Here Are Some That Are Really Well Done

Examples of Journal Entries

Here are some that are really well done:

“These are wonderfully care-free hours. Over us is the blue sky. On the horizon float the bright yellow, sunlit observations-balloons, and the many little white clouds of the anti-aircraft shells. Often they rise in a sheaf as they follow after airman. We hear the muffled rumble of the front only as very distant thunder; bumble-bees droning by quite drown it. Around us stretches the flowery meadow .the grasses sway there tall spears; the white butterflies flutter around and float on the soft warm wind of the late summer. We read letter and newspapers and smoke. We take off our caps and lay them down beside us. The wind plays with our hair; it plays with our words and thoughts. The three boxes stand in the midst of the glowing, red flied-poppies”
(Chapter 1, Paul Baumer,p. 9)

This has been my favourite paragraph in the book so far. The imagery appeals to the aural senses (bees buzzing, muffled rumbling) as well as the visual (flowery meadow, grasses sway, butterflies). The smoke even appeals to the olfactory sense and the warm winds to the tactile. Even though these “iron youth” are in a war, they still find joy in their day to day lives. The war has made them more appreciative of the beauty around them and of the value of their lives. It is ironic that the spectre of death leads them to be more appreciative of life. This is not something they would have experienced before the war. You need the comparison to impact your character in this manner. Before war they would not have been as attuned to pleasures like time in a meadow with good company.
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“We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men we fling our bombs, what do we know of men in the moment when Death is hunting us down?”
(Chapter 6, Paul Baumer,p. 113)

When Paul says this it really shows that there is no difference between man and animal. It shows that deep down we are all based on animal instincts of survival of the fittest. You would think that whoever is bravest and the most knowledgeable wins the battle—that is not always true, sometimes it is who listens to their inner animal, who follows their instincts and it leads them to that split second right decision. Paul says that it is not men they are throwing bombs at them--it is death coming their way. This is an example of metonymy as it is representative of the soldiers coming their way. I actually found that this stood out the most because if you look at it from both sides of the war it’s what all the men are experiencing, and now, ironically, we can actually see that the war was really pointless and that the soldiers were taught that the other men were their enemy but if they thought about it the men on the other side of the wires were exactly like them. This quote shows the character of the men—they are innocents in the face of this horror. They have no choice or control over what happens to them.
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“To me the front is a mysterious whirlpool. Though I am in still water far away from its centre, I feel that whirl of the vortex sucking me slowly, irresistibly, inescapably into itself”
(Chapter 4,Paul Baumer, p. 55)

The significance of this quote is the metaphor. It illustrates that even though the soldiers aren’t at the war front, they are still deeply affected by the war where ever they are. This is due to the shocking and life-altering experiences of the front. Also, like a whirlpool, once you are dragged into the war, you can’t escape from it. This quote’s impact to the plot is that although the teens may have decided to join the army themselves, it is predominantly due to the fact that they were pressured from the propaganda of their country and the culture which sees war as heroic and adventurous. After these young soldiers joined the army, took on the responsibility that their teachers and other figures of authority led them to believe was their obligation, they are sucked into the reality of war. Having a sense of nationalism is a good theme to apply to this quote due to the pressure to join that they experience. Reality of war is another theme as they discover the truth when they get there.