AP Essay 1980

 A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility.  For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty.  Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities.  In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.   

There is a time when the needs of others come before one’s personal desire. But there is no absolute point where duty should rise over passion. In Life Class by Pat Barker, the contrast between Paul’s passion for Elinor and duty to serve in the frontline shows that war can nullify one’s intimate feelings. War taxes soldiers not only with physical pain but also emotional ones as well.

            Paul and Elinor are two lovers that have been separated due to the callings of war. Elinor pursues her passion in painting while Paul fights on the front. Both still share an interest in art and bond over it. Paul decides to “burden [Elinor] with the horrors” (183) by bringing her to the front. Their desires to see each other cause Elinor to enlist as a volunteer nurse to temporarily visit Paul. But as Paul becomes more accustomed to the horrors of war, he finds less and less time spent thinking about Elinor. Paul knows that he must attempt to balance his personal life with that of the needs of the country. Questions arise regarding the importance of love and who Paul truly holds dear. This contributes to the meaning of the novel by showing how war is priority over everything else.

            When Paul tries to integrate his personal life with his professional life, he finds that he cannot keep both. As a result of his duty, Paul begins to lose his feelings for Elinor. When they meet in person, he finds himself not as attached to her as he was before. Paul contends that “everything will be as it was” (115) come the end of the war, but as Paul returns home towards the end of the novel, he knows he does not love Elinor anymore. He chooses to cheat on her by “press[ing] his face against the creases in [Madeline’s] neck” (287) and eventually has sex with her. Paul’s morals have greatly changed over the course of war. Paul is no longer the Paul that was once innocent; the war has influenced him and caused him to develop drifting feelings. Instead, Paul has attached to Lewis, somebody he can relate to because Lewis has experienced “the horrors unbearable” (273). The rift between his passion and duty ultimately causes Paul to choose one. He knows that by committing himself full on to the war, he will find himself unable to connect with Elinor. Thus in the end, “it became harder and harder to write at all” (284). Paul could not find time to dedicate solely to Elinor, and so she became alienated from his emotions. The long distance relationship that Elinor and Paul had was not strong enough to withstand the responsibilities of war.

            Without conflict between passion and his responsibility, the dynamic nature of Paul would not exist. Paul shifts because he attempts to hold onto his past. In order for Paul to become accustomed to war he had to erase his old desires and “conform to his current situation” (184). This shift cannot be understood by Elinor who still lives in Paul’s past. If Paul was able to keep his same feelings for Elinor, he would not be affected so strongly by the effects of war. He would merely serve at the front and come back as he was. But the causalities and events that happen changed Paul’s mentality. It makes him question what he once knew. After participating in such a horrendous war, Paul cannot revert to his old ways even if he wanted to. He claims “I need to see you (Elinor) face-to-face. But it’s not possible” (265). It is not possible because not only has the physical barrier become too strong, but also the mental one. Paul reiterates the fact that, one must retain both mental and physical closeness with close ones for the relationship to stay the same.

            People who are thrown into a situation they do not desire cannot help but feel a conflict with their old life. An obligation to one organization can overpower feelings for a person. People who change in this fashion will crumble the foundations of some aspect of their old life. War is something crippling and life changing both mentally and physically. Adjusting after coming back from experiencing the most gruesome sights known to mankind is an almost impossible task. Those who do not experience war cannot share the same feelings that a war veteran feels. As a result, intimate feelings for those bystanders are coldly changed.