Betrayal is the Truth in Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front

In my book, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the most intriguing aspect is the loss of innocence by the main character, Paul, and his fellow soldiers. This is a recurring thought that is shown throughout the novel. For instance, when the author writes, “It is not fear. Mean who have been up as often as we have become thick-skinned” (53). When he says this it is amidst the noises of explosions and gunfire. It makes it very evident that the soldiers have become used to the constant racket of war even during the pitch black of night. The author illustrates another example when he writes, “I was sitting in a dugout playing skat; after awhile I stood up and went to visit some friends in another dugout. On my return nothing

The relative closeness to the present circumstances that this renders aids him as he constructs his “defense” (606). Early on, he lets on that he was not, and still is not, for war or this misuse of youth. His apparent contempt and disdain colors each passage in his piece. Although this stance may bias his opinions, he takes care to relay his message and provide relative insight into what life as a soldier is like. However, his assumption that “these kids signed up mostly to get some education” (606) is the principal evidence of his use of hasty generalizations by which he uses to reason their decision to enlist, undermining the credibility he draws from.

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.

“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” (Remarque 263). He further explains, “all men of my age here, and over there, throughout the whole world see these things; all my generation is experiencing these things with me” (Remarque 263). Paul and others of his generation have lost their ability to see life as they should be at their youthful age. They have seen and faced the traumas of war. They live every day, not knowing if it will be their last.

In the beginning, Paul is a compassionate young man. He loved his family, he was emotional, he was a normal young man. Like all of the other soldiers in the war, Paul begins to lose sanity very slowly. Paul becomes essentially a automaton of war, a robot who can’t feel. There is occasions throughout the book where Paul’s true self, and the true effect of war

The book, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque can be identified with many themes. Whether the theme is loyalty to friends, the unbelievable suffering at the hands of other human beings, or the beauty of nature in contrast to the horrors of war, none of those are as fitting as the theme: betrayal by adults. The manipulation performed by a trusted schoolmaster, the awful treatment done by someone who is called a leader, and parents going along with what society thinks is right versus what their sons want, all are important factors that explain why betrayal by adults is the central idea of this story.

Throughout the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, and several other war texts, there are a number of themes that can be related to them all. In the book, the character named Paul Baumer writes, in first person, about his experience through war. He sees and feels so many things, but the most important one of all is the feeling he gets when he is with his comrades, his friends. In sight of this, Paul, and other characters, give all their loyalty to the people they are close to. In other specific war pieces, including the film War Horse and “Gregory,” a short story, the characters also experience this life giving idea of comradeship and loyalty. In war, a man’s loyalty to his comrades never alters.

While on leave, Paul also visits his father and some of his father's friends, but does not wish to speak to them about the war. The men are "curious [about the war] in a way that [Paul finds] stupid and distressing." They try to imagine what war is like but they have never experienced it for themselves, so they cannot see the reality of it. When Paul tries to state his opinion, the men argue that "[he] sees only [his] general sector so [he is] not able to judge." These men believe they know more about the war and this makes Paul feel lost. He realizes that "they are different men here, men [he] can not understand..." and Paul wants to be back with those he can relate to, his fellow soldiers. Paul wishes he had never gone on leave because out there "[he] was a soldier, but [at home] he is nothing but an agony to himself." When Paul returns to the battlefield, he is excited to be with his comrades. When he sees his company, "[Paul] jumps up, pushes in amongst them, [his] eyes searching," until he finds his friends. It is then

During the war, many soldiers may feel as though they are losing their self-identity. Having that one person they can confide in, who share the same troubles, tends to be one of the few things that helps them manage the chaos of battle. Thus, camaraderie is the key to survival during the time of war. The classic war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, illustrates an image of comradeship through the narrator Paul Baumer and his close friend Kat. The scenes throughout the novel between the two friends show how heavily they rely on one another.

In the opening chapter, Paul Baumer, the narrator, recalls how schoolteachers, such as his own, persuaded their bright-eyed students to put on the German colors. Paul’s teacher, Kantorek, taught his students the importance of the war as he instilled in them the values of nationalism and patriotism. Everyday, he sprouted war propaganda at them in “long lectures” (Remarque 11). He glamorized the war telling his students that they were “the Iron Youth” (Remarque 18) and that “duty to one’s country is the greatest thing” (Remarque 13). Consequently, his students left class enlisted in the war one by one “until the whole of the class went” (Remarque 11). When the students left the comforts of home to volunteer for the war, they valued their country above all else and were prepared to face their own death as doing so lined up with what they believed in.

Being in a war zone for years on end can have a huge toll on people and their sanity. For Paul and his comrades in the trenches facing life or death every day, their situation for many men would lead to further problems such as shell shock(PTSD). Paul points this out and explains what had got him through this within the novel, "Had we gone into the trenches without this period of training most of us would certainly have gone mad. Only thus were we prepared for what awaited us. We did not break down, but adapted ourselves; our twenty years, which made many another thing so grievous, helped us in this. But by far the most important result was that it awakened in us a strong, practical sense of esprit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war—comradeship."(26-27) Here

All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death-- together. Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader

He states that when he goes home, his family will be shocked to hear this language. Paul treats his lingual freedom as privilege that soldiers have, and shows the benefits of living a soldier’s life. He refers to the front as if it were a paradise, for he can use vulgar language and not worry about manners and decorum. He treats his service as a time for relaxation, recreation, and a little excitement. This attitude becomes short-lived as the realities of war sink in. When Paul volunteers for reconnaissance one night, he becomes stranded in No Man’s Land (the area between opposing trenches) and begins to realize the brutality of war and starts to lose his own humanity. At the beginning of the book, Paul shows care towards his fellow soldiers and treats his service as an adventure by his education of the recruits and his excitement towards the boundaries of his vocabulary.

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

Life for the soldiers in the beginning is a dramatic one as they are ordered up to the frontline to wire fences. The frontline makes Paul feel immediately different as described here. "As if something is inside us, in our blood, has been switched on." The front makes Paul more aware and switched on as if his senses and reactions are sharpened. I think Paul and his friends are