"At the sound of the first droning of the shells we rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years. By the animal instinct that is awakened in us we are led and protected. It is not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure, less fallible, than consciousness. . . . It is this other, this second sight in us, that has thrown us to the ground and saved us, without our knowing how. . . . We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers—we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animals."
Why would Paul characterize himself and his comrades as "human animals"?
Your task: Discuss the meaning of this quotation and the experiences the boys are enduring internally. In addition to your posting, comment on one other student's post.
So the reason I think Paul characterizes himself and his comrades as “human animals” because that’s what they turn into. When they reach the war zone where the action is right in front of them I’m pretty sure they are going through a time of mixed emotions. ” We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers—we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animals." Some of the soldiers are probably scared to death, some are happy that they finally get to fight, and some are probably asking themselves what they got into. "At the sound of the first droning of the shells we rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years. By the animal instinct that is awakened” when the fighting starts you have to rely on your number one basic animal instinct, how to survive. This is why I think Paul says this. Humans do not normally kill each other unless you are a murderer. Animals on the other hand kill all the time, they kill to eat, they kill to protect their territories, and they kill to protect their young. So basically the people fighting in this war kill to protect themselves. These people are “human animals” for the time until the fighting stops.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you, and I like how you compare humans and animals in the end. You definitly highlighted their transition to animals. However, I find it intersting that you think men stop being animals after combat. I think that men, once in this state, enter this "animal mentality" sometimes after combat. Maybe once you are broken, you are not the same again (in most cases)?
Wats up Cameron. I actually thought that your interpretation on the quote was actually pretty good. I kinda of agreed with you but I actually thought that it was more of the people turning into animals once they start killing. They are not considered humans anymore once they reach that point of killing. Even when the war is over, I do not think that they can consider themselves as humans. They have to live with the guilt that they have killed hundreds of people.
I really did like your qoute that said "Animals on the other hand kill all the time, they kill to eat, they kill to protect their territories, and they kill to protect their young." I agree with this totally.
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