The Powerful Conclusion of "All Quiet on the Western Front"

The ending to Erich Maria Remarque’s book, All Quiet on the Western Front is a very convincing and logical ending that connects every end together and ties together with the main themes of the book: the horrors of war, the fragility of human life, and the effect of war on the soldier.. It also ties together the events of the book, and presents us with a brilliant ending that is convincing and believable in light of what we have already seen illustrated.

The ending to All Quiet on the Western Front manages to tie in and include elements from at least three major themes in the book, that is, the horrors of war, the fragility of human life, and the effect of war on the soldier.. Throughout the book we see each of these themes illustrated, with each at it’s height in the conclusion. As the novel draws to a close, we see increasingly how the war is brutal and unforgiving. An example of this is when Muller is shot at point blank range, and suffers for thirty minutes in agonizing pain, while all that Paul and the others can do is stand by and watch as their friend dies. Another horror that is illustrated in the end of the book is how that, by the end of the book, every major character and minor character that has been introduced is dead, and that they are not even remembered and are written off. This detail ties into the next theme which plays a major role in the ending, the fragility of human life. Throughout the book, we see how fragile human life is, with Kemmerich dying early in the novel, to the ending in which everyone eventually falls. We see Muller die a slow and painful death due to an abdominal shot, Katcinzky die because of a random piece of shrapnel, and Paul even dying at the end of the novel due to an unknown reason. In th...

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... in the end of the novel convincing, and leads to a satisfying end, despite how sad it really is. In a way, these events and ending even affect the reader, as the reader is so accustomed to death that he treats the deaths of Muller, Kat, and Paul as just another death in the book. The only thing that makes the ending somewhat unsatisfactory is the overused cliché of everyone dying in the end of the novel. However, at the same time, that is what makes the ending great, as the horrors of war are truly defined with everyone losing their life.

All Quiet on the Western Front has an excellent ending which is preceded perfectly through the weaving of the themes through the story, as well as the events leading up to the climax of the story. Because of this, the ending leaves the reader completely satisfied with a logical and believable ending that still impacts the emotions.