Free Essays - All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front

The setting of this novel takes place in Germany during World War I. the war is being fought at the fronts- which is almost every side of Germany where other countries lie. For the most part, Paul Baumer stays on the western front, (north west of Belgium), during the three years when the novel takes place. The setting is very important because it shows the darkest part of the war, when most of Germanys fighting takes place.

Paul Baumer, a young soldier who enjoys writing poems and plays, becomes a man during his three years of service. He wants the war to be over so he can go back home to his family and read and write again with out being disrupted by his thoughts of the front. By the end of the novel, he does not achieve this because he was killed on the western front. When they found his body, it had an appearance of calm gladness because the war was finally over for him. In this novel, Paul faced drastic changes. He went from a child who knew nothing about death, despair or fear to a grown man who only knew those three things. At the end of the novel Paul had nothing, for every thing he had loved or cared about was taken from him by the war. I liked this character because he was well written. He was head strong about life or what he knew of it.

Stanislaus Katczinsky also know, as Kat is a forty-year-old veteran of war who teaches Paul and others about life on the battlefield. He is head strong and very smart and is depended on by Paul and others for food, and helping them cope with war. I believe Kat wants what every soldier wants, for the war to be over. I liked this character he was fun to read and a great teacher to me about the war.

The minor character that was most interesting to me was Corporal Himmelstoss because he was unfair to other soldiers, in a mean bullying manner. However, when it finally came down for the Corporal to fight, he became a coward. In the end, he gained the respect of Paul and others for rescuing Haie.

I believe the most important conflict in the story was when Paul volunteered to be part of a patrol to spy on the allied position.