Paul´s Death in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

World War I caused devastation for millions of people around the globe and was one of the most brutal wars ever in history. All Quiet on the Western Front, an account of the atrocity of World War I by Erich Maria Remarque, shows the trials and tribulations faced by soldiers each and every day. Much like it is today, war was glorified, and many young men, including the naïve 19­year old German Paul Bauman, around the globe enlisted in the army, only to find out what a dreadful mistake it was later on. After seeing the mindless killings of millions, it makes the human race question whether war is really the logical way to solve the problems that plague the war today. What did the killing of over a million young men in the World War I accomplish? What has the murdering of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan so far accomplished? The answer is, unfortunately, nothing. Throughout the history of mankind, war has rarely managed to solve a problem, so it would make sense to try and adopt a different technique to resolve disagreements. Yet, for whatever reason, the human race continues to dive headfirst into wars repeatedly. World War I was a particularly brutal war and was one of the most expensive in terms of human lives in history. Very few soldiers on the front made it out alive, and Paul Bauman was no different. In Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul’s fate of death is decided by the beginning due to the physical and mental dangers.

The physical dangers of the war made sure that it was nearly impossible for soldiers to make it out of the war alive. The battlefield was fraught with many dangers and the jaws of death were just lurking around the corner for many of the soldiers. What made it almost certain that Paul...

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...victim to one of the physical dangers of war. The mental beating that Paul was bound to take meant that he was doomed.

What Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front really teaches humans is to be more careful before actually entering wars, as it’s a sentence to death for many people. It also teaches us to be more sensitive to those returning from war, as they have undoubtedly suffered from both physical and mental hardship. One in five US veterans suffer from depression, and it is society’s responsibility to try and understand the difficulties that the soldiers have had to endure. Hopefully the human race will soon realize that war is not the answer but until then everyone has to try and reintegrate soldiers into society. Whether it be shrapnel from a bomb or depression, it is clear that many soldiers have been enervated one way or another from war, if not killed.