We chose this quote for our project, because it reflects the way that soldiers in the First World War felt about the use of their uniform. The quote is short, but it makes a person think, and realize what the meaning is behind it. The quote states that the soldier and the uniform form a unity. They need each other, because the soldier isn’t protected or representing anything without it, and if a soldier doesn’t wear the uniform, the uniform has no use and is pointless. The uniform is a way to be able to distinguish you and differ from others who are not in your solidarity. It is a way of expressing where you’re from and what country you belong to. Basically, a uniform reminds a soldier what he’s fighting for, even though this may not be a very obvious cause for fighting.
We based our quotes/ fragments on the book “All Quiet on the Western Front”. This is a book we are currently reading in English class, and it is based around the experience of a German soldier in WW1. Paul is the main character of the book. The fragments helped us a lot with our project.
Page 104 of the book. “For the moment we put all the stuff into our boots; we have to take boots with so that we don’t step on barbed- wire or glass over on the other side. Since we have to swim first, we can’t take any other clothes. Anyway it is dark, and we aren’t going far.”
This moment in the book, the boys take off their clothes to go swimming. Paul describes what is going on, and how it feels, not to wear a uniform. It obviously feels very weird, as he isn’t used to civilian clothes anymore.
“We left our boots at the door and they gave us slippers, so that there is nothing there any more that could give me back the soldier’s confidence and boldness; no rifle, no belt, no battledress, no cap. I let myself sink into the unknown, let whatever will happen, happen - because in spite of everything, I am afraid”
He basically is saying, that without his uniform he doesn’t feel safe, not protected to whatever is going to come up next. He doesn’t know what to expect, but Paul feels as if he is not a soldier anymore, just because of the appearance he had on that exact moment. This means that there was nothing that could give him his Soldier’s confidence without the uniform. Once the soldiers come out of the water, and since they are enjoying some “free time”, they decided to go to a farmhouse they see a bit further along. Near that house the guys find a couple of French girls. Paul talks about his experience with one of the girls;
Page 21 of the book. In this fragment, Paul explains how it feels not to wear their uniform. He describes the way a soldier looks when they wear a uniform, and the way they look when they don’t wear a uniform.
“I glance down at my boots. They are big and heavy and my trousers are tucked into them; standing up, you look solid and strong in these wide-legged things. But when we undress for swimming we suddenly have thin legs and narrow shoulders. We aren’t soldiers any more then, we are almost schoolboys again; nobody would believe that we could carry a full pack. It is really strange when we are naked; we are civilians again, and we almost feel like civilians.”
The fragment makes it really clear, that a uniform plays a very important role for the soldiers. If Paul and the soldiers don’t wear the uniform they nearly look like schoolboys, but when they do wear the uniform, they become real fighting men that fight for their country. This shows the importance of a uniform. A uniform gives a soldier his “power” and confidence to go out there and fight. It shows which side he fights for and that he is fighting for his country.
These quotes/ fragments relate to the project because it shows the importance of wearing a uniform. The book “All Quiet on the Western Front” was a good book to use for our project, because we believe that the author, Remarque, understands the power of the uniform and what it does to the soldier. He really describes those themes well in the book. We haven’t finished reading the book, but from what we have read so far, there are already several parts in the book that describe uniforms and their effects on people. Even though the chosen fragments only relate to uniform, it doesn’t mean we are only referring to uniforms. They say that the uniform makes the soldier feel different and their impact on people is more effective when they wear a uniform. This therefore doesn’t only refer to soldiers, because nurses also wore uniforms. If the nurses didn’t wear uniforms, they would not be as easily recognized and would be considered “normal women” and their use in the war would be considered very different. This really helped us in our project because it clearly showed us the importance of clothing during the war but also at the home front. When a person wears a specific type of uniform/ or just clothing, they would be dressed in a category that would define who they are. Just looking at them would help us to recognize these people, but also shape our first impression of them and therewith our own behavior towards them. Our website has also been organized in the different categories that defined women and men during the First World War.