Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque is a narrative describing World War I from a German soldier 's perspective. The story is narrated by Paul Baümer and predominantly revolves around the experiences of him and his comrades Kemmerich, Katczinsky, Kropp, Müller, and Leer. The novel begins with Paul Baümer and his friends in a cheerful mood as extra rations are being allocated to them due to the missing soldiers. During this event, Baümer introduces and describes the various personalities of his friends and his connection to them. Eventually, Baümer reflects back to the time how he and his friends had been coaxed into joining the war by their, patriotic school teacher, Kantorek only to later find out that they 've been lied to and the war isn 't even comparable to of what they 've been told. Instead, Paul Baümer and his school friends find themselves entrenched in the middle of bloody and what appears to be a pointless war.

This is what all young men of his generation have experienced, men on both sides of the war. During Paul's stay in the hospital, he has a lot of time to reflect on not only how he has lost his youth on the battlefield, but also on how life might be when the war is

Finally, near the end of the book, Paul kills an enemy soldier with a knife, showing the final event, summing up how apathy is so common in the soldiers lives. The first event that shows how the physiological effect of apathy is developed throughout the book is when one of the main characters, Kemmerich, dies. Paul and his friends, while watching one of their best friends die, give up on him and decide to move on right after realizing that Kemmerich wasn’t going to make it. An example of this would be when Paul is thinking to himself “We have lost all sense of other considerations, because they are artificial. Only facts are real and important to us.”

Through out the novel Paul shows that he is a caring soldier. He shows how caring he is when Kat was shot in the leg while bringing food and Paul being the caring person risked his own life to save his goof friend Kat. This shows Paul is caring because if Paul had not

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

But, Paul also benefited from the front by developing close friendships with his comrade’s and built up his character during hard times. During chapter 11, the troop of men get caught into another battle. During this battle Kat is shot in the shin, as soon as this happens Paul is overcome with emotion while trying to save Kat and says “After a few minutes, I 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. (289-290)” As a result of Paul’s strong relationship due to comradeship Paul is overwhelmed with emotion while trying to save his dying friend. In this moment, Paul gives off the feeling of loss. Before the death of Kat he wasn’t feeling these kinds of emotion when it comes to death due to dehumanization. When A group of new recruits arrives to support the troops, they begin to eat dinner and share their childhood pasts. During this moment, Paul mentions “Kropp divides a cigarette and hands me half. Tjaden gives an account of his...broad-beans and bacon...Kat appears...he has two loaves of bread under his arm and bloodstained sandbag full of horse-flush in his hand” (38-39). Later on in the story, these little things such as sharing food and cigarettes not only build the friendship between Paul’s comrade’s but keeps them alive. Moments

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 #).

When he gets a thermometer, he puts it under his arm to make it heat up faster. The sister believes his sickness and both he and Albert get off at the next stop, the Catholic Hospital. This is a perfect example of the immense amount of loyalty that Paul has toward his friends because he does not want to lose them so he will do anything to make sure they do not get separated. One last situation that supports the theme stated, is the loyalty shared between Kat and Paul. Near the end of the book, Kat gets injured and Paul cannot leave him behind because Kat is the only friend he has left. So instead of leaving Kat to go find a stretcher, Paul carries him on his back, to go get help for his friend. Paul stuck by Kats side ever since the beginning; his loyalty never altered. All throughout the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, there are many examples that portray the concept that a man loyalty toward him comrades never alters and never leaves and these were just a few

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

“We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial, I believe we are lost” (Remarque 123). World War I is a tragic event that occurred in 1914 to 1918. Paul Baumer and the rest of the soldiers in the novel of “All Quiet in the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque are lost; they are broken from the fist World War, they don’t know anything aside from War, and they have lost their innocence during the years of maturation. When the young men heard about the War, they were excited, and full of life, they thought they were going on an adventure.

While the disconnection allows the soldier to adapt to the brutal war environment, it inhibits them from re-entering society. When he takes his leave, he is unable to feel comfortable at home. Even if Paul had survived the war physically, he most likely would not have integrated back into society suitably. The emotional disconnection inhibits soldiers from mourning their fallen friends and comrades. However, Paul was somewhat less than able to completely detach himself from his feelings, and there are several moments in the when he feels himself pulled down by emotion. These rush of feelings indicate the magnitude to which war has automated Paul to cut himself off from feeling, as when he says, with unbridled understatement, “Parting from my friend Albert Kropp was very hard. But a man gets used to that sort of thing in the army (p. 269) .”

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.

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul is morphed from an innocent child into a war veteran who has a new look on society. Paul used to have a carefree life where he was able to be a kid, but when he enlisted into the army it all changed. Paul became a person whose beliefs were changed because of the war. Paul doesn't believe in society anymore especially parents, elders, and school, which used to play a big part in his life. He changed his beliefs because society does not really understand how bad war really is and pushed many young men, who were not ready, into the army. Paul connects with his fellow soldiers because they are going through the same situation and

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

Yet another example of the brutalization and dehumanization of the soldiers caused by the war occurs during Paul’s leave. On leave, Paul decides to visit his hometown. While there, he finds it difficult to discuss the war and his experiences with anyone. Furthermore, Paul struggles to fit in at home: “I breathe deeply and say over to myself:– ‘You are at home, you are at home.’ But a sense of strangeness will not leave me; I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a