Compare and Contrast ' To Whom the Bell Tolls' and ' All Quiet on the Western Front'

Q. Compare and contrast ‘ To whom the bell tolls and ‘ All Quiet on the Western Front’.

Answer : 

Introduction :

Hello ! 

In this blog I am going to compare and contrast two well-known war literature. First we ponder what is war literature ?

War literature means literature which consists of the experience , sufferings, situation, emotions and atmosphere during war. It describes the particular situation, everyone's sufferings and the terrible situation of that time. 

• Key Facts about  ‘ To whom the  bell tolls ‘

• Author : Ernest Hemingway 

• Genre : War Novel

• Language : English

• Published : 1940

• Protagonist : Robert Jordan 

• Setting : Spanish civil war 

• Key Facts about ‘ All Quiet on the Western Front ‘   

• Author : Erich Maria Remarque

• Original Title : Im Westen nichts Neues

• Language : German 

• Published : 1928

• Setting : World war I 

• Translation by :  Arthur Wesley Wheen 

Compare and contrast : 

The novel ‘ To whom the Bell Tolls’ is one kind of love story and based on the experience of Robert Jordan. The book focuses on the suffering of people during Spanish civil war. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia.

The novel ‘ All Quiet on the Western Front’ is about the first World War. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.

• Narrative Technique in the both Novel : 

‘For Whom the Bell Tolls' presents the narrative through an omniscient point of view that continually shifts back and forth between the characters. In this way, Hemingway can effectively chronicle the effect of the war on the men and women involved.

Direct, Edgy, Reserved. Remarque's style involves lots of small words and small phrases. Think about tone in this novel as being gunfire when Paul is on the front lines and violin playing when he's off. The predominant vibe is sparseness, though.

 

 

 

• Characterisation in both the novels : 

 

• Characters from the novel ‘ To Whom the Bell Tolls ‘ 

1. Rober Jordan :  An American volunteer for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War and the protagonist of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

2.  Pablo : The leader of the guerrilla camp. Pablo is an individualist who feels responsible only to himself.

3. Pilar : Pablo’s part-gypsy “woman.” Pilar means “pillar” in Spanish, and indeed, the fiercely patriotic, stocky, and steadfast Pilar is—if not the absolute leader—the support center of the guerrilla group. 

4. Maria : A young woman with Pablo’s band who falls in love with Robert Jordan.

5. Anselmo : An old, trustworthy guerrilla fighter. For Robert Jordan, Anselmo represents all that is good about Spaniards. 

Minor characters : Agustín, Fernando, Primitivo, Rafael, Andrés, Eladio

El Sordo (Santiago), Joaquín, General Golz,  Kashkin, Karkov, Captain Rogelio Gomez, Lieutenant-Colonel Miranda, André Marty, Lieutenant Paco Berrendo

Captain Moro, Finito de Palencia, Robert Jordan’s father and Robert Jordan’s grandfather

• Character from the novel ‘ All Quiet on the West Front’ 

 

1. Paul Bäumer (BOY-muhr): The sensitive twenty-year-old narrator of the novel, who has written poems and a play entitled "Saul." 

2. Tjaden (JAH-duhn) A thin, nineteen-year-old soldier with an immense appetite. A former locksmith, Tjaden is unable to control his urine during sleep and draws ridicule from Himmelstoss.

3. Müller (MEW-luhr) A scholarly young man who continues studying his physics books and thinking of exams.

4. Albert Kropp (kruhp) The best student in Paul's class, he joins Paul in rebelling against Himmelstoss' bullying. Albert is promoted to lance corporal, then threatens suicide after his leg is amputated at thigh level. Taking comfort from his companions, he resigns himself to an artificial limb.

5. Leer (lair) Paul's mature schoolmate and math whiz who titillates his comrades with details of sexual intercourse, which the others have yet to experience.

6. Franz Kemmerich (frahnz KEHM-muh-rihk) Paul's slim childhood friend and fellow volunteer who longs to be a forester.

7. Haie Westhus (HY-ee VEHST-hoos) A nineteen-year-old peat digger, Haie prefers a military career to a lifetime of manual labor but dies of a back wound, never to achieve his ambition to be a village policeman.

Minor characters : Detering (DEE-tuh-rihng), Kantorek (KAHN-tow-rihk) ,Corporal Himmelstoss (HIHM-muhl-shtahs),  Joseph Behm (YO-suhf baym), Lieutenant Bertink (BAYR-tihnk), Kindervater (KIHN-duhr-VAH-tuhr) , Ginger, Tiejen (TEE-juhn), Heinrich Bredemeyer (HYN-rihk BRAY-duh-MY-r). 

Themes of both the novels : 

  

To Whom the Bell Tolls	All Quiet on the Western Front
1. Love in War: Through the characters of Robert Jordan, Maria, Pilar, and Pablo in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway examines the role of love and relationships in a time of crisis.	1. The Horror of Modern War: World War I is considered the first modern war, as it was the first conflict in which weapons like poison gas, armoured tanks, and shell bombardments were used widely by both sides
2. Cultural Connections For Whom the Bell Tolls is a distinctive work in part because Hemingway attempts to translate Spanish idioms and grammar directly, without removing their original contexts.	2. Survival: Many of the young soldiers, including Paul, joined the army because they were motivated by romantic ideals like patriotism and honor. On the front, however, they quickly learn that patriotic fervor will not protect them from exploding shells or poison gas
3. Violence, Cowardice, and Death Though the novel is rife with images of murder and destruction, the characters who commit or witness these gruesome acts are highly conflicted about the necessity of killing and the value of brutality in human life.	3. The Lost Generation: Though Paul often dreams about his life before the war, he knows that he can never return to it. The war has destroyed an entire generation of young men, leaving them “lost”—physically and psychologically maimed and unable to readjust to their past lives.
4. The Eternality of the Present For Whom the Bell Tolls can be read not only as a war novel, concerned with the pathos of tragedy and dedicated to exposing the ugliness of war, but also as a highly optimistic work focused on the value of living in the moment. If fascism, the future, entails rigidity and obedience, Robert Jordan’s brief life in the narrative present is filled with moments of joy, hope, and relief.	4. Comradeship: For Paul, the one positive aspect of the war experience is that it forges extraordinarily strong bonds between soldiers. The men of the Second Company are comrades-in-arms, closer than family or even lovers. They have seen unspeakable horrors and endured unimaginable suffering together, experiences they will never be able to share with those who did not fight.
	5. The Hypocrisy of the Older Generation When war broke out in 1914, many Germans viewed the conflict as an opportunity for Germany to prove her superior military strength. Young men were expected to support the national cause by signing up for active duty.

 

Conclusion : 

     To sum up we can say that war always creates chaos in human-life. Any war literature discusses or describes the horror and terrible situation of that time . Both novels are very interesting and very well-known. Compare both is not so hard because somewhere the theme and situations seem quite same. 

 Thank You……………... 

 

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