All Quiet on the Western Front

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All Quiet on the Western Front

At the beginning of this chapter, Paul reflects back on how the war abruptly uprooted his life and the lives of his comrades. He ponders how the war has destroyed the lives of the men of his generation because they no longer have anything to return to. He acknowledges the fact that the war swept him away and now he doesn’t know what he can make of his life. He and the other men have become, in his words, wastelands. Even with all of the mental anguish they endure, the men are not often sad. In this paragraph, the reader is introduced to the frame of mind that the men are in.

Müller, who in the first chapter expressed his desire for the dying Kemmerich’s boots, is in reality very sympathetic to Kemmerich’s suffering, but he sees that Kemmerich no longer has any need for the boots. Because of this, he feels has more of a rightful claim to them than a hospital orderly. The men now see problems from this perspective and good boots, like Kemmerich’s, are hard to find. There was a time though when they had different beliefs. Before the war they still believed that education was the most important aspect of life. These youthful thoughts were washed away at the Front, where they came to realize that order is what matters. One of the men responsible for this was their drill sergeant, Corporal Himmelstoss, who was a short, mean man. He would force the men to do unnecessary work and torture them with pointless assignments. Paul, Tjaden, Kropp, and Westhus were especially picked on by Himmelstoss, but they were secretly defiant. The training that they received was especially harsh, but it is what has saved them in the trenches. We now see the background that has shaped the men’s ideals so far.

Paul goes to visit Kemmerich at his hospital. Kemmerich now knows that his leg has been amputated, but Paul tries to comfort him and convince him that he will be returning home soon. Paul wishes that the world would acknowledge Kemmerich’s suffering but he knows that the world will not. When Kemmerich suddenly begins to gurgle violently, Paul rushes to find a doctor. However the doctor he finds is in different to Kemmerich’s suffering and by the time they get to Kemmerich’s bed, he is dead. Paul collects Kemmerich’s things including his boots and leaves.

All Quiet on the Western Front
1386 Words | 3 Pages
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times goes by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of the novel they are enthusiastic about going into the war. After they see what war is really like, they do not feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital.
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All Quiet On The Western Front Quote Analysis
1113 Words | 3 Pages
“We did not break down, but adapted ourselves” These soldiers know that modern warfare is extremely complicated and demands knowledge and experience. They learn how the differentiate shell sounds, when to take cover, when it’s safe to take off your gas mask, how to tell shrapnel from high explosives. It is shown through the naive and inexperienced recruits that not knowing and applying this knowledge is fatal. Some soldiers call on their innermost animal instincts to allow them to kill mercilessly on the field, using the assistance of a metaphor Remarque writes “We are dead men with no feelings, who are able by some trick to keep on running and keep on killing.” Granted war is a barbaric affair, ironically sometimes the worst of conditions can bring out the best in people. This is through the form of comrade and mate ship. On the field fellow soldiers would provide mutual support for each other and create extremely tight bonds. This is shown in All Quiet on the Western Front through Paul and his tight nit platoon. Paul’s unique experience with mate ship is how especially close he is with his friend Kat. This is expressed in the recounting of when they stole and cooked a goose together. Remarque writes “We don't talk much, but I believe we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have.” This shows how mate ship was
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The Comradeship of War in All Quiet on the Western Front
452 Words | 1 Pages
War can destroy a young man mentally and physically. One might say that nothing good comes out of war, but in Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, there is one positive characteristic: comradeship. Paul and his friends give Himmelstoss a beating in which he deserves due to his training tactics. This starts the brotherhood of this tiny group. As explosions and gunfire sound off a young recruit in his first battle is gun-shy and seeks reassurance in Paul's chest and arms, and Paul gently tells him that he will get used to it. The relationship between Paul and Kat is only found during war, in which nothing can break them apart. The comradeship between soldiers at war is what keeps them alive, that being the only good quality to come out of war.
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Critical Analysis Of All Quiet On The Western Front
956 Words | 2 Pages
Erich Maria Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front in 1929 to advertise the horrors of World War I, the dangers of complete nationalism, and how any type of war can turn even the strongest soldier into an emotional and physical mess. With the novel being written in the early 20th century, the starting point of the World Wars, Remarque had the emotions of the public and Europe and American and the tip of her fingertips. The point of the novel was not to glorify war like previous war time novels had, rather it was to show the horror and the realistic negative aspects to war that the common person would not see. Remarque uses many different ways to portray the violence and horrible aspects of war, but one of the most visual is his description of destruction. This is not destruction of buildings or human made objects; this is the destruction of actual human beings. He uses this method to be able to grab onto the reader. If Remarque was only trying to tell a story, this use of blood and gore would not be necessary, but since he is trying to prove a point about the
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All Quiet On The Western Front
1091 Words | 3 Pages
All Quiet on the Western Front. Literary Analysis The U.S. casualties in the "Iraqi Freedom" conquest totals so far at about sixteen thousand military soldiers. During WWI Germany suffered over seven million deaths.
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All Quiet On The Western Front
1065 Words | 3 Pages
Himmelstoss, " had the reputation of being the strictest disciplinarian in the camp, and was proud of it." (Page 26) It is apparent that he liked what he did, and that was to discipline soldiers. Himmelstoss trained the soldiers in the fields so they can be ready for whatever was in store for them at the front lines. One disciplined training activity was advance and lie down on the order of the Corporal. The soldiers were trained until they became, "one lump of mud and [they] finally collapsed." (Page 26) The reason for this practice was to make the soldier fit and to have high stamina in the battlefield. The soldiers under Himmelstoss' discipline learnt to become, " hard, suspicious, pitiless, vicious, tough and that was good; for these attributes were just what we (soldiers) lacked." (Page 29) It does not matter how acute and severe the discipline training was for the soldiers at least they are satisfied of what they have learnt and also I am intrigued by this quality the Corporal had because in the army the soldiers are suppose to be trained through discipline and if I were in this environment, I believe a strict disciplinary would only discipline me.
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All Quiet on the Western Front
984 Words | 2 Pages
Whenever one reads or hears about World War I or World War II, you hear of the struggles and triumphs of the British, Americans or any of the other Allies. And they always speak of the evil and menacing German army. However, All Quiet on the Western Front gives the reader some insight and a look at a group of young German friends who are fighting in World War I. “This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.....” The soldiers of this war felt they were neither heroes nor did they know what they were fighting for. These soldiers were pulled from the innocence of their childhood, and thrown into a world of rage. Yet somehow they still managed to have heart and faith in man kind and could not look the opponent in the eye and kill him. For he was man too, he too had a wife and children at home, he too was pulled out of his home to fight for a cause he didn't understand.
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All Quiet On The Western Front
844 Words | 2 Pages
The stereotypical stance of Corporal Himmelstoss, a military officer, is presented as a physically undersized man who wears a waxed moustache, which ideally supports the many defiant occasions where he disheartens the young soldiers. Throughout the novel where he is sent into the trenches we accept his role of breaking the spirits of the young soldiers. However, we understand why Paul and Albert Kropp take revenge beating him up. It is through these instances where the reader can almost understand a character through his right and wrong actions. Remarque’s inclusion of such scenes in the novel acts out the bitter anger and disillusionment of the young soldiers.
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All Quiet On The Western Front
1506 Words | 4 Pages
dead friend Kemmerich and when Paul and Kat must beat a recruit unconscious to stop
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All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review
1912 Words | 4 Pages
The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co...
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All Quiet On The Western Front Critical Analysis
1407 Words | 3 Pages
While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing future, reducing the quality of his life.
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Literary Themes In All Quiet O
927 Words | 2 Pages
institutionalized war. Soldiers were trained to destroy and kill the enemy. By institutionalizing the war, it was made easier to kill someone just like you for no reason. But by depersonalizing the soldiers with their enemy, it left devastating effects on the mind and heart. Soldiers emotions were deadened and they became irrational. Throughout the story, Paul Baumer, the narrator does not talk about killing someone but as the story progresses, this changes. An example of Paul acting irrational because of the effect war had on him was when he was in the trenches and all of a sudden, a French soldier comes into the trench and Paul immediately stabs him without thinking about, for Paul is scared and emotionally scarred. After stabbing him, Paul leaves him alone to let him bleed to death. In that part of the story, Paul regains a little bit of his emotions because after he stabbed the man, he starts to feel very guilty about it. He tries to talk to the dead man and help the man’s wounds. When Paul looks at the mans wallet, he finds some information about the soldier and realizes that the soldier was very much like himself, the only difference was
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All Quiet on the Western Front and the Horrors of War
728 Words | 2 Pages
One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind. Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable. Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone. Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off. Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death. His turmoil is expressed in the lines, “Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.” The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.
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Essay On Disillusion In Hamlet And All Quiet On The Western Front
2306 Words | 5 Pages
In Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul and his allies feel disillusioned when they realize the true horrors and futility of the war. Paul, when reflecting on joining the war, remarks that “no one had the vaguest idea what we were in for”(Remarque 10). When Paul arrives at the front, he has multiple false beliefs. These beliefs come from his officers, his teachers, his parents, and “all the rot they put in the war-news”(141). Throughout the book, these beliefs are shattered, leaving Paul feeling disillusioned and betrayed. One instance of Paul being disillusioned is when he realizes how poorly equipped the soldiers would remain, despite promises from their officers. This disillusionment is compounded when, before an inspection from Kaiser Wilhelm II, Paul, and his fellow soldiers, are given proper equipment; Paul assumes that his superiors gave this equipment for them to keep. After the inspection, Paul’s superiors force him to return the equipment for his old, tattered clothing. This shows Paul that the German army constantly displays a fake image in order to lure in young men like himself. The way the army treats Paul and his friends, and the horrors of war, lead to them feeling disillusioned about their older generation. Paul remarks about his superiors,
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Paul's Loss Of Innocence Essay
1094 Words | 3 Pages
It is difficult for Paul to cope with the things he saw in the war and his old life. The screeching of the trams scares Paul because to him it sounds like shells. Paul tried to recapture his childhood by looking at the books he once loved. As he look through the books he says that images float through his mind, but they do not grip him, they are mere shadows and memories.(172) Paul can’t find his way back to his childhood and he says “I am a soldier, I must cling to that”. (173) Paul goes to see Kemmerich’s mother and tells him that he died instantly which was a lie. Kemmerich’s mother tells him to swear on it and he still sticks with his lie because he pities her. Paul gets to a point where he have seen so many people die that it isn’t a big deal to him to worry about one single person. When it’s time for Paul to get off leave him and his mother have a conversation and he tells her “Ah! Mother! Mother! You still think I am child – why can I not put my head in your lap and weep? (183) Paul wishes he didn’t go on leave because it only brought pain on himself. He also wishes he could cry on his mother lap and die with her. He can’t distance himself emotionally and mentally from the
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All Quiet on the Western Front