If Die in a Combat Zone. Discussion Jakob Walter’s Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier is one of a major source of information on war and in this memoir; Walter shares experiences of his life. Jakob, a German soldier, was in Napoleon’s Grand Army during the campaigns of 1806, 1809, and in 1812. The main objective of the diary is to share the army experiences to the present and future together with keeping in touch with his family and friends. At nineteen, Walter enrolls to the army by mobilization and immediately dispensed to the regiment of Romig. In this role, Walter was to escort several convoys of captured Prussians, from Glogau to Dresden. In the case of Walter, his joining the army's motivation is the fact that the brother was in the army too. Walter’s brother was in the army and stationed at in the Lilienburg Regiment (Walter, Jakob and Marc pg 45). Having a relative in the army was a source of inspiration for the young man to join and continue serving. Whenever they fought and were in the same city, the brothers would take care for one another because of the strong brotherly love. On the views of the enemy, Walter provides minimal information, as he was just a common soldier. The better of the source focuses on foraging, which explores the complexity of forcing peasants to show where they hide their food. In his description, the emphasis is one poor weather conditions the soldiers experienced while at war. According to the memoir, Walter shows minimal support for Napoleon as he rarely touches on the subject. During this time, few soldiers had minimal idea. The main character in this novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, is Paul Baumer and at the age of 21, he joins the German army. Different people joined the war because of various motivations and for Paul; he got the motivation from his schoolmaster. Under the guidance, of their schoolteacher through inspiring nationalistic speeches, Paul and his friends willingly enlist to the army in order to fulfill the patriotic and partisan. Upon joining the army, the youngsters face hard and brutal life of the war, which makes them reconsider their initial reason for enlisting. In war, Paul stabbed a solder of the enemy troop, who he watched die and the thoughts of being a dead man disturb him for the entire time (Remarque, Erich and Wheen pg 100). At this point, it is obvious that the character’s view of the war has drastically changed. During this time, the soldiers participating in the war were deprived the basics of existences such as health, clothing, food and appropriate shelter. Paul sentiments in the book suggest that World War 1 would be over if the soldiers got better remunerations and proper supply of food. In this book, war experiences snuffed Paul’s ideas, dreams and expectations, which he felt he could not regain. Paul felt as an outcast his family he was unable to relate to society. During World War 1, there were minimal technological inventions, which helped in propagating the war. For instance, the camps utilized machine guns, shells and jet engines which helped in the fighting the enemies (Remarque, Erich and Wheen pg 120). In another relative soldier storybook, the paper explores If I Die in a Combat Zone, which is a memoir O’Brian. The lead character in the book, O’Brian, originates from Minnesota and he recounts his occurrences in the military. O’Brian was in the Vietnam War and the memoir provides the reader with an insight of the young man’s war experiences. Initially, O’Brien had a negative attitude towards the war and had a hard time making the resolution on whether to join the military. The document recounts the harrowing experiences of the military with several night marches around the mine villages. O’Brien arrived in Vietnam in 1969 where he joined a base in Chu Lai and trained in issues like throwing grenades and minesweeping, things to do or not to do in the ruthless situations of war (O’Brien pg 45). O’Brien was in a war that had terribly gone wrong; the sea had turned into a combat zone. Solders were crawling in indistinct tunnels, exploring uncertainties of adulthood and ethics in the war that had become so severe. O’ Brien memoir explores the negative attitude O’Brien has towards the war and the war he was in the fight, the more his opinion of the war changed. From the above exploration of books and memoirs, it is almost evident that there was no much difference during the three different wars the lead characters participated. Jakob took part in the Napoleon war O’Brien in the Vietnam War (O’Brien pg 12) and Paul took part in the First World War. From the sources information, lead characters in these novels and memoir were all against the war. During these different times, the motivations behind joining the war were majorly nationalistic and patriotic reasons which, however, did not seem to last. After experiencing the cruel and tough life in the military camps, the soldiers’ view of the war changed; hence, they strive to drop off the line up. The primary sources provide historical firsthand information concerning the wars, which most people have no access. Presence of such information helps discourage a nation’s participation in wars as they have negative impacts on people’s life. In addition, the wars in this destruction caused much destruction to the nations’ economy and infrastructure. Solders in the above books expressed different emotions during the war, some soldiers enjoyed the war, others hated it and others could not decide what they felt about the war. However, all the writers expressed the violent situations in the war and lost generations that will never be the same again. The soldiers in the wars had similar ideologies in relation to civilians in the enemy state. For instance, Paul viewed the enemies as fellow human beings and for this reason; he treated the enemy with respect, kindness and humanity (Remarque, Erich and Wheen pg 100). For instance, he apologizes to the French man he killed called Duval. At the time, there was awful treatment of the Russian prisoners, Baumer gave Russian prisoners food and cigarettes. Throughout the war, Paul believes that all of them are solders and they are in a fight that was not helpful to the citizens. In this war, there was killing of both the French, German and Russian soldiers and their bodies rotting was food for the rats. Paul believes that the idea that unites them with the enemy is that they are both humans. In the end, all the solders of all countries were an unenthusiastic group in a fatal game, which they all thought it was worth fighting for their fatherland. For example, in the battle, French civilians were friendlier to the Germans than they were to other nations; the French was polite and accommodative to the Germans in all the memoirs. Another notable similarity is the soldiers’ confidence during the war despite their negative mind-set towards the war. War was certainly atrocious for all the soldiers in the novels though they spent remarkably little time in the actual battle. The memoirs show that solders expressed an extensive range of observation about the war; all the survivors of the war were never the same as they entered the war. Every solder had changed in an unusual way. In the novels if I die in a combat zone and Diary of a Napoleonic foot soldier the main characters are mostly optimistic they are fighting for what they believe to bring liberty, nationalism and traditional Christianity to their nation. The main characters voluntarily joined the army to fight for what they believed. In war, they face all the hostility, ruthless conditions, diseases and torture when their fellow soldiers die; they continue to fight for a better tomorrow. There is confidence, hope that the war will end and soldiers vow not to resign waiting for death. Conclusion The above discussion provides an in-depth insight in the World War 1, Vietnam War and the Napoleonic War. The sources give a reader a close view of the past wars and the view soldiers had on the war. The period covering the wars was majorly characterized by the emergence of national communities. The reasons behind wars were fears and concerns of their empires, which led to most young people enlisting in the army. However, the soldiers had different notions of the war once they were in the battlefield. The wars also utilized weapons, which were technologically advanced in order to win over the enemies. Works cited O’Brien, Tim. If I die in a combat zone. London: Harper Perennial, 2006. Print. Remarque, Erich Maria and A. W. Wheen. All quiet on the western front;. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1929. Print. Walter, Jakob and Marc Raeff. The diary of a Napoleonic foot soldier. New York: Doubleday, 1991. Print. Read More