Book Report: All Quiet On The Western Front

In the beginning of the novel, we learn about Johnny Cade - a quiet boy who is haunted by his past. A short time ago, Johnny was beaten senseless by a bunch

“We developed a firm, practical feeling of solidarity which grew on the battlefield, into the best thing that the war produced - comradeship in arms” (Remarque 19). In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front the men are faced at the decision of life and death, protecting each other so each individual will make it home. Facing horrific images while being put at risk on the line in the front. Comradeship plays an important role in All Quiet on the Western Front, by being able to survive, build a brotherhood bond, and restoring comfort and courage.

Erich Remarque uses compelling symbols in chapter six of All Quiet on the Western Front, many of them have a significant meaning, only two have a powerful meaning. A shelled schoolhouse, in a sense brings the reader this sort of comfort because the feel of school brings them back to the good ole days. It is the days when you did not have to worry about things because mom and dad were there. The shelling part is another thing, it is showing the amount and the type of war going on. The violence in this time and place is unimaginable and the shelled schoolhouse is an example of the violence is being revealed. Remarque is trying to display to the reader that in this day and age of war they did not care about what they destroyed. He describes many bloody situations because he wants the reader to feel the pain and suffering how

Johnny Cade comes from a broken home, his dad hits him, his mom does not care about Johnny, the only thing he has are his friends, the greasers. Ponyboy, one of his closest friends, is talking about everyone in the gang and when he came to Johnny he said, “Johnny had it awful rough at home”(4). Johnny unlike everyone else in the gang, except Dally, does not have someone in his family that truly cares for him. This affects him because it makes him upset that his parents do not care for him. If Johnny did not have it so hard at home, he would be more content and joyful, and even less scared. Johnny is a little bothered that his parents did not ask about Johnny so Dally goes on and says, “‘my old man don’t give a hang whether i’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in the gutter’” (88). When Dally is 10, he gets arrested and is on the streets of New York, which shows how little Dally’s father cares about him. Maybe if his father did care, Dally would be more kind and caring, and like Johnny, more joyful. If Dally’s dad cared, he may still be living with his parents and would not be a greaser. Dally and Johnny are

The chapter begins with German soldiers at rest after fourteen days of fierce battle on the Western Front. A double ration of food has been prepared so the soldiers are eating their fill. Paul Baumer, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, watches in amazement as his friends, Tjaden and Muller, eat another helping; he wonders where Tjaden puts all the food, for he is as thin as a rail. Baumer is only nineteen years of age. He enlisted in the German infantry because Kantorek, his high school teacher, had glorified war and talked him into fighting for the fatherland. Kropp, Behm, and Leer, former classmates of Baumer, were also persuaded by Kantorek to join the infantry. They are all now fellow soldiers along with Tjaden,

In 1929 Erich Maria Remarque published a vivid novel that highlighted the brutality of war, All Quiet on the Western Front. Remarque takes the reader on the journey of nineteen-year-old Paul Baumer, a young soldier fighting on the front line for Germany during World War I. Despite its critical acclaim, this celebrated war novel did little to celebrate war.

In All Quiet on the Western Front Paul witness all the horrors of war. He sees death crawling towards the wounded soldiers in the wood, hospital, and on the front. When a soldier was wounded it killed them, they lost a limb or they got sent back to the front. Another awful part of war is soldiers would get shot and stranded out in the woods. They would yell for help, but were never found. Mental wounds were another injury of war. Paul would see people go insane on the front and some soldiers got shellshock. The worst part of the war for Paul was watching all of his comrades die, and his connection with the ones he loved at home fade away. The horrors of war is clearly represented in both Battle Scars and All Quiet on the Western Front with physical wounds, mental wounds, and loss of loved ones.

"Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die"- Herbert Hoover. The leaders who decide to start the war do not have to fight, but the people who do not want to fight, like nineteen year old Paul and his friends, are the ones who are killed and injured. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul changes physically and emotionally through war. Set in Germany during World War I, Paul and his friends must do the unthinkable to survive the war and it causes them to slowly lose their identity. Paul is changed by the harsh effects of the war through his dehumanization, rapid personal growth, and alienation from the rest of the world.

Chapter 11: The war continues and the German forces are weakening. Muller dies and gives Paul his boots. No one hears of Detering ever again after he tries to escape back home. Leer dies because of a thigh wound. Kat eventually dies too because of an exploding shell fragment landing on his head.

All Quiet On The Western Front Essay | English – Parks | 9/8/2017 | Noah Fallon

In chapter four of Erich Remarque’s book All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque uses sensory images. Putting extra sensory images into a scene gives the reader more idea of what’s happening “I hear aspirant for the frying pan” (52). By describing how excited the men are when they hear geese Remarque is, in a way, letting the reader know that, to soldiers at war the smallest thing can be the brightest beaken of hope. When Remarque outlines how happy the soldiers get over some simple geese, it really helps to show how while the war has helped the men grow up, they are still young boys. In the previous chapter Remarque used sensory images to make the boys seem more grown up by giving them power while beating Himmelstoss “It was a wonderful picture”

In Chapter five of Erich Remarque’s novel All Quiet on The Western Front, Paul explains that they are no longer young from the experiences such as being young and having to fight for their lives, not being able to know if they have a future, and lastly, death. As a result, it makes Paul feel older from those terrible experiences as he writes, “We are not youth any longer” (87). Paul makes this statement because even though they are nineteen or twenty, they will experience more in their life when they are in the war than any other time. Paul explains about how they are just starting their new independent life, and then it is shot to pieces from being in the war. “The war has ruined us for everything” (87). The war definitely did wreck everything.

Although men served in battle in World War I, women also had important roles that sometimes were not as praised as men’s. Certain situations in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich M. Remarque can be seen as unsupportive of feminism, or the belief of equality of the sexes. Historically, women typically served as the hospital orderlies to care for and heal wounded soldiers in war. Surprisingly, mostly men play the role of the orderlies in All Quiet on the Western Front are men rather than women to do important jobs such as grabbing “[the bodies] as soon as [they] are dead”(Remarque 16). With the men attaining the role of orderlies as opposed to the women, the story is not necessarily in support of the feminist idea of equality between the

The soldiers begin to lose track of days and weeks, counting time only by season and time spent at the front. Paul Bäumer feels that "it is as though formerly we were coins of different provinces; and now we are melted down, and all bear the same stamp." However, Paul still takes solace in the brotherhood of the soldiers. All their energy goes toward the same goal—survival. The violence and death that surround them feels as common to them as a case of the flu.

Professor’s Comments: This is a good example of a book review typically required in history classes. It is unbiased and thoughtful. The Student explains the book and the time in which it was written in great detail, without retelling the entire story… a pitfall that many first time reviewers may experience.