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Abstract

This dissertation aims to shw the journey tant men take from innocence to disillusionment in the Great war. I will use Erich MAria Remarque's All quiet on the western front 1929), Robert Grave's Good-bye to all that (1929), and Henri Barbusse's Under fire (1916), nd occaisionally reference other influential First World War writers. Disillusi0nment is a key theme when examining WW1 because Europe was stired by nationalism in 1914 and people believed that the war was a just and necessary cause, a myth perpetuated by the glorification of European imperial conquests in the 19th century. Chapter one focuses on the slow loss of identity that id the first step to the protagonists' loss of innocence. Those convictions soon get shattered in the face of industrialized warfare which causes a level of destruction that was unfathomable at the time. The protagonists in these texts realise they do not know why they are fighting, and their goal soon becomes to simply survive. Chapter two shows how the men become disillusioned  while fighting and the toll it takes on them. Their dissatisfaction with war leads to them denouncing patriotism and alienating them from their homelands . When they return home, they find that they no longer have a place in civilian life and struggle t find a purpose that is not fighting. Chapter three investigates how the men attempt to find peace with the war and themselves.  , sometimes it is successful, some times it is successful, and other time not. Paul Fussell will be a key critic throughout my dissertation, specifically his work The Great War and modern memory which examines British literary trends from the Great War. Although he focuses on the British canon, it applies to all three of my texts because the themes he writes on are relevant to most works written on the war, I will use him to support multiple arguments as he is a key when studying texts on WW!.

Course: English and Creative Writing - BA (Hons) - C1611

Date Deposited: 2022-11-09

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14071.html