“The Man with the Broken Fingers” and All Quiet on the Western Front

Both the poem, The Man with the Broken Fingers and the novel All Quiet on the Western Front have unique similarities and differences. They both deal with war. The Man with the Broken Finger is a poem by Carl Sandburg and was written about World War II. All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel written by Erich Remarque and it deals with World War I. Erich Remarque was born in Germany and his novel All Quiet on the Western Front its characters are members of the German military. Carl Sandburg is from Illinois and his poem deals with an American war hero. These two literary works both have their similarities and differences, especially in the areas of point of view and theme.

The Man with the Broken Fingers is written third person. Carl Sandburg uses the third point of view for many reasons. First, Sandburg uses the third person point of view to keep the character in the poem nameless. He simply refers to him as the Man with the Broken Fingers. (ll. 1) He also keeps the nameless to keep him applicable to the reader. When the character in a novel or poem is nameless our mind automatically fills in a spot and replaces this nameless character with a person that we know in our lives that shares common characteristics. This is a simple trick used in some writing to establish temporary report with the reader.

Sandburg also uses the third person point of view because it is difficult to place the reader on a battlefield. It is much easier to tell a story of the war. After the poetic shift, the third person point of view becomes a crucial part of the poem. It is hear where Sandburg begins to sever and dehumanize the nameless man. If Sandburg were to sever the ties and kill himself off there would be no one to tell his story. There is also less personal connection with the reader with a third person character. Then Sandburg uses this character to embody a specific ideal of courage to inspire new recruits. This same story of sacrifice would have been rejected had it been told in first person.

Unlike The Man with the Broken Fingers, All Quiet on the Western Front is told from the first person point of view. Remarque explores the horrors of World War I through the eyes of a German soldier named Paul. Remarque transforms this tale of a young recruit who is thrown head first into a raging war into a lesson about life. Remarque attempts to teach the reader to understand the horror of war, the value of friendship and the absurdity of traditional values, the same thing The Man with the Broken Fingers is advocating. Remarque includes discussions among Paul’s group, and Paul’s own thoughts, something that is clearly missing from The Man with the Broken Fingers. While he observes Russian prisoners of war Paul begins to realize that no ordinary people benefit from the war (196-204). Paul begins to realize and change. He experience personal growth and change. The reader can also experience this as well because we are all Paul. The Man with the Broken Fingers is told in third person so the reader is unaware of any character change or depth.

The theme of the poem The Man with the Broken Fingers is that as American citizens we should honor and emulate the courage of the men and women who defend our country. (ll. 51) The problem with this theme is that it limits the poem to a very narrow viewpoint of the world. This poem is incredible biased due to its time period. It was written at a time when Bugs Bunny was playing pranks on Japanese people. The theme of this poem is not merely one of against torture. No one needs a poem to realize that torture is atrocious. Rather, Sandburg wrote this poem because they needed people to enlist. This poem is strictly limited to the American public of the era. This is mainly due to the fact that as a present day reader I want to make my own judgments and do not want to be coerced into thinking or feeling a certain way.

I want to find this out for myself. What we, as readers, need to understand is that both sides used similar tactics. The United States used to torture as well in WWII, but we dont see any of the anti-American poems because we won the war. Sandburg uses the man with broken fingers as an instrument to display how war veterans should be treated. He glorifies battle wounds with a chicks dig scars mentality. This poem is eager to play the victim and to claim to have the answers but the poem lacks any critique on the life lost or the atrocities committed. It is a very simple poem with a complex agenda.

The theme of All Quiet on the Western Front differs greatly from the propaganda theme centered The Man with the Broken Fingers. All Quiet on the Western Front replaces the political agenda and replaces it with the human element. Remarque does exactly what he claims in his foreword. He tells the real story of real men. His tale is incredibly realistic, from the late night escapades with French girls (142-147) or having to shoot the crying horses. (56-59) It is all believable. Remarque excelled where Sandburg purposely failed, in the aspect of humanity. Remarques theme of humanity and friendship brings up another theme that Sandburg ignores, the waste of war. Not only are the physical losses of war immense; lives, buildings, ext.; but the emotional casualties of war became the greatest loss.

An entire generation wiped out. Forced to become Iron Youth with nothing to live for or go back to. We miss the emotional aspect in the The Man with the Broken Fingers. Sure the scene was gruesome but I dont cry during Saw movies. In order to feel an emotion there must be a connection. There isnt one in The Man with the Broken Fingers. Sandburg does this on purpose because the only emotion there can be portrayed during war is grief and despair. He is a war advocate so he is forced to ignore the human aspect, which is why his character is nameless and has no preexisting relationships.

The Man with the Broken Fingers and All Quiet on the Western Front are both war literature but their purposes for being written are enormously dissimilar. The Man with the Broken Fingers was written for a specific audience during a specific time period. All Quiet on the Western Front, however, is a timeless piece of literature and is still applicable today. One was advocate of war and the other was a proponent of it. One showed the futility and ignorance of war while the other played the part of Kantorek in poetry. The point of view played a vital role in breaking down why the author choose which style and the response he hoped to invoke with his decision. The theme of these two pieces of literature was incredible varied and made contrasting and comparing these two pieces quite interesting.

Works Cited

Hutner, Nathaniel. War: A Book of Poems. Brooklyn: Cool Grove Publishing, Inc., 2004. Print.

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. London, UK: Createspace, 2009. Print.