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"This book is to be 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 shells, were destroyed by the war."
This opening paragraph is a simple, poetic version of the main theme behind All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The point of the story is to show that war is not romantic, glorious, or fantastic. In fact, those words could not be further from the truth. War is a disgusting competition of human instinct, fought by the wrong people. It brings out the worst in everyone; it destroys their compassion, honesty, and ideals. The beginning chapters of All Quiet on the Western Front are devoted to showing that warfare hardens soldiers against true emotions. Their main priority is survival, second is comfort, followed by gain.
In the first chapter, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his troop have just returned from the front line after suffering heavy casualties. He is joyous because his troop, the Second Company, has been served double rations due to the losses. He and his friends laugh and eat, feeling privileged. They are not at all deterred by the fact that they were gifted this excess of food by 70 fallen comrades. When the cook hears of the losses, he is shocked, but not because of the deaths; he is astonished that he has prepared nearly double the amount of food needed. The soldiers' disconnection shows more personally when Paul and his friends, Muller and Kropp, go to visit a fellow soldier named Franz Kemmerich who is hospitalized with a leg wound. They realize that he will not leave the hospital alive, but they are not too concerned. In fact, their thoughts revolve more around Kemmerich's well-crafted boots and who will inherit them once he is passed. It isn't that they don't care for their friend; it's simply that they have learned to push away sadness and other emotions. They must focus on their own lives before mourning the loss of others.
Kropp has received a letter from his schoolmaster, Kantorek. His letter refers to Kropp, Paul, and all the other boys of their age as the "Iron Youth.
“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
All Quiet on the Western Front is narrated by Paul Baumer. He is a young man of nineteen who fights in the German army on the French front in World War I. Unlike most during that time period, Paul and several of his friends and classmates from school joined the army voluntarily. They joined after listening to nationalistic speeches told to them by their schoolmaster, Kantorek
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque displays unsettling images and symbols of war as it follows Paul Baumer, a young soldier, during World War I. The constant bombardments and escaped shells of war cause the soldier to sink into a barbaric mindset of war. By using imagery and symbols to show how soldiers sink into the mindset of war the author creates a vivid picture of the many horrors of war and its mentality.
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.
Kantorek has written and sent a letter in which he calls his past students, now soldiers, "Iron Youth." Ironically, the young men, all of them around twenty years of age, are no longer youth; war has forced them to grow up beyond their young years. The old classmates talk about how they had idolized Kantorek while they were in school; now they hate him, blaming him for their misery. After all, he was the one who talked them into joining the military. They also blame him for the death of Josef Behm, one of their classmates who was the first of them to be killed. In truth, Baumer and his friends resent all authority at this point in their lives; the brutality of war that they have experienced has caused them to lose faith in the older adult generation.
Comrade companionship is the one thing that kept the soldiers from falling completely apart. They strongly relied on one another to help them when injured, mentally and physically. They helped eachother by cooperating and sharing food. The soldier’s minds were re-adjusted due to the war and they knew that fate was in their own hands and the hands of their comrades. Paul felt truly at home on the front.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, is a novel that shows all of the horrible things and situations that occurred in WWI. It also talks about “the lost generation” that in fact WWI produced. The main character Paul Baumer and his fellow friends, had spent times listening to their teacher Kantorek's speeches. He talked about how it was the boys' “duty or job” to go out and b patriotic and help fight in the war. All in All the decisions that they had made at this time, still had them pondering on the outcomes their lives would have.
Detering – A married farmer, he is disgusted that horses are being used in the war.
War is romanticized as the ultimate glory and honor, the Incan sacrifice of the modern world to please the indifferent gods - or aggrandizing politicians, whoever has more power over man at the time. In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, a teenage boy, Paul Bäumer,
A Soldier's memory gets erased of childhood memories and future and is replaced with the sight of blood splashing bullets of a man made killing machine held by another soldier only fighting on the other side. “So I take him on my back and finally start off to the dressing room.” (Remarque 87). War is one of the few places true brotherhood exists. No matter the cost a Soldier's actions might hold, they would do anything for their fellow brothers if it means their brothers would have another chance at life. In All Quiet On The Western Front, It writes the many stories of brotherhood Including the sad traumatizing stories from watching a Brother die to carrying his corpse to the dressing room without realizing it. “If it came down to it, could I take the bullet, I would. Yes I would for you” (For You). Even though Paul had no idea of the final blow to his friends head he still carried him endlessly and exhaustingly to the dressing room for Hope of his Brothers life.
The soldiers forget about the past, with good food and rest. Paul contemplates why they forget things so quickly; he thinks that habit helps eradicate memory. When one good thing happens, everything else is forgotten. The men turn into “wags” and “loafers” while resting. They cannot burden themselves with the emotions from the consequences
Soldiers are following in the paths of their ancestors even in modern day war as they march into the lifestyle of insanity or death if they are one of the lucky few. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” and in multiple war time poems, the reality and horrors that many soldiers live on a regular day basis are developed through the paths that men go through in war year after year.
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
Paul Baumer is the protagonist in All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque. Paul changes his values throughout the novel as a result of having to adapt in order to survive. As Baumer struggles to survive the war, he transforms as shown by his thoughts, actions, and the conversations that he contributes in.
Stories of wars and the resulting victories are usually told in highly embellished narratives that seek to cover the grim realities of war as much as they aim to whip up popular emotion in order to ensure support for any future wars among the masses. However, war, by its very nature, is neither desirable nor its outcome praiseworthy. Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front lays bare the gritty, gruesome and ultimately self-defeating nature of wars. As Paul Baumer and his soldier comrades enlist and join the Germany Army in order to defeat the enemy, they themselves are slowly vanquished, first psychologically and finally physically through death. As the soldier members Paul Baumer’s company are slowly killed in battle, he becomes more and more disillusioned with the war, especially since he and his friends had enlisted with idealistic aims fed to them by their teacher Kantorek. Instead of patriotic glory and poetic war victories, Paul and his friends found defeat and ephemeral triumphs; instead of honor, they encountered dishonor; instead of personal growth and advancement, they found stagnation and watched their youthful dreams die. Through the war experiences of Paul Baumer as depicted in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the ultimate tragedy of war is revealed; it destroys the lives of its very agents – the soldiers – by crashing their dreams and claiming their lives for little discernible overall gain.