All Quiet on the Western Front, is somewhat different to the other 2 Medias. Because it’s a story, it makes it more useful than the poem and the television comedy which are based around a single event rather than the whole story. The story tells of a young bunch of men sent into the front line after only a few weeks of training, making them much unprepared for what they were about to experience. Their families and their headmaster expected them to be heroes as soon as they walked out with their army uniforms so there was a great deal of pressure on their young shoulders. Their teacher plays a crucial role in their decision to join the army. He brainwashes them lesson after lesson into thinking what Wilfred Owen would describe as the “old lie”, believing that it was sweet and proper to die for the Fatherland”. He issues them with a sort of blackmail/ ultimatum to which they cannot falter. He tells them that if they join up, he would be proud of them for the rest of his life. The few who failed him, were forced to join up by the constant abuse and taunts the received from classmates and from Mr Kantorek himself, no one had a choice, the only choice was yes. The film also demonstrates the bad conditions the soldiers had to face. Even thought these were German soldiers, not British like the last 2 Medias; they faced the same problems such as the lack of provisions such as food, ammunition and even shoes in the case of Franz Kemmerich who was dying so he gave his boots to a fellow comrade. The film shows the bad conditions in the trenches much more clearly than the poem or the comedy. 1 of the problems the soldiers faced was the rats “They have horrible faces, evil-looking, naked-faces and the sight of their long bare tails can make you feel sick." Another were the lice which thrived in the filth of the trenches “The beasts are hard, and it gets to be a bore when you are forever pinching them between your nails.” But I think the most horrible problem a soldier could face was not having to live with these hideous creatures, to then It would gave been losing a fellow comrade because it could leave physiological scars which might never be healed. As the war went on and the position of the German army became ever more difficult, the people began to realise what was and what had happened. Families had been destroyed as their heroes had been killed or chronically scared, either physically or mentally. The war had wiped out a whole generation and the consequences of defeat for the Germans would be disastrous. The characters in the play no longer sound confident and pro-war as at the beginning, they begging to sound more cynical and more against the war.
CHARACTERS AND ATTITUDES:
Captain Edmund Blackadder: Captain Edmund Blackadder is the main character in the episode. He is the highest ranking soldier in the episode out of the 3 main characters. He is a middle class citizen who has been in the army for quite some time. His attitude to war is very negative, he believes that the war has been a lost cause since the start “millions of men have died, and we’ve advanced no further than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping”. He has little faith in the strategy of his superiors “General Insanity Melchett invites you to a mass slaughter”. He disagrees with most people who believed the war would be won in a short time. George: “Its ice cream in Berlin in 15 days” Edmund: “Or ice cold in No Man’s Land in 15 seconds”. He is extremely sarcastic at times “your long wait for certain death is at and end”, “not with a bayonet through your neck you couldn’t”. He sees trench life and the war as madness “the time has come to get out of this madness once and for all”. The most striking attitude that he shows during the program is his cowardice. He is extremely scared of going over the top and this is why he tries to devise a plan to get himself invalided out before the big push. “Or to put it more precisely, you’re going over the top—I’m getting out of here”. He encourages a negative view toward the war because of his pessimism and his cowardice. His pessimism demonstrates that he wasn’t entirely sure that the Generals were using the right strategies to break down the German lines. He believes most attack have and will be mass slaughter “Yes, sir--shortly to become fine bodies of men”. His cowardice shows how bad conditions were in the trenches and how horrible the war had become because these were the key reasons for him trying to escape the trenches. His fear to go over the top reflects the fear of most soldiers, in contrast to what the public though which was that every man went over the top brimming with confidence and general optimism.
Lieutenant George Colthurst: Lieutenant George is the 2nd highest ranking soldier out the 3 main characters after Captain Edmund. He is a rich, young man who joined the army on the day the war broke out, 4th of august 1914. He maintains a positive view on the war through most of the show apart from the end when he turns fearful at the end. George is probably the liveliest character in the episode. He is very enthusiastic about the war. He is very patriotic and is very eager to go into battle for his country. “Well, huzzah and hurrah! God save the King, Rule Britannia”. He clearly sees the Germans as the main cause of the war and he believes that defeating the German’s is a worthy cause “and boo sucks the Hairy Hun”, “The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire building.” This shows that George doesn’t really know why he’s fighting for. He believes he is fighting for King and country but the truth is otherwise. This makes George seem innocent because he is not really fighting for what he believes in. Another thing which shows how innocent George is that he actually believes Captain Blackadder has lost his mind “I’m glad you’re no barking anymore”. George is a very cheerful man even in the bad conditions of the trenches. Nothing seems to put him down and at the start he is exceedingly eager to fight the Germans “I’m as bored as a pacifist pistol”, “Well, hurrah with highly polished brass knobs on! About time!” This 2 quotes show how desperate he was to see battle because he wanted to teach the Germans a lesson. At the end of the play George becomes somewhat scared and fearful. He no longer is the lively, enthusiastic soldier at the beginning of the episode. He says that he isn’t too keen on dying as his close friends did “I’m the last tiddlywinking leapfroggers from the Golden Summer of 1914. I don’t want to die. I’m really not over keen on dying at all, sir.” George encourages a negative view because of his innocence and because of his strong patriotism. He believes he is fighting to defend King and country but is really fighting because of Imperial rivalries. His very sudden character change at the end from a lively, enthusiastic and energetic to a very sad man who is suddenly scared for his life. This shows how strongly the war could influenced someone, how it can take every bit of courage inside a man in an instant. The war could emotionally scar a man forever.
Private Baldrick: Private Baldrick is the lowest ranking soldier out of the 3 main characters. He is a middle age man whom by his appearance, seems to be a low ranking citizen. He is a very inexperienced in the field of battle as he only joined the army when the war started. He is a kind of loyal servant to Captain Blackadder; the evidence of this is that he tried to help out Blackadder carry out his plan to get out before the big push by being invalided back to “blighty”. Despite the horrible conditions in the trenches he remains a happy character throughout the episode. This happiness is probably due to his innocence. He is very confused and doesn’t even know how the war started and therefore has no clue of why and what he is fighting for “I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich cause he was hungry.” He has a daft look about him but he is a very inventive person coming up with a substitute for coffee (mud, saliva, dandruff and brown stuff if you desired a cappuccino) and 2 very enjoyable poems (according to George) such as “Hear the words I sing/ War’s a horrid thing/ So I sing sing sing/ ding-a-ling-ling.” This poem does something else than entertain George, it reveals how he feels about the war describing it as a “horrid thing”. He believes the war can and should be stopped “Why can’t we just stop, sir? Why can’t we just say, “No More killing, lets all go home”? This show’s that he wasn’t really in favour of the war and he desired to return home. Baldrick encourages a negative view on the war because of his innocence and his naivety. Viewers could feel a bit sorry for him because he doesn’t really know why he’s fighting. The poem he wrote shows really how he feels about the war, he doesn’t really want to be in the trenches, he would rather be at home.
The poet, Wilfred Owen refers to the lines “Dulce et Decorum est. Pro patria mori” as the “old lie”. This Latin phrase which was the motto of the Roman army translates into “It is sweet and proper to die for your country.” I think he calls it the “old lie” because he disagrees with its statement. He doesn’t really believe that every single man should die for their country. He completely disagrees with it because he has experienced what life really was in the trenches, is not the desperate glory which is pointed out in the moment, it would be agony and heartache for as long as the war continued and even further than that. He does encourage a negative view on the war. The characters in his poem show the struggle and bad conditions which faced the soldiers. “Gas! Gas! Quick boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling, fitting the clumsy helmets just in time” This shows that soldiers lives depended on seconds and that one mistake could cost them their dear. This must have made the soldiers pretty tired and exhausted. The other character which encourages a negative view to war is the soldier who inhaled the gas. “If you could hear at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the forth corrupted lungs,” This line is a very shocking description of a soldier who’s been struck by gas. This would create a horrible picture on the mind of the readers who would reconsider joining the army twice because they would not want to suffer the same as the soldier in the poem. This lines and the poem itself show how Wilfred Owen tries to create a negative view of the war. I think he does this because he wanted to condemn government propaganda. He wanted to let the public know what conditions and life were really like in the trenches, this would make anyone rethink their decision to join the army for some “desperate glory”.
Visual Images: I believe the writers of Blackadder use visual images and sounds very well to express their ideas about War World 1. The beginning shows a dark, cold, rainy day outside a trench which creates a sense of gloom. The trench is shown to be extremely narrow and it is shown to be flooded which would be a perfect visual description to anyone interested in finding out how soldiers really had to live in those awful 4 years . The facial expressions used throughout the comedy are very good. Blackadder looks for most of the show preoccupied, trying to think a way of getting out before the “Big Push”. His face begins to look more scared as the offensive nears. He uses funny noises such as “wooble” and “beep” to convince George that he’s mad. When being sarcastic, he usually shows a small smirk to illustrate this. Lieutenant George is the jolly one out of the 3 main characters and his facial expressions represent this. He looks very happy and enthusiastic about the forthcoming attack. At the end his mood suddenly changes and so do his expressions. He begins to look more frighten and worried about the whole thing and begins to sound really nervous as his courage fades away. A good example which shows George to be an innocent soldier, who is very inexperienced, is when the guns unexpectedly stop to allow the infantry to attack the German trenches. George is quickly back to his old jolly self and starts celebrating thinking the War has ended “Thank God! We lived through it! The Great War 1914-1917” .Captain Blackadder quickly breaks the news that they are in fact going over the top and so George again turns fearful and anxious. Private Baldrick’s appearance makes him look like a person who is not too clever. His uniform is very untidy and his face is somewhat dirtier than George’s or Blakadder’s. His appearance is very misguiding because he is actually a very intelligent guy in his own way, being extremely inventive and hard working. His facial expression can sometimes make him look miserable but he isn’t, Baldrick remains a happy soldier from start to finish. He looks extremely tired through the show, looking sleepy at times. He looks confused and especially when he asks how the war began.
The scene when Darling is unexpectedly sent to the front by Melchett is very funny but also moving. Is moving because Darling does not want to go to the Front because he is scared to die as many other soldiers were, therefore he tires to explain this to Melchett who repeatedly keeps making excuses for him to go “……without me. I know. But I’m too old, Darling”. Lines such as “still fruit of my overactive loin” make the scene humorous in a grim situation. Darling’s facial expressions are very simple. When Melchett reveals his present, Darling looks astonished and gives a small sarcastic smile. As the scene goes on and Darling fails to reveal his real emotions, he begins to look more desperate and frighten because he is not keen of going into battle. He is keen on staying safe, away from the fighting but unfortunately for him, he has no choice and is quickly sent to the Front line where he later dies.
The final sequence is extremely cruel. All of the main characters are killed either by machine gun fire or shells. The scene is well presented. The yelling makes the soldiers seem much more passionate and patriotic. The slow motion lets the viewers see the characters for the last time; most of them look extremely passionate showing none of the fear shown just before. The Blackadder theme played slowly makes them seem more heroic in a way. The ferocity and effectiveness of the machine gun on the Western Front is demonstrated when suddenly, after a short smoke-screen the field is uncovered littered with barbed wire and corpses. The sound of the bass drum beating slowly makes the scene sombre and extremely moving. The view of the same battlefield as it is today, overgrown with grasses and flowers, peaceful with birds singing in the background, is a sort of tribute paid to the men who fought there, showing the public that this is what many fought and died for, just for us. This scene I think makes the viewer reflect on the War and its consequences carefully.
Conclusion: In my essay, I have pointed out the different ways in which 3 Medias, the poem, the comedy and the film express their negative views about the 1st World War and the physical and physiological effect it had on the men who fought in it. The poem provides the reader with a very accurate picture and feeling of what the war was like. It paints a picture of agony and extreme suffering on the face of the soldier who inhaled the toxic gas. The comedy is useful because it differs from other war illustrations. It graphically shows the bad conditions and unfair treatment (Darling being sent to the Front line even though he isn’t keen on it). The film is also graphically very good at pointing out the horrible conditions faced by every soldier, everyday of the war. It points out clearly the change of attitude towards the war by soldiers as the war went on.
I believe the poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est.” written by Wilfred Owen is the most effective Media out of the 3. I think this is because the author took part of the war so he experienced the bad conditions first hand. This makes it more reliable than the other 2 because they were produced to entertain. The poem was written while the writer was on convalescent leave in Edinburgh in a war hospital. I deem he wrote it to describe to people what conditions and life in the trenches was really like. He wanted to demonstrate to them that war wasn’t as glorious and glamorous as most of the public believed. He uses the poem to criticise patriotic government propaganda, the “Old lie”. He wrote it to make people think twice before joining the army for what he describes it, “desperate glory”. He wanted to stop young men giving their lives for an unjust cause. The poem gives a clear picture to the reader of what life was really like in the trenches. Descriptions such as “the blood come gargling from the froth- corrupted lungs” and “He plunges at me, guttering choking drowning” are very shocking but paint a very true picture of war. I would put the film, All Quite on the Western Front as the 2nd most effective media because it clearly shows the patriotism felt by every young man at the start of the war. It shows how the pride and respect of their families depended on how well they did in the war. It also points out the harsh environment of trench life with very graphic images. Image is also used well to demonstrate the physiological pain men suffered. It is useful at pointing out the change of attitudes towards war in soldiers as the war went on. As it went on, they became more pessimistic and began to doubt if it had all been worth it. The comedy Blackadder Goes Forth comes last. It is also extremely good at graphically showing viewers the horrible conditions in the trenches. It is best at pointing out that class and ranks were of little importance to people (George, a rich man got on well with Baldrick, a low ranking soldier and citizen) because it was a war for the whole nation.
