Ernest Hemingway's All Quiet On The Western Front

The World War One novelist Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “There were many words you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity. Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene” (Hemingway, ‘A Farewell to Arms’, 1929). Hemingway knew the horrors of war. He was a veteran of World War One. This was a war where 65 million troops were mobilized, and 37 million were killed, wounded, or went missing. War was seen as glorious until these views were brought in. Hemingway became famous for his writing as a member of the ‘Lost Generation’ of American writers. He, along with writers such as Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T. S. Eliot made up the great American writers of the time. However, they did have their European

Erich Maria Remarque was a German novelist who was also a war veteran from the same war as Hemingway. His book, All Quiet on the Western Front, would be very controversial because of the description of the war as a terrible thing and the main character’s struggles with loyalty to Germany and loyalty to his morals. Paul, the protagonist, is faced with many traumatic moments, and he no longer feels human. He resents Germany and doesn’t see the point in fighting, yet he knows he must. This also appears in Peace Like a River, written by Leif Enger. The main character, Reuben Land, must struggle between loyalty to his family, loyalty to his brother, Davy, who murder two unpleasant fellows, and loyalty to his country. He doesn’t know whether to be on Davy’s side or to turn him in. Overall, Peace Like a River and All Quiet on the Western Front both deal with the struggles between loyalty to one’s country and loyalty to one’s morals, and how both can lead to the betrayal of