Just Another Green Mask

Author's note: Nothing like another green mask to hide a child, and portray him as a warrior

Throughout chapter two--as well as chapter one, and what I presume will be a majority of the book--Remarque frequently ventures back to the sense that all the soldiers are young boys trapped in war. With constant repetition and a variety of diction, Remarque displays his talent while still sticking to this general point.

Scared and on their own, the boys begin to question their initial expectations of the war and how the propaganda portrayed the war to be, to the true reality and severity of their situation. Only boys, they were lost in this game of kill or be killed. Drowning in their own clothes, the instant they take them off their true nature is exposed:

I glance at my boots. They are big and clumsy, the breeches are tucked into them, and standing up one looks well-built and powerful in these great drainpipes. But when we go bathing and strip, suddenly we have slender legs again and slight shoulders. We are no longer soldiers but little more than boys; no one would believe that we could carry packs. It is a strange moment when we stand naked; then we become civilians, and almost feel ourselves to be so.

When their garments hit the floor so does the image of a fierce warrior. Under the bulky jackets lie the faces of children. Anyone could transform from an innocent civilian into a blood thirsty murderer by lacing up some boots and throwing on a jacket. However; it when deeper than just this. Human nature can be covered up, but can not be changed by some threads. But, trudging through a muddy trench, crawling over a dead friends, or seeing others die in your hands can. While Remarque clearly expresses the boys true nature, he also leaves us to believe that their nature is soon to change after the horrors associated with fighting in war.

AQWF 1

Throughout history, children have been see fighting in wars, and being forced to abandon their childhood to pursue a life in the "trenches. Thus far in AQWF, the only talk really has been about food, tobacco rations, and other men, and very little on the war itself. A possible defense mechanism deployed by the men to keep their minds off of their true purpose. One reoccurring motif that is present is small symbols and innuendos is the hidden fact of how young all the boys are. "For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress--to the future"(6). Even at the young age of eighteen, they are forced to instantly mature, and become part of a world that needs them to be adults. Stripped of their youth, they have no choice but to comply and toughen up.

Doctor J's side of the story

Authors note: In Jekyll’s narrative, the truths behind Hyde are finally revealed. In a rather unsurprising end, it turned out that Jekyll and Hyde was the same inner-man, but two separate appearances.

In his own words, Jekyll described his life as a perennial war between his two sides. A war that was sometimes hidden, but other times sprung out from nowhere. The drug that allowed Jekyll to change between himself and Hyde had horrible side effects. The ebullition had a putrid taste and was uncontrollable. Jekyll’s transformations were beginning to occur randomly, and Hyde was showing his hideous face more and more often. Hyde was created with all of the evils and impurities that Jekyll despised of in himself. Hyde is like all of us, showing that we cannot control our evils, and no matter how hard we try we will never be perfect. Hyde provides Jekyll with a way to commit heinous acts and receive no consequences. With no penitence, Jekyll is resuscitated through Hyde, and vaingloriously refers to him as a son. With a new outlook on life, Jekyll has the ability to live two separate lives while only being one man.

Hyde and Seek

Authors Note: Who can honestly understand all the motifs and symbolism in this story? Did Robert Louis Stevenson truly write every word to stand in the place of a larger and more meaningful symbol found in our society? No one can be certain, but after several hundred references to a dinner composed of the sharing of wine, the talk of both good and evil, and a coming sacrifice foreshadowed by the heavenly fog that o so conveniently falls every time Hyde shows his hideous face and a chapter named The Last Night maybe he meant something regarding Christ?

Bless me, Poole Utterson cried with lamentation, as Poole unexpectedly showed up at his doorstep to bring the news that Jekyll was sick. However, this was nothing new, every time the name Hyde came up Jekyll's already frail and virtually diaphanous body took another blow and one step closer to an inevitable death. While Utterson hearkened to Poole explain that he suspects foul play, they both know no matter what Hyde had some input into what Poole is talking about. To prepare to see any horror, Utterson's only answer to Poole is to rise--into heaven? doggedly--and throw on his hat and greatcoat--halo and angel wings? The evil within Hyde is so exorbitant that the only way to combat its power is to bring along the essence of the very purest good and the element of Christ himself. Is it only a coincidence that Utterson is the vessel to take on this spirit, or is he truly a walking Christ on earth?

Jekyll and Hyde 2

Authors note: Throughout chapters 5 and 7, Jekyll is left to suffer for the heinous acts that his doppelganger, Hyde, has committed. Jekyll really took on a Christ like persona accepting all of Hyde’s sins as his own and enduring that pain to preserve Hyde.

After the murder of Carew, Jekyll is locked away in his house hidden behind the red baize with the only light glimmering in from the three windows at the top of his home. Jekyll is slowly being drained of his own life—and he knows it. To signify his final days, he holds a dinner at his residence. With a toast of wine and talk of the murder, the group realized that there is a drowning fog, sinking down and smothering the city. Jekyll tells Lanyon that he is the chief of sinners and sufferers. Hyde is the sinner that Jekyll is responsible for, Hyde is the evil that makes Jekyll suffer, and he is the burden forcing Jekyll to sacrifice his own life for forgiveness. An act that is inscrutable to any other human, is only justified by reasons Jekyll will not release.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Author's note: While reading chapters 1 and 3 a common motif was alcohol and other spirits. Alcohol is known to change personalities and completely change people.

While at the dinner, the guests who referred to Utterson as a dry lawyer…liked to sit awhile in his unobtrusive company, practising for solitude, sobering their minds in the man's rich silence, after the expense and strain of gaiety To this rule Dr Jekyll was no exception; and as he now sat on the opposite side of the fire - a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps. Utterson was dry—a word used to describe the absence of alcohol—and his conversation sobered the minds of the other guests—another word used to describe the absence of alcohol—and on the opposite spectrum, on the other side of the fire sat Dr. Jekyll. Alcohol is known to greatly alter people’s personalities after intoxication. It can create a dangerous beast from the ashes of a harmless person. People are embarrassed by having alcoholism and try to hide their ugly secret. Jekyll is the harmless man who is hiding a hideous secret. Alcohol consumption and parties are a popular motif, for right before Hyde went on his initial rampage alcohol was mentioned right before it. The alcohol and other spirits are a warning sign as to when Hyde will make his next deadly march.

I wish she knew…

There she is, standing at her locker talking to friends without knowing the way I truly feel about her. As I walk by she grants a friendly smile; I wish she knew. Whatever—I think to myself—story of my life. With a swift move into the door and the resonance of the hour bell, I am back in class again, still only a dreamer. As the day goes on my mind continues to wander as my heart makes wishes. When the day ends, I quickly gather my homework and make a break in the opposite direction towards her locker. I walk—walk as quickly as I could in hopes to see her but one more time; or even better, get a chance to say goodbye and see her beautiful smile one last time. There I am standing in the hallway with her nowhere in sight, with unbearable pain in my heart I feel like dying. The pain viciously tore my heart; and before tears formed, I made my way through the hall of other couples fighting my way to the bus. The immature chatter of others and talk of relationships bring me down even further. In an attempt to drown out the hurt, I listen to the very music that reminds me of her. After my departure, I begin my way trudging down the street to my house. When I finally stumble through the door, I drop my backpack and plop on the couch. With headphones in, the instant my eyelids shut I venture off into dreamland—as always she is the featured guest. I grasped the dream tight and held it extremely close, my love pulsing throughout like an arterial system. When I finally awake I realize nothing was real and I am stuck in the world where she does not know. The news comes with pain, and I am suddenly overcome with the fear she never will. It kills me inside; especially knowing it would be my own fault. I really wish she knew. With the semester coming to an end my biggest fear is not the exams, but the nightmare that I will have no classes with her second semester. With the time I have to tell her how I truly feel coming to a close; every day is a battle between my heart and my mind. I want nothing more than to tell her; my heart beats faster when I see her and out of my chest when we talk. The very thought of losing her scares the shit out of me. Shaking the horror, I pull up my back-pack with a thrust and a heave and begin my homework trying to forget about the whole situation. It is no use, she is stuck on my mind and will never leave—not that I want her to—if there is any girl worth this much heart-ache this is definitely the one. Her smile brightens up my day and her voice cheers me up. She is the epitome of a dream girl and deserves a king, she is the essence of beauty and deserves nothing but the best, she is amazing and the one I care about most. I wish she knew.