World War One Literature Owen and Remarqué

World War One LiteratureOwen and Remarqué Katie FischerChris KinmanTrevor O’ReillyElizabeth SongyRussell Valdez

Road Map • Author Bios: • Wilfred Owen • Erich Maria Remarque • War in general and World War I • Owen’s poems • Dulce et Decorum Est • Anthem for Doomed Youth • Strange Meeting • Remarque’s work • All Quiet on the Western Front • Movie Clip of “All Quiet on the Western Front” • Question and Answer

Wilfred Owen • Wilfred Owen was born on March 18, 1893, in Plas Wilmont, England. • In 1913, he went to France to teach English in the Berlitz School. • Enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles in October of 1915. • Drafted by the English Army in 1917, during WWI

War Life • Became 2nd Lieutenant and headed the Manchester Regiment in France. • Injured at the Battle of Somme. • Recovered at Craiglockhart War Hospital. • Met friend and fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon. • Wrote a series of poems, including Anthem for Doomed, Youth, Disabled, Strange Meeting, and Dulce et Decorum Est

Owen (1893-1918) • Was declared fit for war in August 1918. • He fought at Beaurevoir- Fonsomme, where he was awarded the Military Cross. • He was shot and killed by machine gun fire November 4th, 1918. • The news of his death reached his parents on Armistice. http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/350000/images/_353286_owen150.jpg

Poems • Only five of his poems published while alive. • Friend Siegfried Sassoon arranged for the publication of his Collected Poems in 1920. • -"I came out in order to help these boys-- directly by leading them as well as an officer can; indirectly, by watching their sufferings, that I may speak of them as well as a pleader can. I have done the first." (October, 1918). http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/Owen2.html

Erich Maria Remarque • Born on June 22, 1898 in Osnabruck, Germany • His father, Peter Franz Kramer, worked as a bookbinder. • In 1904, at six years old, entered the Domschule cathedral school. • After 4 years, he moved to Johannischle school. • Said to be “always the best in class” by his closest friend. • He studied at the University of Munster • At 18 he enlisted in the German army. • Fought on the Western Front and was wounded several times. • He got discharged from the army and was offered a teaching course • He taught in school for a year • Worked as a stone cutter • Became a Race-car test driver for a tire company in Berlin.

He began his writing career as a sports journalist, while working on his novel. • Became the assistant editor of Sportbild. • In 1925, he was married to Jutta Zambona. • Both engaged in extra-marital activities • Had an affair with Marlene Dietrich, who he met in Venice in the late 1930’s. • In 1930’s, Remarque’s books were banned • In 1932, he moved to Switzerland. • In 1933, His books were burnt by Nazis. • 1938, Remarque lost his citizenship. • 1939 he emigrated to the United States • He became citizen in the United States in 1947. • He worked in New York and Hollywood.

Married actress Paulette Goddard in 1958. • After the war, he went back to Switzerland • Resided in Porto Ronco, Switzerland on Lake Maggiore, with his second wife Paulette Goddard. • Remarque died on September 25, 1970 at the Sant Agnese clinic. • Suffered from aneucrysm.

The War of Alliances • Central Powers:Austro-HungaryBulgariaGermanyThe Ottoman Empire • Entente:BelgiumFranceGreat BritainItalyJapanMontenegroRussiaSerbia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

Serbia had pact with Russia, Greece British Empire, France, and Russia (Triple Entente) Russia with Japan Russia with Turkey British Empire with the United States Italy had pact with France against German agression Austria-Hungary entered into the Triple Alliance with Germany and Italy Iran had pact with Germany The Ottoman Empire had pact with Iran Bulgaria had pact with Austria-Hungary Not to mention natural hatreds Alliances

Victorian Warfare meets industrial killing machines • Land—Entrenched armiesGases—Tear gas, Mustard gas, Phosgene • Sea—U-boats • Air—Zepplins and Fighters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

Dulce et Decorum Est • Earliest known draft written on October 8, 1917 • Stanza 1: sets the scene • Stanza 2: Poison gas used in trench warfare; “Drowning” • Stanza 3: Result of war: death • Stanza 4: Who is the “you” referred to? http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/dulce.htm

Anthem for Doomed Youth • Sonnet Form • Two main images: • War images (lines 1-8) • Religious images (emphasized more in lines 9-14) • Truth of War: Looking into the widows faces http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/anthem.htm

Strange Meeting • Who is actually the speaker in the poem? Does Owen represent the narrator, or is he the second speaker in the poem? • Message: Mankind as a whole needs to seek reconciliation and greater love. http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/strangemeeting.htm

All Quiet on the Western Front By: Erich Maria Remarque

Plot • Narrator = Paul Bäumer • Stanislaus Katczinsky leads the squad • Paul’s mentor • Bond because of hardships of war • Atrocities of war vs. typical “war hero” story • Monotony/stalemate/constant bombardment • Food problem • Seemingly random deaths; appears chance decides who lives and who dies • Return home during leave

Themes • Horror of war • Nonsense of war • Effect on soldiers • Nature • **Interesting Note: title is “Im Westen nichts Neues” • Originally translated in 1929 by A.H. Wheen as “All Quiet on the Western Front” • Literal Translation: “Nothing New on the Western Front”

Selection from “All Quiet” • Paul trying to get back to his trench • Falls into a shell hole (place in ground where artillery fire created a huge pit) • Stabs Frenchman • First man Paul “personally” kills- hand to hand combat • Printer Gérard Duval • “I have killed the printer, Gérard Duval. I must be a printer, I think confusedly, be a printer, printer—” (pg. 524 in anthology)

Passage “The silence spreads. I talk and must talk. So I speak and say to him: ‘Comrade, I did not want to kill you…you were only an idea to me before…But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. …Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we through away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother…Take twenty years of my life, comrade, and stand up—take more, for I do not know what I can even attempt to do with it now.’” —All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, pg. 523, Bedford Anthology

Bibliography • “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 16 Nov. 2005. 19 Nov. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front>. • All Quiet on the Western Front. Dir. Lewis Milestone. Universal Pictures, 1930. • http://remarque.org/about_remarque.html. 15 Nov. 2005 <http://remarque.org/about_remarque.html>. • http:/www.kirjasto.sci.fi/remarque.htm. 15 Nov. 2005 <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/remarque.htm>

Bibliography Continued • Remarque, Erich Maria. “All Quiet on the Western Front.” The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The Twentieth Century, 1900-The Present. Ed. Paul Davis, Garry Harrison, David M. Johnson, Patricia Clark Smith, John F. Crawford. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003.520-524. • Simcox, Kenneth. "Anthemed for Doomed Youth." 2000. The Wilfred Owen Association. 14 November 2005. http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/anthem.htm. • Simcox, Kenneth. "Dulce et Decorum Est." 2000. The Wilfred Owen Association. 14 November 2005. http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/dulce.htm. • Simcox, Kenneth. "Strange Meeting." 2000. The Wilfred Owen Association. 14 November 2005. <http://www.1914-18.co.uk/owen/strangemeeting.htm>.

World War One Literature Owen and Remarqué