Analysis Of All Quiet On The Western Front By Erich Remarque

Things do not happen without reason; including what people say and do. Events in history instigates a ,“domino effect”, of events and ideas. For example, a world war causes ripples in the fate of generations to come. Last names erased from family trees, governments toppled and regimes started. All Quiet on the Western Front, an anti-war novel, written and published after World war one, shows the unique dehumanizing aspect of the new strategy of war; trench warfare. Remarque wrote this novel in order to bring attention to the affects and horrors of war, however, he didn’t just decide to write it because of a war. Influenced by World War I, the rise of the anti semitism, and the rising violence leading to World War II, Erich Remarque’s,

But with its setting during that time; WWI had to have some force of inspiration. World War One dawned the tactic of trench warfare; creating a stalemate that cost many lives. Soldiers that aren’t in the trenches use the holes in the ground caused by artillery fire. A letter from an American soldier Peter Schaming Jr. (www.nysm.nysed.gov) described his cover being, “(a) little shell hole” and then says that he almost got run over by one of his own tanks. In chapter eleven of ,All Quiet on the Western Front, the protagonist, Paul, portrays tanks as being, “caterpillars run on as endless as the war.” Peter needed to, “ (Jump) up,” almost being killed by his own country, “and (dive) into another shell (hole),” as Remarque wrote, “they roll without feeling. Although Peter’s account was on the American front line, as Remarque’s was german, they had the same experiences with tanks; being machines that couldn’t feel. The tanks being brought into the battle field brought resolution the dehumanizing act of war. With all of the violence in an anti war novel. Deaths couldn’t be the only message; warning people of the only shortcomings of

Bombs drop on the house they’re in whilst they are cooking potato pancakes and collecting meat and vegetables. This section has a lighthearted feel as the soldiers seek refuge; all while they are being bombarded with artillery. But risking their lives does not seem worth only a few pancakes to the modern person. Why would they become sitting ducks only for a few days worth of food? Food, and the lack of it, immensely influenced the section in chapter ten of All Quiet on the Western Front. German food shortages plagued most of Europe as the war drew to a conclusion. Odd food substitutes and malnutrition, common on both sides, proved that the fighting exhausted most, if not all, of their resources. British prisoners of war were fed, as seen on (www.iwm.org.uk), “K-Brot” which it a type of loaf that contained, “pulverized straw,” as a food substitute. Agriculture came to a halt. Lack of men to work the fields meant less output. A sparsity of nitrates and fertilizers, because of chemical warfare, drove the output of crops even further down. Main food staples of the Germans, such as potatoes and bread, became a commodity by the end of World War I. The rarity of food makes the risk seem worth it in the eyes of the starving german soldiers. Although World War I sparked Remarque’s motivated to write, All Quiet on the