Like all novels, there is always a protagonist that experiences a change or growth throughout the story. Paul Bäumer is the central figure from the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, which the reader follows. All throughout the novel, Bäumer was forced to deal with his contrasting inner personality and his forced personality with was formed throughout the war. Before the war, Bäumer was seen as a deeply compassionate man who was extremely delicate and very much in tune with his emotions. He was a poet who loved his family, but everything would soon change during the war, and his personality begins to evolve due to the conditions he faced during war. Paul, as well as many other soldiers, were forced to learn how to to disconnect themselves from their true feelings in order to endure the amount of horror and anguish that was yet to face in the war, all in the sake of survival and preserving their own sanity.
As stated in the novel, Paul was a completely different man before the war. He was a young man at the ripe age of 20, who was naive about the future. He, of course, hadn’t had much life experience for his to be ready for war, but he entered the battlefield with an open mind and heart. Before the war, he was free to express himself through poetry and playwrights. Paul lived with his father, mother, and sister in a charming German village, and attended school. In the novel, it states: “It is strange to think that at home in the drawer of my writing table there lies the beginning of a play called “Saul” and a bundle of poems” (Remarque 21). This evidently shows that Paul had a poetic life back at home, and he was deeply thinking back on his past life before war. Throughout the book, Paul continuously thought about his home, the books he was reading, the artwork, but this was mainly shown in chapter two. However, this passion of his soon begins to fade, as he realizes that he must think more realistically regarding his situation; war. He no longer had any interest in, or time for, poetry, and his parents now seem like an unreliable memory. He feels that “only facts are real and important to us.”
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At this point, the reader is able to distinguish the loss of innocence that Paul goes through as a young man. Lastly, it was well known that Paul had loved his family. His mother was terminally ill, cancer, and the thought of her made him grow weak. “When my mother says to me “dear boy,” it means much more than when another uses it. I know well enough that the jar of whortleberries is the only one they have had for months, and that she has kept it for me; and the somewhat stale cakes that she gives me too. She has taken a favourable opportunity of getting a few and has put them all by for me” (Remarque 126). This shows how passionate he had felt about his mother. He truly wished the best for her and only wanted her to live. Eventually, all of these extreme emotions will vanish, as Paul will endure more and more horror, which forces him to grow up and experience things that he wasn’t meant to experience at his age. Paul’s character had endured so much during the war, and his personality was stale. Life had grown to feel more like survival than living. He had learned to disconnect his feelings from his natural state of mind, so that he was able to keep his sanity at bay. This, however, affected his ability to be in tune with his emotions, and he was no longer able to mourn over the loss of his fellow comrades. He had evolved into more of an ‘animal-;like’ state, as his natural instinct was trained to ‘kill and survive’.
This prevented his ability to reconnect with his family and truly feel at home again. “For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity . . . to the future . . . in our hearts we trusted them. The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief. We had to recognize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs” (Remarque 6). This shows that Paul, as well as his fellow comrades, knew that their lives would never return to their original state, and that returning to their original lives and personalities was inevitable.
All in all, it’s clear to see that Paul had undergone some extreme changes throughout the novel. He had went from being a super passionate and poetic person, who loved his family, to a man who naturally lives of of animal-like instincts, which have been trained to him throughout war. His character development throughout the novel was extremely miserable to read about, as the reader can start to pinpoint Paul’s downfalls throughout the novel. However, his personal growth was strong. He was able to grow from a coward to a strong and independent man who was able to fend for himself. It’s important to realize that Paul didn’t choose to go through these changes, but rather was forced to in order to preserve his sanity, and even his life.
“The Old Man And The Sea”, A Novel
In “The Old Man And The Sea”, a short novel written by Ernest Hemingway, the main protagonist Santiago, is a well-aged man with odds against him. He is in the mists of a horrendous fishing drought, during which the townspeople laugh and ridicule him, as he is left going eighty-four days without catching fish. Through Santiago’s actions, he demonstrations uniqueness, as the combination of qualities that he exhibits places him in the category of a hero. With courage and pride pushing him forward throughout the novel, even when all hope is profoundly lost, he stands remaining unvanquished. By the end of the novel, the reader see’s Santiago physically destroyed… but mentally, remains undefeated.
Due to Santiago’s misfortune, he eventually becomes the laughing stalk of his small village. The taunts from other fishermen only results in Santiago being quiet, admit on carrying a bad streak of luck, letting the criticism pass him by. For he is confident the fish of his lifetime is coming soon. Considerably, Santiago portrays an honorable man, one that’s self-aware of his flaws as a fisherman, one that avoids conflict as he says, “A man is honest when he acts honestly, he is humble when he acts humbly, he loves when he is loving or being loved.” (Waldmeir 165). Santiago’s dignity ultimately averts him from feeling malice and resentment toward the other fishermen. Through a compassionate patience demeanor, no ill will can be sought as he only puts forth nothing but a positive notion that keeps him driven. Santiago ambitions overweighs aversion as he proceeds to go out to sea in search of the great fish he seeks. He remains devoted with the refusal to accept that his time of glory is past. He continues loving the sea despite facing nothing but hardships and distaste the sea has to spit back.
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Conceivably, the crowning act of humility is when Santiago is eventually lead to endure an extensive and exhausting struggle against a marlin. Obligated, the need to distinguish that by his own forces, he alone lacks the strength to grab the fish, he faces several sharks that go on to attack him in pursuit of his prized fish.
Soon after, he sees his trophy catch become destroyed sharks. This all results with Santiago not becoming conceited. He holds a simple, humble soul thanks with a prayer following the aftermath of his exertion. The ruthless brawl has left the man bloodied and worn.
With Santiago defeating the sharks, he won the battle thinking he is the one that has become defeated as they were able to take the marlin. Yet, there is no defeat.
Through the deep and profound passion that lays within the fisherman Santiago, it is not the ambition to make money or personal gain, but we see throughout his journey, it’s through the ambition to survive this experience to become the winner, to grow from this battle. The battle with his moment in life, not only with the fish. Prestige as a fisherman at his age was going to go down and with that- maybe his self-esteem as well. But the battle that was fought could mean life or death. He goes to show that he is the winner, that he didn’t give up which means that he in fact, wasn’t defeated. He was, he wouldn’t have made it back home. Defeat is when you give up, its not earned through perseverance. If the stories conclusion had to end in that idea, Santiago would have never been able to sleep in his bed with the dreams of lions. Thus far, the harm only enabled the old man to experience a remarkable alteration, and he wrests accomplishment and renewed life from the seeming defeat.
The old man is not self-styled “hero” making him unique. Santiago meekly accounts himself to be a fisherman, the categorization as a hero depends on the reader. “It is the knowledge that a simple man is capable of such decency, dignity, and even heroism, and that his struggle can be seen in heroic terms, that largely distinguishes this book.” (Young 131). The evident association between his humility and dignity helps place Santiago as the perfect role model, someone everyone should aspire to be.
Santiago says, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated. (Page 93)” As he proves this to be a factual statement, the quotes can be stated throughout the novel several times. Santiago is physically destroyed by the end, he remains mentally undefeated. Santiago’s pride, courage, and humility pushes him forward throughout the novel, when everything seems to be gone or so far away that they are unattainable, but he is never truly defeated. Destruction means to completely ruin or spoil, a cause of someone’s ruin. Santiago experienced this destruction, but he did not let the destruction ruin him. As for a hero he deems fit, for a hero is someone that is admired, idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or one that possesses noble qualities.
