Journey towards Freedom

Slavery went against the basis of what the American country was founded on; democracy. There were incidences of conflict between the states regarding the slavery issue, prior the civil war. The southern states were for slavery but the northern states opposed slavery. During this time, Africans were brought from Africa to work in the fields of the white man. While working there, they were subjected to forced labor and denied freedom.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Journey towards Freedom specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The initial Africans who were brought to America were treated as indentured servants, whereby they were set free after a couple of years. This form of treatment was similar to other European immigrants who came to America, and they had to work for their shipping fee. Later, Africans status changed from a servant to a slave. John Casor was the first African American to be officially regarded as a s lave; he was made a slave for the rest of his life. By 1789, thousands of African Americans were slaves working in plantations especially in the southern states (Horton and Horton, 105-110). This paper will trace some of the outstanding individuals during the fight for freedom. It will find out what they did and the effect of their action. In the end the paper will prove the thesis that; one person can bring about great change. The laws that were passed regarding the Africans stole their freedom and their spirit to live. Obviously the slaves opposed this system but they were met with cruel punishment from their masters. Breach of any of the slave codes was punishable by death. All of the slaves desired to have freedom, but the means of attaining that was still unknown. Going against the master would spell disaster, so the easiest way of a slave to be free, was to escape. Escaping on the other hand, came with its own challenges. One had to plan in advance on the meals and the escape root. Also, running away meant that one had to leave his family including children. Worst of all, was getting caught. A slave would be thoroughly punished, not forgetting that he had been hunted down like an animal. On the brighter side, America had undeveloped sections where nobody lived. These vast woods and wilderness acted as refuge camps for the escapees. In the wilderness, they used to feed on wild fruits and animals. Some of them encountered the Native American Indians and went to settle with them (Hunter, 111-120). Rebellions led by African Americans against the whites were many. Probably a lot of them never came to be known. Fortunately, some people were able to write down about some of the earliest rebellions. One of the earliest rebel leaders was Gabriel Prosser. He had planned to lead a major rebel movement to free hundreds of slaves by killing the white people.Advertising Looking for essay on african american? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The movement was postponed due to rain. Some of the slaves reported the plan to their masters who acted swiftly, and arrested a bunch of slaves including Prosser. Prosser was hanged to death together with other 35 slaves. This attempted rebellion only made the rules tighter. For example, movement from one farm to another was restricted, and the freed slaves were not allowed to live in the state; Virginia (Hahn, 58). Denmark Vesey was already a free man by the beginning of 19th century. He was angry at the slavery regime that he had planned to end it using military force. His intention was to kill all the slave owners in Charleston and free the slaves. He took a couple of years planning it but one of his associate revealed his plan. All those involved in the planning were hanged to death. Southern Carolina too burnt the free African American from staying in the state. Perhaps the most terrorizing rebellion was led by Nat Turner. He believed that he was sp ecial, and he was the one who will save all the blacks from the white man. In 1831, while in the company of 6 slaves, he killed his master together with his family in Virginia. He did not stop there; he mobilized more slaves and went on a killing spree. In total, they had killed sixty slave masters together with their families. Turner’s mob was encountered by the federal troopers and about 100 slaves were killed on the spot. Turner managed to escape and hid in the swamps. He was captured three months later and hanged to death (Hunter, 298-301). In the 19th century, all the blacks in the northern part of America were free. They started forming movements which were dubbed as American Anti-Slavery Society. Highly ranked African American leaders and like Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Robert Purvis and many more were part of this organization. Surprisingly, the movement also had some white people like Theodore D. Weld, Arthur Tappan and many others. The main aim was to ensure that every single black person in the country was free. They used political and ethical influences to reach their goals, but all that did not seem to work (Hahn, 176). Since the legal way of freeing the slaves was not working, those who were against the slavery devised a secret plan which included a secret route of escaping.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Journey towards Freedom specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The name Underground Railroad was the name given to the path which the slaves followed, during their escape. The route included a star on the northern side of the sky which was supposed to be followed at night. In the route, there were houses which could be used to host the running slaves. These houses were called stations. These stations were owned by free blacks and anti-slavery white men. They used to provide the fleeing slaves with basic needs before moving on. Those who were familiar with the route because they had passed it several times were called conductors. Undoubtedly, the best conductor was Harriet Tubman. Some say that she was able to free close to 350 slaves by just 20 trips. In those trips everybody made it. The railroad operated for about 65 years, and within that time, over 40,000 slaves had used it to escape to Canada (Hunter, 350). 1860 turned out to be quite a significant year in the fight against slavery. That was the year Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the United States. The southern states formed a separate union from the north. The president was against slavery and the southerners still regarded the blacks as slaves. Lincoln was determined to unite his country, but the contradicting interest in slavery, made the southern and the northern states go to war. The northern blacks and the free southern blacks joined the union army as a way of proving that they were equal to white men. In both camps though, there was reluctance in including t he blacks into the army. As the war progressed, many slaves took that opportunity to cross to the northern side. Soon, there was need for fighters in the union camp. Lincoln agreed that only the freed slaves could participate in the battle. The loyalty of the black was put at question in the union camp but after Fort’s glorious moment, all that changed. Fort Wagner was in the 54th Infantry and took charge of the company after its leaders had died. He led the infantry to defeat the 54th Massachusetts volunteer infantry. He received a medal of honor for his bravery; which was a first for a black person. The war later ended in 1865 (Horton and Horton, 499-505). After the war, the nation needed to be reconstructed. It was now apparent that the African Americans were going to be a part of United States of America. In 1868, a law was passed that allowed African Americans to have full citizenship in America. In 1870, they were allowed to vote. The short reconstruction era was the fi rst period where real effort was put to ensure that all African Americans achieved their long waited freedom. Afterwards the freedom the blacks were waiting for was halted by Jim Laws. He denied the African Americans equal justice (Hunter, 400).Advertising Looking for essay on african american? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The men and woman discussed in this paper all did some daring things. Some of the consequences were negative rather than positive. The rebellion of people like Prosser only made the conditions of both the freed and slaved blacks difficult. At first, their actions seemed to have a negative result but in the long run, their efforts provided motivation for others to keep on fighting. Tubman and Douglass formed groups to free the slaves. Later, only the effort of a few individuals resulted to some of the slaves being freed. From the accounts that happened during the struggle for freedom by the African American, it is safe to conclude that a single person can make a difference. Works Cited Hahn, Steven. A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration. New York: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005. Print. Horton, Lois E and James Oliver Horton. Slavery and the Making of America. Oxford University Press: London, 2006. Pr int. Hunter, Tera W. To ‘Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors after the Civil War. New York: Harvard University Press, 1998. Print. This essay on Journey towards Freedom was written and submitted by user Luka Silva to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Human behavior Essays

Human behavior Essays Human behavior Essay Human behavior Essay After instinct theories were discredited, explanations for behavior shifted to needs. A need was defined as an internal state of disequilibrium or deficiency which has the capacity to trigger a behavioral response. The cause of the deficiency could be physiological, such as hunger; psychological, such as a need for power; or sociological, such as a need for social interaction. The presence of a need motivates an individual to action to restore a state of equilibrium, as shown . A basic assumption of all need theories is that when need deficiencies exist, individuals are motivated to action to satisfy them. One of the earliest theories of needs was the manifest need theory proposed by Henry A. Murray. Murray believed that needs are mostly learned rather than inherited and are activated by cues from the external environment. For example, an employee who has a high need for affiliation will pursue that need by associating with others only when the environmental conditions are appropriate. Only then would the need be manifest. When the need was not cued, the need was said to be latent or not activated. Murray identified a wide range of needs that people supposedly acquire to one degree or another through interaction with their environment. Murray first developed a list of fifteen needs that were classified as viscerogenic (primary) and psychogenic (secondary). The needs for food, water, sex, urination, defecation, and lactation, all associated with physiological functioning, are examples of Murrays viscerogenic needs. Murrays psychogenic needs include abasement, achievement, affiliation, aggression, autonomy, deference, dominance, and power. Murrays need categories attempted to focus on specific, relatively narrow need-related issues and a separate need was created for almost every human behavior. Murrays list of needs was not derived from empirical research but from his personal observations and clinical experience. Periodically he added additional needs to his list, and the length of the list increased with his career. Maslows need hierarchy Abraham Maslow was a clinical psychologist whose theory of motivation was part of a larger theory of human behavior. Maslow was a humanist who was deeply concerned about the dignity and worth of individuals. He frequently talked of the differences between healthy and unhealthy individuals, and believed that individuals had a positive capacity to improve the quality of their lives . His theory of behavior emerged from his clinical experiences as he was able to sift and integrate the ideas of other leading psychologist. Maslow formulated a hierarchy of five general needs. The term drive was first introduced by Woodworth (1918) to describe the reservoir of energy that impels an organism to behave in certain ways. While Woodworth intended the term to mean a general supply of energy within an organism, others soon modified this definition to refer to a host of specific energizers (such as hunger, thirst, sex) toward or away from certain goals. With the introduction of the concept of drive, it now became possible for psychologists to predict in advance-at least in theory-not only what goals an individual would strive toward but also the strength of the motivation toward such goals. A major theoretical advance in drive theory came from the work of Cannon in the early 1930s. Cannon (1939) introduced the concept of homeostasis to de- scribe a state of disequilibrium within an organism which existed whenever internal conditions deviated from their normal state. When such disequilibrium occurred (as when an organism felt hunger), the organism was motivated by internal drives to reduce the disequilibrium and to return to its normal state. Inherent in Cannons notion was the idea that organisms exist in a dynamic environment and that the determining motives for behavior constantly change, depending upon where the disequilibrium exists within the system. Thus, certain drives or motives move to the forefront and then, once satisfied, retreat while other paramount. This concept is also reflected in the works of Maslow. The first comprehensive-and experimentally specific- elaboration of drive was put forth by Hull. In his major work Principles of Behavior, published 1943, Hull set down a specific equation to explain an organisms impetus to Effort = Drive X Habit. Drive was defined by Hull as an energizing influence which determined the intensity of behavior, and which theoretically Habit was seen as the strength of relationship between past stimulus and response (S-R). Hall hypothesized that the resulting effort, or motivational force, was a multiplicative function of these two central variables. If we apply Hulls theory to an organization setting, the motivation to seek employment would be seen as a multiplicative function of the need for money (drive) and the strength of the feeling that been associated with the receipt of money in the past (habit). Later, Hull added an incentive variable to his equation. His later formulation thus read: Effort = Drive x Habit X Incentive. This incentive factor, added in large mea- sure in response to the attack by the cognitive theorists, was defined in terms of anticipatory reactions to future goals. Just as drive theory draws upon Thorndikes law of effect, so do modem reinforcement approaches (e. g. , Skinner, 1953). The difference is that the former theory emphasizes an internal state (i. e. , drive) as a necessary variable to take into account, while reinforcement theory does not. Rather, the reinforcement model places total emphasis on the consequences of behavior. Behavior initiated by the individual that produces an effect or consequence is called operant behavior (i. e. , the individual has operated on the environment), and the theory deals with the contingent relationships between this operant behavior and the pattern of consequences. It ignores the inner state of the individual and concentrates solely on what happens to a person when he or she takes some action. Thus, strictly speaking, reinforcement theory is not a theory of motivation because it does not concern itself with what energizes of initiates behavior.

Qualitive Research Critique Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Qualitive Critique - Research Paper Example This is done in order to study the perception of shift from the paper dependent system of documentation to electronic method of documentation (Kelley et al., 2011). The study design is descriptive in nature as it is based on observations and surveys. The application of the electronic system permits accurate documentation of the information’s regarding patients. The system is designed in such a way that the nurses are able to operate it efficiently and improve the flow of communication between the health centre, nurses, and patients. The electronic form of documentation also improves the final outcome that is the status of the patient’s heath when the person is discharged without any error (Kelley et al., 2011). The relationship between the nursing profession and electronic form of information recording is presented in the paper. The quality of the service provided to the patients is very essential for the overall success of the hospitality. The ‘Donabedian’s model of quality’ is used for the literature part as the model is familiar to most of the nurses as a method of data collection. The framework that presents the structure of the total work performed, the process followed and the ultimate result of the process implemented (Kelley et al., 2011). Moreover, questionnaire survey and interview was also conducted to derive accurate data from the respective sources. Many research papers of ‘Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and PubMed has been used in the articles. All the articles used are based on three components of Donabedian’s model. On the other hand, interview and questionnaire method is also used in the research to analyse the attitude of the nurses towards the electronic system (Kelley et al., 2011). Nursing documentation is a vital factor of nursing practice that needs maintenance for safety as well as ethics. The information

The Significance of Improving Productivity in the Hospitality Industry Essay

The Significance of Improving Productivity in the Hospitality Industry - Essay Example Introduction Productivity has a huge impact on all businesses; both individual and corporate. In fact, the hospitality industry is witnessing a steady decline in productivity after World War II, and for many decades the industry effectively hid its poor productivity behind the baby boom in the size of the market. According to estimates, the hospitality industry is only 50% as effective as other industries. Still, it is surprising to note that am effective strategy that could be used to measure the productivity in hospitality industry is not available. This work intends to check why productivity is important in hospitality industry; especially bars and clubs, and also it tries to analyse the existing notion of and attitude towards productivity in the hospitality industry. Thereafter, it tries to suggest some ways that can be adopted to improve productivity in the hospitality industry, especially bars and clubs. The Productivity Paradox of Hospitality Industry The main problem with hos pitality industry, according to scholars, is poor productivity. From studies, it became evident that most people in the hospitality industry possess relatively little idea about the importance of human resources in the hospitality industry. In the opinion of Mill (2010), in hospitality industry, the role of human resources has been undervalued. ... cording to them, despite the best efforts by the hospitality industry to incorporate information technology in operations, there is no evident improvement in productivity. According to them, an important reason for this lack of evidence lies in the fact that there is no effective tool for the measurement of productivity improvement. In addition, it became evident from the study that those who used technology did not use it to improve productivity, but to improve the guest experience. Another serious issue is that different people use different set of criteria to measure productivity (ibid). Similarly, the study by Ingram and Fraenkel (2006) looked into the perception of productivity among hospitality managers. It is pointed out that they possess little idea about the notion of productivity, and the more they tried to understand what productivity is, the more confused they became. The same opinion is revealed by Mill. So, it seems useful to look into the different ideologies on produc tivity. Definition of Productivity and its Measurement In the opinion of Gummesson (1998), it is both ambiguous and inadequate to measure service productivity. However, in the opinion of Reynolds (2004), as about 30% of the hospitality cost comes from labour, a general tendency in the industry is to reduce labour costs while maintaining productivity. However, an article published by the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute warns that the productivity targets achieved in this way will not last long. This is so because reduced costs will lead to a decline in service standards. As Kimes (2001) states, this poor service, in turn, will affect customer satisfaction, which, eventually, will result in poor sales, and finally, poor productivity. There are people like Parasuraman (2002) who argue

Impact of Employee Retention Essay Example for Free

Impact of Employee Retention Essay Griffeth Hom (2001) have argued that employee turnover is assuming crisis proportions for many employers who struggle to retain people in the tightest labour market. Griffeth Hom (2001, Pg 1) 52% of companies report that their turnover is increasing and quit rates are running high of 1.1% a month.† Turnover can be a real problem in many organisations. Companies spend a great deal of time and money recruiting and training employees and the cost of replacing staff members lost through turnover are great. The monetary cost of replacing one employee is generally estimated to range from 50 percent to 200 percent of the annual salary for the position, and may even be higher in very specialized fields. Furthermore, poor employee retention can have a negative impact on workplace productivity, job satisfaction, and also on the overall morale of the organisation. It is proven that a high turnover percentage can cost employers a great deal of financial distress. Depending on the size of the company, to many employers it can make the difference in staying or going out of business. Phillips (2003,Pg 4) noted that, â€Å"of late employee retention has captured the attention of the business, financial, and executive community as a critically important strategic issue that can have a dramatic effect on productivity and profits.† Cascio, 2000 and Johnson,1995 cited in Griffeth Hom, Retaining Valued Employees (2001), are of the opinion that, human resources professionals and researchers project that the cost of one turnover incidence ranges from between 93% to 200% of a leavers salary, depending on his or her skill and level of job responsibility. Labour turnover has a negative impact on the organizations. Although every manager and team member is aware of problems associated with high turnover, a review of its foremost consequences puts employee retention in the appropriate perspective. Patricia (2002, pg 4, 5) noted that â€Å"employee turnover has a serious impact on organisations. Firstly high financial costs, which is both in terms of direct and indirect costs and the performance of companies has been inhibited in many ways by high turnover rates. Sometimes the costs alone causes turnover to become a critical strategic issue. Secondly, in terms of survival as an issue, where in a tight labour market in which the company depends on having employees with critical skills, recruiting and retaining the appropriate talent can determine the success or failure of the organisation. Thirdly in terms of productivity loses and workflow interruptions , where an employee who quits abruptly not only leaves a productivity gap but also causes problems for others on the same team and within the same flow of work. Fourthly in terms of loss of know-how especially with regards to knowledge industry, where a departing employee may have the critical knowledge and skills needed for working with specific software. This can be a negative impact at least in the short run. Fifthly, turnover can have a serious impact on the image of the organisations.† Patricia (2002) also noted that some of the other impacts of turnover on organisations may be with regards to loss of business opportunities, administrative problems, disruption of social and communication networks, and job satisfaction of remaining employees. Patricia (2002) noted that it is important to remember that turnover can have a negative impact on the individual, particularly if an employee is leaving because of problems that could have been prevented. Furthermore, Patricia (2002) noted that a voluntary turnover because of problems that could have been avoided creates a variety of consequences such as loss of employee benefits or job seniority, financial difficulties, loss of social network, relocation costs, wasted efforts and uncompleted projects, and even more in terms of career problems. Branham (2005) noted that employees quit because of the disengagement process and deliberation process. Branham (2005) also noted that there are 7 reasons as to why employees leave organisations. They are as follows: 1. The job or the workplace was not expected. 2. The mismatch between job and person. 3. Very little coaching and feedback. 4. Few growth and advancement opportunities. 5. Feeling devalued and unrecognised. 6. Stress from overwork and work-life imbalance. 7. Loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders. There is no set level of employee turnover that determines at what point turnover starts to have a negative impact on an organisations performance. Everything depends on the type of labour markets in which you compete. Where it is relatively easy to find and train new employees quickly and at relatively little cost (that is where the labour market is loose), it is possible to sustain high quality levels of service provision despite having a high turnover rate. By contrast, where skills are relatively scarce, where recruitment is costly or where it takes several weeks to fill a vacancy, turnover is likely to be problematic for the organisation. This is especially true of situations in which you are losing staff to direct competitors or where customers have developed relationships with individual employees. Some employee turnover positively benefits organisations. This happens when a poor performer is replaced by a more productive employee, and can happen when a senior retirement allows the promotion or acquisition of welcome fresh blood. The more valuable the employees in question the more damaging the resignation, particularly when they move on to work for competitors. Moderate levels of staff turnover can also help to reduce staff costs in organisations where business levels are unpredictable month on month. When business is slack it is straightforward to hold off filling recently created vacancies for some weeks. Staw (1980 cited in Griffeth and Hom (2002), argues that turnover is not always bad. For instance, vacating employees or employees who quit can increase promotional opportunities for other employees or can infuse new ideas and technologies when new employees replace those who left. Dalton, Krackhardt and Porter (1981cited in Griffeth and Hom (2002), are of the opinion that certain kinds of jobs exits or quits among marginal perfor mers are even desirable. Abelson Bay singer (1994, cited in Griffeth and Hom (2002) that a certain quit rate might be tolerated as a cost of doing business in a particular industry. Stephen Taylor (2002, Pg 15) noted that for many HR specialists, rising staff turnover is seen as being an important organisational problem. It follows that improving retention rates should be high on the management agenda, and it is proper for resources to be devoted to achieving this aim. However a certain amount of turnover is actively welcomed by many managers. â€Å"Nonetheless, Griffeth Hom (2001) have noticed that organisational-level research and corporate studies report that high exit rates generally worsen organisational effectiveness. Though there are diverse opinions from various authors, and taking the above argument into consideration, it is clear that employees play a fundamental role in the success of any organisation and therefore by retaining talented or rather key employees is a very important task that the managers should undertake. Phillips Connell (2002) noted that, some organisations do a superb job of managing retention, whereas others fail miserably. The issues are not always externally driven but often lie within the organisation.

Essay --

The following essay addresses the effect and impact of environmental and ethical management within the sport and recreation industry, critically analysing such methods against current literature in the field. Utilising Carroll’s (1991) model of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), it seeks to evaluate, by means of an ethical audit, the current ethical principles employed in the operation of a London-based recreation facility, and objectively assess the extent to which the organisation is committed to the concepts of CSR management. According to Robin and Reidenbach (1987), business ethics demand an organisation behave in agreement with a shared set of believed principles related to moral philosophy, while social responsibility relates to the social conventions that exist between business and society. In other words, social responsibility includes all of the requirements and duties of business to the society it operates in, while business ethics, to some extent, involves the duties of business to the individual decision maker. While the two concepts of ethics and social responsibility are fairly dissimilar, they evidently share a common link. Based on Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), Turban and Greening (1997) argued that a company’s corporate social performance (CSP) was favourably associated with their reputation and attractiveness as an employer, suggesting that CSP may provide some competitive advantage in attracting staff. While ethical standards are defined as ideologies that when followed, encourage values such as trust, positive behaviour, justice, and compassion, there is no one consistent set of principles that all organisations adhere to, but rather, each has the ability to create the standards they de... ...h CSR activity, viewing this as a means for its managers to meet the apparent opposing concerns of social responsibility and bottom-line performance. However, to properly manage consumer relationships and its own reputation, GLL should not only adopt CSR as in integral part of its mission, but must also seek to communicate this widely to its members through use of effective social media. While it is plain GLL understands the demands placed on it and its divisional managers, by employees, suppliers, community groups, sporting governing bodies and local authorities, to increase their participation in CSR, it must be wary of this reality as it expands, as business norms and principles, regulatory structures, and stakeholder demand for CSR can and will vary considerably across differing regions of the UK, and along multiple lines of business (McWilliams, et al., 2006).

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay Essay

A soldier must have the mentality of, â€Å"I must kill or I’ll be killed† or they will surely perish. Taking this idea to heart can be a very moralistic test that most people can’t handle. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels ever written because of its exposing graphic depiction of war. In the short note before Chapter One, Remarque lets the reader know exactly what themes he intends. War is savage, unjustified and unnatural. He intends to explain why the war was responsible for the destruction of an entire generation. Remarque is very clear on the strength of his themes, and uses graphic imagery to show the reader the physical and psychological impact that war has on a person. War brings about hardship, pain and suffering to all involved. It is the battle of two sides made of young men; many of them do not understand what they are fighting for or who they are fighting. Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front helps portray the image of war and idea of warfare in a pretty gruesome way. He also made his point through the physical deterioration, but mostly through mental and emotional destruction of Paul Baumer and his comrades. In the novel, Remarque does a flawless job conveying the horrible misfortunes of war. Through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a story is told of hopelessness and desperation on the German front lines of WWI. As Baumer and his comrades experience starvation and injury among other hardships, the reader begins to comprehend how tragic war is. They experienced things that can and will traumatize most human beings. â€Å"It’s unendurable. It is the moaning of the world, it is the martyred creation, wild with anguish, filled with terror, and groaning. Ch. 4, p. 62. This scene was the most graphic and horrendous part of the book. It really exemplified the tragedy of war. Detering was very disturbed by this because he’s a farmer. He believed that the horses have innocent souls and that they’re beautiful and should never have been involved. Detering has a special place for animals in his heart so much so that he’d risk his life to find them and put them out of their misery. Remarque knew that war changes people mentally and emotionally, more often than physically. It is very possible that he himself was damaged mentally and emotionally through his service in WWI. â€Å"We have lost all feeling for one another. We can hardly control ourselves when our hunted glance lights on the form of some other man. We are insensible, dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and to kill. † Ch. 6, p. 115. This quote embodies the thesis that Remarque was portraying in this novel. It explains how the soldiers notice their mental and emotional corrosion caused by the horrific things they have witnessed and committed during the war. They can’t really understand why they are still able to fight, but they know that they can’t stop under any circumstances. Soldiers are forced to adopt the dominating mindset of â€Å"kill or be killed. † Remarque realized that when this embracement happens it’s just a matter of time before they become â€Å"dead men. † During WW1 men between the ages of 18 and 30 had to enter the military draft. This meant that post teens would be fighting for their country and risking their lives, while all they knew was school and the safety of their own homes. The protagonist in Paul Baumer was only 19 years old in the novel and he frequently thought about girls and liked to drink a lot. In many ways, Paul is ordinary, and that’s why it’s so easy to relate to him. We see ourselves in Paul, and because of that, the war he suffers through seems all more horrible to us. This age group during WW1 was a damaged and broken generation. They fought for the principle of hatred and the dream of going back home to their families. â€Å"We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? That is long ago. We are old folk. Ch. 1 Pg. 18 The war has altered these boys; it has turned them into matured old men. Remarque was just solidifying the idea of the bad effects that war can have on a person. These boys are just out of school and most of them have probably experienced some sort of traumatic stress, which can permanently damage someone beyond repair. War affects everyone and everything it gets its hands on. It turns innocent boys i nto murderous men right before your eyes. It obliterates generations and makes millions suffer through the benefit of no one. Erich Remarque was a German war veteran and experienced firsthand the atrocity that warfare can bring. All Quite on the Western Front symbolizes war exactly. It portrays the horribleness of war through the German soldiers; Baumer and his companions. Remarque has them killed, brutally injured and mentally destroyed, all to prove how terrible war can truly be. Through this novel we can truly go back and see the experiences of WW1 soldiers and how the war changed them in every way possible, as a result All Quite on the Western Front is considered one of the best war novels ever written.