Journey to the End of the Night

Journey to the End of the Night begins with Ferdinand Bardamu joining up to fight in World War I. The pageantry of a military parade takes hold of Bardamu, causing a sudden surge of patriotism and pride such that “enthusiasm lifted [him] to [his] feet” (15). This surge of uncritical patriotism leads Bardamu straight into the trenches, where it quickly dissolves into nihilism and terror. War in Journey to the End of the Night is an expression of hatred, but not in the traditional sense. Bardamu quickly learns that he does not hate his so-called enemies, the Germans. He hates the officers who send him into battle; he hates the men who make him risk his life against men in a similar position, and he regards the horror of the war as evidence that his own country hates him. Bardamu’s experiences in World War I strip away any idealism or patriotism he might once have known. Instead, he is gradually consumed with a lingering bitterness toward the people who lied to him about the state of the war. Most importantly, Bardamu comes to hate himself for being so naïve as to believe in a country that treats him as disposable.