Text to Image comparison, Chapter 6

                              The image above represents the shells from an Allied creeping bombardment on German lines in 1916, a tragic sighting indeed, based on the overwhelming amount of 105mm shells fired in one day. According to "rarehistoricalphotos.com." the photograph may have been used for propaganda purposes. However, the original caption reads: "Official photograph was taken on the British Western Front in France. Some shell cases on the roadside in the front area, the contents of which have been dispatched over in the German lines.". The creeping bombardment (creeping barrage) defines the firing of artillery rounds in front of a line of advancing troops, often to clean barbed wire and other defenses holding the men off. Most importantly, the thought-provoking book of "All Quiet on the Western Front." provides a similar situation to the photograph above, but with less of an absurd amount of 105mm shells. In fact, the novel, in general, takes place in the same scenario but set in the final years (1917-1918) of World War 1 (The Great War). One particular scene associated with the meaning of the photograph is in Chapter 6 when the squad returns to the front line. They pass a bombed school house with rows of brand new coffins stacked beside it, at the same time they hear rumors of an incoming attack. This occurrence all takes place on the Western Front, hence the name "All Quiet on the Western Front", but the interesting fact is that the image of the French man holding a 105mm shell (above) also takes place on the Western Front. There seems to be a connection between the novel and the photograph, as they both share the sense of imminent chaos and destruction based on the extensive bombing which occurs in Chapter 6. A lone soldier revealing the 105mm shells exemplify the incomprehensible aftermath of the explosions while Chapter 6 of the novel emblematize what they'll be facing, which is absolute carnage. As a matter of fact, it doesn't stop the squad from being turned down, Paul Bäumer gets all patriotic and affirms: "But we are swept forward again, powerless, madly savage and raging; we will kill, for they are still our mortal enemies; their rifles and bombs are aimed against us, and if we don't destroy them, they will destroy us." (6.79). The quote mentioned by Paul Bäumer relates back to the image, in the sense that war makes us less human over time, just as the description of the photograph as mentioned earlier. Since Paul's message is based on the patriotism of being a soldier, he also encourages his men not to express innocence in the face of war or else they would get themselves killed. When war is intact, there simply is no time preserve your life.