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

Synthesis Sport and Ethnography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Synthesis Sport and Ethnography - Essay Example Nancy Nerenberg uses her article â€Å"next game† to convince the society that women participation in sport is rewarding although the sports had been a culture of men. Women involved in various sports attract media coverage. This is because for a long time, few women have risen above tradition cocoon to take part in sports. Sporting makes women gain a sense of community in public places and in the entire society. This paper argues that exemplary performance of women in sports is a clear indication of women potentiality in sports. Natalie argues that penetration of women into games such as skateboarding draws attention of very many people in the society. This occurs because skateboarding has been a preserve of men. Natalie observes that when a woman makes the decision of taking part in skateboarding it goes against the common grain of a male dominated game. Women who take part and perform exemplary in skateboarding often feel confident of the identity in the society. Women pene tration into skateboarding is still low. Skateboarders argue that women culture is a factor that has contributed to this low numbers. According to Natalie, girls fear to register bruises or scars on their bodies. On the contrary, women participants in skateboarding have shown exemplary performance and won public support. Feminine passivity in sports is a factor that influences individual performance of women skateboarding. ... This was contrary to the views of her father who viewed skating as a game of men. It is evident the exemplary women performers have struggled in their communities to rise to those heights. Facing the cultural odds in the society requires motivation. Convincing the society to accept uncommon culture is another uphill task or challenge that women have to face. The skateboarding has recognized the significance performance of women. Women skaters have to endure what would rather look like intimidating experience when performing amid men. This occurs because a woman skater may fail to get women peers to take part in skate game. Largely, women skaters confess to have taken some time practicing alone because of the cultural constraints that they face in the game. Nerenberg argues that basketball game is a sport that is a preserve for men for a very long time. The number of women participants in the game is low because of the cultural practices in the game. The game is roughly played, thus a ttracting the interest of a few women. Further, feminine passivity in the society influence the choice of sport that women would play. Nerenberg illustrates in her article that notions that attribute a particular game to a particular sex complicate the role of women in the game. The norms of the game and the nature of play is another factor that deprived women from taking active role. However, Nerenberg argues that male dominance in the game illustrates the perception that women have towards the game. Other than this, it also illustrates the societal inclinations or societal perception towards women. Largely, the society viewed women as weak for the game. Courage and strength are some of the things that influence participation of women. Another reason why a few women went for the