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

In All Quiet on the Western Front, the author paints a realistic and gruesome tale of war. Many people believe that war is a glorious event. The author succeeds to show how gruesome and devastating war actually is. In many books, movies, and TV shows, war is described as glorious and good. War is not glorious or good from the beginning of time people have been at war and from that people have died. War is shown as the thing that gets the girl or the thing that makes people see you as a king and that people come back untouched. That is the false way the Hollywood and others have butchered the reality of war.

Chapter 2 sums up the war in a different fashion, showing the contrast between the uselessness of past knowledge and the “raw and emotional skills necessary” in the trenches (20). The duties imposed on the camp by Corporal Himmelstoss symbolize the hours of work and duties done before enlistment that mean nothing during the war. Being “put through every conceivable refinement of parade ground soldiering” shows how schoolbook tasks were diligently performed only for fear of how society would perceive the boys if they were to do otherwise (26). Himmelstoss himself is the embodiment of previous responsibilities that only make the men “howl with rage” at present (26). The death of Kemmerich goes hand in hand with the death of innocence, Kemmerich’s shiny boots being the small glimpse of hope that keeps the men going. Baumer receives saveloy, hot tea, and rum from Muller for salvaging the boots. In return for giving Muller a sense of hope, Baumer receives a more needed sense of comfort and satisfaction. His hunger, one “greater than comes from the belly alone” (33), is thus satisfied. Chapter 7 directly reinforces this transition from an old life into a new one. Baumer “feels an attraction” to the

All quiet On the Western Front, a book written by Erich Maria Remarque tells of the harrowing experiences of the First World War as seen through the eyes of a young German soldier. I think that this novel is a classic anti-war novel that provides an extremely realistic portrayal of war. The novel focuses on a group of German soldier and follows their experiences.

     “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

There are many heroes in this novel, Stanislaus Katczinsky (Kat) is one of them. Kat is a normal forty years old soldier who helps others because of his kind nature and true leadership. He provides food for the soldiers when it’s most scarce. When the group of soldiers land on an unknown spot and there is no food, Kat takes in charge and goes look for some. “ We[Paul] are dozing off when the door opens and Kat appears. I think I must be dreaming; he has two loaves of bread under his arm and a blood-stained sand bag full of horse-flesh in his hand.” ( Page 39) In a situation of getting bombed and shot at, Kat tries to lighten up the mode. “ It’s good Kat is there. He[Kat] gazes thoughtfully at the front and says: ‘Mighty fine fireworks if they weren’t so dangerous.’ ”(Page 60) Kat lifts the soldier's spirits when they are down, his presence and words provides a little bit of comfort just when others need it. Kat’s nature of heroism is caring for and helping others, while being a true leader. Standing up to a bully is another kind of heroism. Therefore when Paul, Kropp, Tjaden, Haie, and Muller taught Himmelstoss a lesson by beating him up, they became heroes to all the soldiers affected by Himmelstoss’s cruel actions. This group of boys had the courage to make a change for the better by standing up to a bully. They were described to be the “young heroes”(Page 50). No one on the German side was humane towards the prisoners of war, though Paul was the only one who shows compassion towards them. Instead of being cruel towards the defenseless prisoners, Paul helps them by providing some comfort by giving them some cigarettes. Being put in situations like those shown in the novel, these men show the best of themselves through their heroic actions. Regardless of who the person is or what side they fight on, this novel shows the nature of heroism is about the soldiers helping each other out when

In All Quiet on the Western Front author and World War I veteran Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of a young soldier named Paul Bäumer who enlists in the German army with a group of his classmates. In the novel the reader comes discover the many horrors that Paul has to endure during his service before his untimely death in October 1918, only weeks before the war ended. The events that happen in the novel to Paul and his friends in his company during the war are very similar, if not identical, to what the German soldiers had to endure while World War I raged on in the real world. The way that the novel portrays the soldiers’ rations and reliance on food, their life on the front and in camp, how the young soldiers’ lives were destroyed before they even began, how the older generations pushed the younger ones to enlist, the death of soldiers in battle, and the refusal to surrender matches almost perfectly to how things were during World War I, particularly for the German soldiers.

There is no doubt that when war occurs, every single human being is affected by it even if it is just a little. In the novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front” written by Erich Maria Remarque, a group of teenage men, who also appear to by classmates, are in the German army of World War I because they have chosen to leave their adolescence at home and school for grown up work at the army. Throughout this fictional novel, they face many challenges that result in them not seeing each other ever again because of death. War affects individuals by leaving behind necessities such as education or jobs, not being able to watch over others such as their health, and injuries that soldiers receive while they are at war.

Even though the soldiers join the war as naive youths, the war rapidly changes them and they develop into young men. Surrounded by death, the boys are bound to foresee the fragility of their own lives and are stripped of the carelessness and brazenness of youth. The dreadful horrors around the boys bound them to consider a world that does not accommodate to their childish and simplistic view. They want to only see a separation between what is right and what is wrong, they instead find moral doubt. Where they had wanted to see order and meaning, they only found senselessness and disorder. Where they wanted to find heroism, they only found the selfish instinct of self-preservation. These realizations destroyed the innocence of the boys, maturing and thrusting them into their manhood.

Rationing is limiting a person to a fixed amount of food or other necessary items needed in life especially for soldiers or for civilians during a shortage. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quite on the Western Front he accurately shows what rationing was like during World War I. The novel depicts the struggle of Paul Baumer a soldier during World War I and his fellow comrades as they find ways to limit their eating of their already small rations. All Quiet on the Western Front also depicts the poor dietary habits the German soldiers faced during World War I. The novel also depicts the use of turnips for soldiers’ food or as a base substitution in food. The way Remarque portrays food rationing during World War I is accurate when showing

The Great War, also known as World War I, is a defining moment in Europe’s history. Its aftermath consists of the demolition of Germany’s economy, the rise of Adolf Hitler, and the loss of an entire generation of young men who were sent into combat. All Quiet on the Western Front chronicles the experiences of Paul Baumer, a 19-year old student who volunteers for the military during World War I along with his classmates Muller and Kropp. They are compelled to enlist by Kantorek, their fiercely patriotic but misguided schoolmaster. Paul’s life in the military is told in short entries that reveal the reality of war: horrifying battles, violence, alienation, emotional indifference. His accounts of war are personal and emotional, and the bleak tone

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, is a classic anti-war novel about the personal struggles and experiences encountered by a group of young German soldiers as they fight to survive the horrors of World War One. Remarque demonstrates, through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, how the war destroyed an entire generation of men by making them incapable of reintegrating into society because they could no longer relate to older generations, only to fellow soldiers.

The novel All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, is story of the fictional character Paul Baumer and his troop Troop 9 as they battle in World War I on the Western Front for Germany. This novel differs from most war novels in that it does not portray the men as valiant soldiers protecting their country. The way that the story is told strips away the romanticized view warfare and portrays the raw emotions that come with being on the front lines of a battle. As both Paul Baumer’s life and the battle progress, Paul’s values, along with those of the other soldiers, evolve until they culminate in Baumer’s own passing.

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 #).

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is an eye opening story of a teenager and his experiences in the war. Paul Bäumer is only nineteen when he is persuaded by his high school teacher, Kantorek, to participate in World War I. Paul went into the war expecting to be surrounded by nationalism and pride. After he arrived, he realized that he was very wrong. He witnesses many of the soldiers in his company die in front of his own eyes. Paul realizes that war changes a person and takes over their life. By the end of the book, Paul is the only surviver out of his friends. Paul dies before the end of the war.

In All Quiet On the Western Front, Remarque shows the division between all other groups of people and the soldiers. Kantorek pressures the boys to enlist (quote and better phrasing) and the boys are bitter for being forced into this situation by, “a thousand Kantoreks”(12). Kantorek is a symbol for all authority that existed in the boys’ lives; teachers, parents, and adults. He abused the power that came with his honorable position of a professor by using his influence to force his students into the army. Kantorek’s resolution is a use of irony as he was forced into the same position he was trying to force on others. Corporal Himmelstoss is another example of the misuse of control the war ran rampant with. He runs mad with power and uses unorthodox