Writing Extension

1.

Dearest Mother:

I hope you are doing well. I should arrive before this letter does, but I wanted to write in case my trip was delayed. I've been given two weeks leave before I am sent to another training post. I'll be coming home in a few days.

Trench life is horrible, mother. I'll tell you all about it when I return. Luckily I wasn't injured, but many were. I was lucky.

But I'd rather not write of that to you, mother. Let us just be happy I will be returning home soon. How is everybody? It would please me to know that everyone is happy. On my leave I must make sure to greet everybody; especially Kantorek.

Haie Westhus has been hurt and is taking some time off, and who is it that helped him but mean-old-Himmelstoss! He is a rather decent fellow in the end, but I do still think his training was overly cruel. I will be seeing you soon, mother, and hopefully soon will be leaving the front permanently.

Love,
Paul Baumer

2. M.I.A. by Avenged Sevenfold

Staring at the carnage,
Praying that the sun would never rise,
Living another day in disguise.
These feelings can't be right,
Lend me your courage to stand up and fight.

Onnn tonight,
Stand up and fight...

The fighting rages on and on,
To challenge me you must be strong.
I walk your land but don't belong,
Two million soldiers can't be wrong.

It's no fun but I've been here before,
I'm far from home and I'm fighting your war
(Not the way I pictured this, I wanted better things).
Some are scared others killing for fun,
I shot a mother right in front of her son
(Take this from my consciousness and please erase my dreams).

Fight for honor, fight for your life,
Pray to God that our side is right.
Although we won I still may lose,
Until I make it home to you.
I see our mothers filled with tears,
Grew up so fast where did those years go?
Memories won't let you cry, unless I don't return tonight.

So many soldiers on the other side,
I take their lives so they can't take mine
(Scared to make it out alive now, murder's all I know).
Nobody tells me all the reasons we're here,
I have my weapon so there's nothing to fear
(Another day, another life, but nothing real to show for).

Fight for honor, fight for your life,
Pray to god that our side is right.
Although we won I still may lose,
Until I make it home to you.
I see our mothers filled with tears,
Grew up so fast where did those years go?
Memories won't let you cry, unless I don't return tonight.

Staring at the carnage,
Praying that the sun would never rise,
Living another day in disguise.
These feelings can't be right,
Lend me your courage to stand up and fight.

Watching the death toll rise wondering how I'm alive.
Stranger's blood on my hands, shot all I can,
There were no silent nights watching your brothers all die,
To destroy all their plans with no thought of me (No thought of me).
No thought of me.

Ohhhh...

I walk the city lonely, memories that haunt are passing by.
A murderer walks your streets tonight.
Forgive me for my crimes.
Don't forget that I was so young, fought so scared
In the name of God and Country.

This songs shows many soldiers don't even fully know why they are at war; they are just given weapons and told to kill any of the opposing side. The speaker in the song, with the lines "I walk your streets but don't belong, two million soldiers can't be wrong" shows that even though so many men committed to the acts of war they are rejected by society for what they do at war. The singer also says he's "fighting your war", which shows he is not the one who should be fighting it. He also lists one of the things that has scarred him, "I shot a mother right in front of her son". He later states "murder's all I know" and "Nobody tells me all the reasons we're here" to reinforce himself. In the end, he calls himself a murderer, who wanders alone, begging for forgiveness.

Paul feels that this isn't their war that they are fighting. He is also forced through gruesome situations, which would leave many scarred when they came home. Although the singer may not truly be shunned he feels this a necessary consequence for his transgressions.

3.

This picture shows that death of innocent is closely entwined with war, and soldiers are left to cope with as their fault; even soldiers can be considered innocent, in a certain perspective. The brutal reality of war is exposed by this picture; destruction in the background of death. War is the catalyst of loss, and in this picture the loss is blatantly apparent. The boy in this picture has done nothing to deserve death, as many of the soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front haven't either. Casualties of war are generally the result of a feud between only a few powers. Innocent people should not be punished for the faults of others.