An Analysis of Hope in 1917 and All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Sample

Hope was a major breaking point throughout the first world war. Hope was so wisely used by both sides of the war. When the Germans were retreating ten kilometers to go to the Hindenburg line which was almost impossible for the allies to go through, the allies grabbed hope thinking that the Germans were running and the allies needed to get them. Two soldiers by the name of Blake and Schofield have to find them and give them a message to stop the attack in the movie 1917 directed by Sam Mendes. The life of those German soldiers along the Hindenburg line firing away artillery at the allies was reported to us by the book All Quiet At The Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque. Evidently, hope is a dangerous thing which can demoralize troops, cost countries their Frontlines which can swing the, war and lose the respect towards their leaders.

Hope was very influential in the demoralization of troops where some would be tormented until their last breath. Both sources have the protagonist Paul Bäumer from All Quiet on the Western Front and William Schofield in 1917 experience one of the worst things that can happen to a man at that time is having their best friend die in front of them trying to save their life. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul and his friend Kat have been through weeks of bad weather and were getting in a bad mood already but when the bad weather clears the artillery starts dropping in from everywhere which Kat gets injured from. While bringing food, Kat falls and his wound has become worse where now the bone is sticking out. Paul decides that he will bring Kat to a dressing station because he believes that Kat will be all right in a few minutes but with Kat, on his shoulders, he is slow and more shells are dropping on them and one of the shrapnel hits Kat in the head. When he finally arrives at the dressing station to help Kat,  they say'' You might have spared yourself that,”( Remarque, 290). Paul doesn’t understand, the orderly points out “he is stone dead.”(Remarque, 290). From this point on Paul lost his very best friend and just had no more will to do anything for the army. This is very similar to 1917 because, when Schofield and Blake are on their mission to give Colonel Mackenzie a message to stop their attack on what they think is a retreating German army is just going to be a bloodbath. ”While on their trip they find a farm and hear planes dogfighting and a German plane crashes right next to them into a barn. Blake and Schofield drag out the pilot and try to save his life while Schofield is filling his helmet with water, Blake sees if everything is fine with the pilot but the pilot stabs Blake in the guts. Schofield hears this so he fires two shots into the German pilot's chest.”(Mendes, 42:47-44:54). Schofield believes in himself that he can save Blake’s life but in a few minutes, Blake loses his life, and Schofield is destroyed. He carries on because he promised Blake that he would finish the mission. In both sources, it is evident that hope has demoralized troops throughout World War 1. This is why Hope is so dangerous especially when your best friend dies in front of you thinking you can save him.

Hope was so costly towards countries losing their Frontlines which was able to swing the tide of the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the way the Germans were losing their front lines was immense because every time the allies would start shelling the second company would lose over half of their troops. The second company had to replace them with recruits and they were very inexperienced and young, some even being seventeen years old. “ There are rumors of an offensive. We go up to the front two days earlier than usual. On the way we pass a shelled school-house.”(Remarque, 99). Upon hearing all these rumours from his friends and leaders Paul prepares himself for the worst. He knows that the time at the front will be harder than ever before because he knows that the allies are imminent on their attack. For Paul, he uses hope to try and stay away from the Frontlines as much as possible. Unlike All Quiet at the Western Front, 1917 depicts the loss or gain of Frontlines by sending Schofield and Blake on the mission of their lives to tell Colonel Mackenzie that he cannot go on with the planned attack on what he thinks is the retreating Germans. The orders from General Erinmore towards Blake and Schofield “It is a direct order to call off tomorrow morning’s attack. If you don't, it will be a massacre. We will lose 2 battalions, sixteen hundred men, your brother among them.”(Mendes, 7:00-7:11). Blake had so much hope in him that he would be able to save his brother's life but in the end, he loses his and his brother is the one that survives. If the English army would lose all these troops and equipment it would be the breaking point for them and they would lose the upper hand in this decisive part of the war. In both sources they connect because both are very liable in losing their front lines at that point of the war, one because they have an inexperienced army and not enough supplies to last them in a long war, and the other was chasing an enemy that was going towards the most fortified Frontlines anywhere. This is why hope is such a dangerous thing and a big contributor to why countries gained and lost advantages in the war.  

Hope was very decisive on how troops were able to lose respect towards their leaders almost immediately. In 1917 when Schofield is trying to deliver his message from General Erinmore to Colonel Mackenzie and is on the Frontlines of where the second devons are placed. Schofield is around 300 yards away from Mackenzie and the first wave is about to go over, so he decides to go over with them and run across to Mackenzie, a nearby lieutenant screams at him “You can’t possibly make it that way, man. Are you bloody Insane” (Mendes, 1:36:48-1:36:52). Schofield had to go over because that was the fastest way to Mackenzie but the lieutenant doesn’t know what his intentions were so he ordered him not to do it but because it is from Army command Schofield does hesitate. The way all of these lieutenants have addressed Schofield he just doesn't respect them because of how disrespectful they were with him. While in All Quiet on the Western Front Tjaden and Kropp, some of Paul’s best friends at the front got put up for insubordination because they were disrespectful towards their leader Himmelstoss. Himmelstoss is a very cruel and mean leader at the front he tries and makes the men that are there voluntarily who are already suffering, suffer more under his control as the commander of the second company. ““Tjaden, I command you, as your superior officer: Stand up!”“Anything else you would like?” asks Tjaden.“Will you obey my order or Not?””(Remarque, 82-83). Tjaden has shown disrespect towards his leader Himmelstoss and he does not like this at all so he states that “I’ll Have you court-martialed.”(Remarque, 83) You can see that as soon as Himmelstoss gets put into questioning about his leadership he does not play around. But luckily the court was fair to both, Paul having to go as a witness for Tjaden. The results were that Tjaden has to go to open arrest for 3 days and Himmelstoss gets a lecture for his cruelty and goes to the frontline for an extended amount of time. Both sources explain the loss of respect to leaders similarly because Paul and his friends hate their leader Himmelstoss, and in 1917 Schofield just won't listen to the lieutenant's commands because he knows he needs to listen too. 

Hope is a terrible thing for soldiers to believe in, which war amplifies with more men showing their emotions. Hope costs countries their Frontlines, and troops showing no respect towards their leaders. The demoralization of troops shows that if you want an army to win you need to keep everyone happy and they are willing to be here fighting with you. Countries losing their Frontlines were possible due to insufficient supplies and an army that was very young and not well trained compared to an army growing by the day. The loss of respect towards leaders influenced troops in revolting against these cruel leaders. Hope was very influential throughout the war but without it, the war would have been drastically different.