The Protagonists's Experiences in the Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Essay

The Protagonists's Experiences in the Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier, All Quiet on the Western Front and If Die in a Co - Essay Example 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 descripti on, 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 p oint, 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