Character Analysis: All Quiet On The Western Front

The horrors of the war is by far the most horrifying event that the world has to go through. The soldiers that take part in war suffer irreversible damage because of the tragedies they have seen and beared. The worst things about war is the severity of deaths that are bestowed on mankind, the majority of soldiers that have nothing to go home to after the war, and the physical and mental harm that can occur after war. During the war people are victims and witnesses of broken limbs, blood oozing mouths, and lifeless bodies. All Quiet on the Western Front portrays the war as it was experienced, replacing the fantasy of glory, and heroism with a picture of fear and massacre. For example, in chapter one Paul reflects on the story of Joseph Behm,

Experiences in war and the drastic change in everyday life from home versus in war can take a large toll on soldiers. One of the most significant impacts war has on soldiers is the detrimental cutting of ties between soldiers relations with their home lives once they return from war. In the book All Quiet On the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, several symbols including butterflies, potato pancakes, and books are used to express the cut ties between soldiers and their home lives.

The book All Quiet on the Western Front is narrated in first person by the character named Paul Baumer, who shares his experiences on the battlefield during the final two years of the war. Paul is a German soldier who tells the story as he lives it, in the trenches, and on the frontline. Paul is a compassionate, intelligent and sensitive young man who loves his family more than anything and enjoys reading and writing poetry on his free time. Throughout the book, these character traits of Paul vanish because of the horror of the war and the anxiety it brings to him. Paul learns that death is normal and he becomes unable to grieve over the loss of his friends in the war. Paul becomes bitter and depressed throughout the war as he is unable to remember how it feels to be happy and safe.

In All Quiet on the Western Front we read through the view of Paul Baumer who is a german soldier on the Western Front during WW1. Throughout most of the book Paul is a tough soldier who thinks of the enemies as not humans, and this makes it easier for Paul and his comrades. If Paul didn’t treat the enemies this way it would be a lot harder for him to stay strong during the war, you have to think of the enemies as someone who is trying to take your life and you have to think the same way and this could make it easier for soldiers during their service. During Paul’s duration of time in the army he has never had to kill a man with his bare hands, but this changes when he gets lost crawling through No Man’s Land and the enemies start to bomb

The First World War, or the ill-named War to End all Wars, was one that brought hell to Earth and mankind. For the first time in history, industry had appeared to make killing efficient. In static trenches, young men from around the world were killed by artillery kilometres away, poison gas, and disease. All nations in the conflict experienced the creation of a Lost Generation; men who lost their lives, limbs, or the ability to live a normal life. Paul Baumer, the young German protagonist of All Quiet on the Western Front becomes a member of this sad generation through his sad journey to the ultimate elixir, death. In Erich Remarque’s magnum opus All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer is faced by various emotionally jarring tests that serve as a catalyst for his inner decline and eventual elixir. Paul is faced with a fearsome French bombardment and offensive, a hand-to-hand killing of a Frenchman, Gerard Duval, and the death of his mentor and father figure, Stanislaus Katczinsky. For a young man just out of secondary school, in fact, any person in general, these events lead to a loss of hope and a lost future.

In the story All Quiet on the Western Front, the protagonist Paul Bämer experiences multiple characteristic changes while experiencing life from another point of view during his service at the front. While living with his comrades at the front, Paul experiences changes of his attitude towards death due to brutal warfare, dehumanization of himself and his comrade’s, and development of friendship with his comrades.

In the midst of shells, bombs, desperation, pretense ideologies, and hypocrite political figures-a pure hell, there is very little to determine what’s right and wrong and very little to determine who the real enemy is. In the war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, there are several definition of the term, “enemy”, presented through the eyes and experiences of the main protagonist/narrator, Paul Baumer—a German soldier fighting on the French front during World War I. In terms of war, to most an enemy might be a person fighting on the other side. It could be those who have lured you into fighting; fighting for something that brings only harm. The enemy could even be presented as Death itself.

After having been in combat during World War I, Erich Maria Remarque was determined to capture the worst horrors of the war in many of his fiction novels, including All Quiet on the Western Front. This novel focuses on the protagonist, Paul Bäumer, and his friends as they face physical and emotional challenges during World War I. As a result of volunteering for the war at eighteen, it seems that Paul’s only role model before the war was his professor in school, who later in the novel can be deemed hypocritical and misleading. His lack of a strong role model or mentor forces Paul to develop his own way in the world after he becomes a soldier. Paul displays qualities exhibited by an honorable role model in the way he continues doing what needs to be done and adapting to life as a German soldier in the midst of World War I, despite his doubts about the war and how his actions ultimately deteriorate him physically and emotionally; a condition which is prevalent in American society amongst

The impact war has on society is one that changes life the way we know it permanently.

straighten myself up again. My legs and my hands tremble. I have trouble in finding my water bottle, to take a pull. My lips tremble as I try to drink. But I smile – Kat is saved.” The tragedy here is that in Paul's trying to save his best friend, he nearly sacrifices his own life to get his companion and mentor safely to medical help. However, the war still finds a way to kill Kat. In the novel, we see a shift from simply taking pride in your country to having the soldier’s identities become shaped and transformed by their sacrifices and experiences in the war. The soldiers truly learn what it means to sacrifice for your country and know the meaning of a national identity by the end of the war.

A soldier changes mentally and socially due to fighting in war. The soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front and Anthem for Doomed Youth learn that their enemies are very similar to them. Both Remarque and Owens emphasize that soldiers are the same and it is merely war that puts a blockade between the enemies. Remarque stresses that war separates soldiers despite having many similar personalities.

Going to war changes a man in many ways. Only the ones who have been to war can know what it is like and anyone who says differently is most definitely wrong. All soldiers, sailors and veterans know that once their time serving their country comes to an end things will never be the same and that fitting in will be nearly impossible. When Paul Baumer returned to his hometown of Duisburg Germany he experienced just that. Through paul's memories of before the war when he was still a normal citizen, you can clearly tell he has changed dramatically. When Paul comes home, he cannot even bring himself to talk about his experiences from the war. During his combat experience Paul must learn not to feel pain, compassion and not to mourn his lost and

In All Quiet on the Western Front Paul Baumer is a 19 year old soldier who goes through too much in his short life. Paul has difficulty relating to his family because he has been through so many traumatic experiences in the time he has been at war while his family’s life has been pretty tame and the only bad thing that has happened to them is that Paul’s mom is dying of cancer while many people have died around Paul.

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.

Throughout history, there has always been war, in which survival has been one of the most important aspects. For an individual soldier fighting for a cause, the need for survival is vastly heightened. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front camaraderie plays a huge role in helping the soldier survive for several reasons; sanity, sense of understanding, and to be at ease. This seemingly small aspect of a soldier's life can be very important and as Lake Bell puts it “The finest lesson I've learned with age is that all I need is a small team of comrades who inspire me, try not to judge me, and remind me when I'm judging myself.”