Extended Essays 2021

worldly, protective parents. At other points in the novel, the reader glimpses Bäumer’s transformation from a gentle, reflective young man who loves books and nature, into an instinctive killer. While hiding in a shell hole in no man’s land during an enemy offensive, a French soldier accidentally falls on him. Remarque uses graphic and violent imagery to convey how Bäumer instinctively and brutally “ just stab[s] wildly” at the French soldier. Fearing that his position will be given away, his single purpose is to “ stop [the French soldier’s] mouth, to stuff earth into it, to stab again ” (Remarque, 1995, p. 148). Remarque’s authorial choice of first-person narration effectively positions the reader understand how a kind, thoughtful and sensitive young man has been transformed for a few moments into a frenzied killer. He explores how the traumatic experience of trench warfare has transformed Bäumer’s identity from an innocent youth into man who has the maturity to assume a parental role for the younger soldiers but is also capable of savagery. Although several characters in Birdsong undergo some transformation of identity as a consequence of life in the trenches, Faulks’ exploration of this is comparatively less successful than Remarque’s as the reader never really ‘gets under the skin’ of any of the characters. The main protagonist , a British army officer called Stephen Wraysford, undergoes the most significant change of identity. Towards the end of the novel, it is revealed that he suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder after the war. However, the transformative effect of his horrific experiences is only superficially examined. Wraysford enters the war feeling depressed and disillusioned about life following the disappearance of his lover. He does not appear to have close connections with his family or any place to call home, therefore he does not have a strong sense of identity outside of his romantic relationship with Isabelle. At first, Wraysford appears to be disconnected from his men and, although they have a grudging respect for his authority, they do not really like him. It is difficult for them and the reader to relate to him as he suppresses, and rarely talks about, his emotions. During a rare moment of compassion, he reveals his true feelings about the tragic loss of life at the Front, explaining, “Every one of the men we’ve killed is someone’s son. Do you think of that when you see them dead? Do you wonder what their mothers thought when they first held them to their breast – that they would end like this?” (Faulks, 1994, p. 136). Over time, Wraysford comes to adopt more of a parental role towards his fellow soldiers and begins to feel affection for them, even though he cannot understand them. As the narrator explains, “Stephen felt, at the better moments, the love for them Gray had demanded… Still he could not quite believe them; he could not comprehend the lengths to which they allowed themselves to be driven. He had been curious to see how far they could be taken, but his interest had slackened when he saw the answer: that there were no boundaries they would not cross, no limits to what they would endure.” (Faulks, 1994, p. 282) . Faulks writes in a self- conscious manner and the focus of the extract is shifted from Wraysford becoming more loving towards his men to Faulks answering his own personal question about how far the soldiers were prepared to be driven. This description feels inauthentic to the reader and they do not have the same emotional investment or understanding towards Wraysford that they

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