fatima saavedra sunday film analysis #1

8/10/2019 Fatima Saavedra Sunday Film Analysis #1

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Fatima Saavedra

World War I In Literature and History

Goodbye to All That Sunday Film Option Essay

Baumer has seen the atrocities of war. He cant fathom how people back home are seeing

the war. They all see war as a glorified and noble way to defend the country. Their patriotism

seems to irk Baumerbecause the people back home cant seem to understand what the war really

means-a fight for survival.

Baumer is careful around his family. He is trying to give them comfort-especially his

mother-because he doesnt want her to worry too much about him. He tries not to upset his

mother who is ailing. He is afraid to make her condition any worse. He tries to downplay the true

dangers of the war. He seems to be more compassionate towards his family, which is

understandable, because he doesnt want to cause them any torment. He doesnt want them to

know how easily he could die once he returns. He kind of reflects on his childhood in the movie-

about how he used to cry in his mothers lap. He certainly cant do that anymore. He has to stay

brave and keep fighting for himself and his family. He is keeping up his lie to his family to

keep them from knowing what true war is really like. He becomes a different man in front of his

family because he wants to protect them from the undeniable truth (his impending death).

To others-like the scene in the bar- he is a little more critical. In the bar scene he doesnt

really express his dislike about their discussion, but one can tell he is bothered by the way they

talk about war. The men at the bar are trying to strategize like an officer would probably do,

yet they have no idea what is truly going on. They just do it to speculate, and to presumably keep

themselves involved in the war. I feel like the men want to try to be involved because they

ultimately know that they wontbe a deciding factor in the war. They are worried about the

outcome, but they dont know how to deal with the fact that they wont be able to influence what


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Fatima Saavedra


the outcome will eventually be. The men are trying to stay positive with the information that they

have. Baumer stays quiet and respectful to the men around him because he doesnt want to insult

them-the men are much older than him. Its a bit of an irony that Baumer, a much younger man,

seems to know more about the war that the older men in the bar.

One of the last places that Buamer visits is his old school. He hears his old schoolmaster

giving the same speech that he gave them about the war-encouraging them to enlist. Baumer

seems a little outraged by the way he is portraying the war. He gets angry when the schoolmaster

continues to glorify the war. The schoolmaster asks him to talk about what its like to fight for

his country-his nation. Baumer doesnt really want to contribute saying he cant really say much

else about the war because they have already heard what there is to it. His old schoolmaster

doesnt back down, and continues to pester him to talk about it. Baumer eventually snaps, and he

starts talking about how the war isnt what it is portrayed to be. He talks about how the new

recruits almost always die within their first few months-how they are recruiting children that

wont last. He is outraged by the fact that they continue to glorify war when all it is, is death. He

cant fathom why others would want to enlist, yet he went through the same phase. These

children and teenagers believe themselves to be unstoppable. They want to be glorified. They

want to be the heroes. They dont even think about all the horrendous things that the war can

bring. Baumer is so outraged by their willingness to enlist that he says he would rather be on the

front than still at home. He doesnt want to hear any more of the glorified lies that they keep

sprouting everywhere. War is not a pretty thing. War is gruesome and unbiased. It doesnt matter

who you are or who you think you are because in war there is no one that is safe.

Baumer is tired of the patriotism at home. Sure, patriotism increases the morale of many,

but it also hinders the mental state of those who enter the war. They dont expect the deathtolls.


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Fatima Saavedra


They dont expect the implications that can be drawn from so many dead. They dont understand

why they are at war. Why are they fighting? Yes, they are fighting for their nation, but why are

they at war? What caused the war to spindle so out of control? In the movie, there is a scene

where they talk about why the war is occurring. They talk about why they are killing the British

soldiers. Why are they killing them? They didnt want to shoot them, just like they were sure the

British soldiers didnt want to shoot them, so then why where they at war?What was the cause

of so many deaths? So many obscurities within the war separated their united nations. The

soldiers at the front, and the people back home were strangers to each other. They were separated

by their interpretation of the war. They were separated by the glorification, the death, and the

conclusion of the war. Why were they fighting? What did the outcome hope to bring? Was it

worth it?

fatima saavedra sunday film analysis #1

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