. Both Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun illustrate this harsh reality of soldier’s dehumanization in World War I. Both novels reveal that no matter which nationality the soldier was in the war, they underwent the same pattern of young, patriotic individual to dehumanized soul with a lack of self-identity. Remarque follows this pattern through an individual German soldier, Paul, and his comrades while Trumbo focuses through the lens of former American soldier Joe. Each soldier enters the war hoping for the best, brought into the effort by persuasions of nationalism and liberty from the ruling class. As time passes, however, Joe, Paul, and other’s consciousness begin to change. They begin to see themselves as mere “bodies”. This discovery leads to the realization that they are simply put into place for the benefit of the leaders in power, those who do not actually fight in the war effort. By the end of the war, Joe and Paul develop a “sociological imagination” as they are able to see the outside forces, away of their control, guiding their lives. Overall, both Remarque and Trumbo’s novels share similar characteristics of soldier’s de-individuation and how the “Great War” shifts the thinking and outcome of individual experiences of soldiers on both sides of the effort. Regardless of which nation one soldier fought for, extremely similar “beliefs” and “persuasions are shown upon the entrance to the war effort. Firstly, the way that both Joe in Johnny Got His Gun and Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front first become “interested” share parallel characteristics that ultimately display the false-consciousness surrounding warfare at the outset. In Remarque’s novel, Paul mentions that he entered the war, initially, because “We loved our country….We went courageously into every action”. ‘ By Remarque stating that Paul and his comrades “love” their country displays an immediate sense of nationalism. Nationalism is defined as a strong attachment or bond between the members of a country. Essentially, people strongly identify themselves with “the homeland”. Paul certainly feels this strong bond to Germany because he feels it necessary to go “courageously” into every action. Paul displays his strong connection between himself and nation. Paul wants to make his country proud, and this is how the war is seen initially through his eyes. Similarly, Joe maintains a generally similar experience regarding his entrance and initial impressions of the Great War. Joe states that upon his decision to enter the war, he is told, “It was kind of a duty you owed yourself”.? To call his service a “duty” shares similar characteristics with Paul’s initial impressions of Nationalism. He feels obligated to support his country. Also, as Paul does, Joe feels that he “owed himself” the necessity of joining the war, showing Joe’s connections to his country. Joe and Paul both feel that entering the war will allow them to become courageous warriors representing the “homeland”. Unfortunately, this sense of pride for their states quickly turns out to be fleeting as it diminishes in a parallel fashion.