Analysis Of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

Paul most clearly displays his strength on the each of these levels when a bombardment begins to rip apart the graveyard in which he and his comrades had been resting. A single reading of the passage reveals the first level upon which Paul excels: as a soldier. His training in No. 9 platoon under Corporal Himmelstoss made sure that he would not be killed the moment he stepped foot in the trenches, but the knowledge that he displays in this time of crisis did not come from parade grounds or noncommissioned officers; it came from months of trench warfare, from experience under fire, and from the natural instinct to make the right choices when it matters most. From the beginning of the passage, one can observe Paul’s course of action: he does not think, he reacts. From the moment the first shell lands, he begins gathering information: “By the light of the shells I try to get a view of the fields” (66). When his sleeve is torn away, he does not trust the fact that he feels no pain. Paul thinks: the fact “that [I feel no pain] does not reassure me: wounds don’t hurt until afterwards. I feel the arm all over. It is grazed but sound” (66). His actions reveal some of his soldiering merit, but not all.

The war also changed Paul by hampering his ability to communicate with the people on the home front. Paul learns that it is hard to communicate with them when he visits his hometown. He realizes that people have no clue how bad war really is especially his own mother. "Suddenly my mother seizes hold of my hand and asks falteringly: Was it very bad out there, Paul?(143)" He did not know what to say so he lied to her and said that it was not so bad. Paul could not believe said that. Of course the war was bad, anything is bad when people are dying. He sees that the gap between him and society is getting bigger especially with his mother. Also Paul has no way to describe his experiences, he can not put them into words because the experiences were so horrible

Through out this book the author shows that war is not about heroism and fighting nobly for your country, war is a terrible thing. Paul and his friends are on the frontline in the shelters for days and the pressure gets to the men as Paul says here. "The recruit who had the fit earlier is raving again and two more have joined in. One breaks away and runs for it." This shows that the frontline, added by lack of food, has driven the young recruits mad and so much so that one recruit runs away out into the battle field with inevitable consequence of death. Paul describes the front line in many ways to show the reader and give the reader a good picture of what the frontline is like for a soldier, as Paul expresses here." The front is a cage and you have to wait nervously in it for whatever happens to you", and Paul also says. "I can be squashed flat in a bomb-proof dugout, and I can survive ten hours in the pen under heavy barrage without a scratch." This shows the reader that it is very unpredictable on the frontline and that a soldier owes his life only to lucky chances that they have not yet been killed.

The first quote explains who Paul is to the war. „We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers - we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animals.” P. 56. This quote explains that Paul and his group, are soldiers who are trying to reach the zone, complete their mission and to survive. Paul sheds his soft, gentle, listening self and adopts a killing, shouting, aggressive demeanor which he continually links to that of a hungry or wounded animal. The second quote shows how soldier’s mission looks like. “There were thousands of Kantoreks, all of whom were convinced that there was only

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

     “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another (263).” Powerful changes result from horrifying experiences. Paul Baumer, the protagonists of Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front utters these words signifying the loss of his humanity and the reduction to a numbed creature, devoid of emotion. Paul’s character originates in the novel as a young adult, out for an adventure, and eager to serve his country. He never realizes the terrible pressures that war

In war, both violence and fear revokes a soldier’s humanity. These elements of war cause a person to shut down their emotional instincts, which causes the soldiers to mature rapidly by taking innocence along with joy and happiness in life. Through the experiences that the soldiers encounter, their humanity is compromised. Thus, as war strips soldiers of their innocence, they start to become disconnected from themselves and others. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque illustrates the negative effects war has on a soldier’s humanity, through his use of Paul’s books and the potato pancakes by revealing the soldiers loss of emotion that causes them to become detached from society. Through these symbols they deepen the theme by visually depicting war’s impact on Paul. Paul’s books helps the theme by depicting how the war locked his heart to old values by taking his innocence. Likewise the potato pancakes reveal Paul’s emotional state damaged by the war with his lack of happiness and gratitude.

Along with personal feelings, the same goes for everyone Paul witnessing his best friend’s death have impacted their group so that they cannot feel or care for each other. After a battle that left many injured. While Paul rests he thinks of how everyone is left on their own, claiming, "We have lost all feeling for one another. We can hardly control ourselves when our hunted glance lights on the form of some other man. We are insensible, dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and to kill" (Remarque, 116). During another day in the trenches Paul sees many bodies everywhere, soldiers being killed in front of him. Losing everyone that was close to him has caused him to lose himself mentally making him unstable. He carries the pressure of telling the families which furthermore carriers his depression. He carries a comrade’s boots as they are passed down from soldiers after each owner dies, Paul carries these boots to represent unimportance of human life. In addition to young soldiers have to follow and look up to older generation and higher rank officers which lead to betrayal. Propaganda played a huge role in World War 1 giving everyone biased opinions and bad judgements of others. These opinions gave Paul a false perspective of older generations.

The young men at the front had a distant relationship that seemed to grow as the war went on. The men that fought at the front became alienated through all of the gruesome scenes they encountered and the problems they faced daily. After just two weeks of battle only half of the men that went to battle with Paul remained at the battle front. Paul along with all of the other soldiers at the front had to see their “brothers” shot and killed or wounded while fighting right by their side. Paul

Paul and his classmates are forced to grow up and fight the enemy, even though they have not experienced life yet. “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.” (Remarque 263). The destruction of these young men’s innocence is a subject not typically covered by resources such as textbooks, giving the reader a different outlook on how individuals were affected. According to Novels for Students, “[Paul’s] loss of innocence during the cataclysm is the focus of the author's anti-war sentiment.” (All). Remarque effectively projects this idea when Paul goes on leave and returns to his home to visit his family and teachers. Upon his arrival, the first apparent change is physical: he has grown taller and his features are more mature. However, as he interacts with the people he has known all his life, he feels like an outsider because he neither understands them nor is understood. Remarque

When he is reunited with his mother "[they] say very little," but when she finally asks him if it was "very bad out there" Paul lies. In trying to protect her by lying, Paul creates a separation between his mother and himself. As Paul sees it, the tragedies and horrors of war are not for the uninitiated. Sadly, the true nature of war further separates the two generations.

We can hardly control ourselves when our glance lights on the form of some other man. We are insensible, dead men, who through some trick, some dreadful magic, are still able to run and to kill” (Remarque 116). Paul’s description of himself and his comrades does not sound human; rather, it sounds as if he were describing a pack of wolves. Furthermore, when Paul becomes trapped in the middle ground during a skirmish, he realizes he must defend himself. A French soldier jumps into his hole, forcing Paul to kill him. Paul “strike[s] madly at home and feel[s] only how the body suddenly convulses” without any thought (Remarque 216). The language employed by Remarque suggests Paul’s behavior is animalistic and brutal. His mad stabs into the body of the Frenchman imply the violent and impersonal nature of man that coincides with war.

Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war has an idealistic and romantic character.  The story centers on Paul Baümer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm.  In the course of war, though, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope"  (Remarque page #).

Many of Paul's fellow army men do not survive. After the loss of Paul's closest friends,

Paul’s experiences guarding over the Russian prisoners demonstrate the unwavering tendency of war to create suffering and sorrow. In the prison camp, the Russians are malnourished and starving. Paul sees their suffering, yet he is unable to truly understand them because he knows none of their history. As Paul describes, “their life is obscure and guiltless.” In this sense, Paul feels the pitilessness that is expressed to a greater degree in the other guards, whom Paul watches as they beat and mistreat the prisoners. The behavior of these soldiers highlights the tendency of war to dehumanize people - both prisoners, who are often horribly subjugated, and soldiers, who have their emotions completely destroyed, suffer the negative effects of wars.