"Pain disregards for our system of values greatly increases its hold on life. The emperor who, when urged to remove himself from the line of fire, responded by asking whether one had ever heard of an emperor falling in battle, exposed himself to one of those errors to which we all too willingly succumb. No human situation is secure against pain. Our children's tales close with passages about heroes who, having overcome many dangers, live out their lives with peace and happiness. We hear such assurances with pleasure, for it is comforting for us to learn about a place removed from pain. Yet, in truth, life is without any such satisfying end, and it is evident by the fragmentary character of most great novels, which are either incomplete or crowned by an artificial conclusion. Even Faust closes with this sort of contrived literary device."

            The short narration of the emperor being asked to withdraw himself from war, describes people who make rash decisions out of pride or the fear of being hurt.  His following statement, says that pain can not be avoided.  The emperor was trying to avoid the hurt of quitting, however, he would probably suffer a greater pain if he were to be defeated in the war.  It was hard for me to comprehend the first statement.  I understood it to mean that people are deceiving themselves when they try hard to avoid encounters with pain.  Ernst Junger is informing his reader on the bitter truth of reality. He says that life does not have any satisfying ending.  We tend to base the purpose and outcome of our lives on what we see and hear from others.  Junger concludes that no one really knows the outcome of our lives and therefore it is not possible for us to be fully content.

1. Junger's thesis is very well supported.   To my understanding, Junger feels we should pay less attention to painful experiences since they are inevitable.  However, no human being can completely ignore pain.  Our brains are built to respond to pain, both physical and emotional.  One can only pretend to be completely care free.  In reality, pain is apart of what shapes our lives and it is also the reason why joyful moments are worth living.
2.Post-liberal refers to an era in which technological and only certain types of knowledge is forced on you.  someone else or a group of people have control over how you live daily.  The way you progress will now be the way in which you are trained to progress.
3.  Junger describes photography as the cruelest way to view horrifying life experiences.  This is because photographs are not selective of what they capture.  They are different from paintings and imaginations which are formed by man.
5. Submission to totalitarian authorities protects an individual from pain because such authorities give promises of a better future regardless of the present condition.