Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

Paul and his comrades feel betrayed by their own people as well as they have been deceived by their friends, their families, and their loved ones. Paul realized that the betrayal of the civilians is because of their ignorance. The same ignorance lead the parents to force their sons into the army and therefore onto the path of death. Those soldiers like Joseph Behm who “enlists to avoid ostracization by his peers” (Warner). These civilians, these poor ignorant fools, who lived blissfully in their ignorance, believed they understood but they couldn't. They could not understand the war the same way the experienced soldiers did. Paul comes to acknowledge this when he visits his home and he says that “They understand of course, they agree, they may even feel it so too, but only with words, only with words, yes, that is it” (Remarque110). To make the matter even worse, the older generation didn’t want to hear but lies from soldiers; they only wanted to hear about patriotism and glory. “He [Paul] realizes that the people at home would prefer lies rather than to accept the soldier’s account” (Henningfeld). Also in their ignorance, they did not realize that they

Paul escaped serious physical wounds; however, he is completely destroyed by the effects of the war. After being mercilessly attacked with gas, he sees the brutality and lack of concern for the soldiers’ lives. Although he is continuously pressured by authority figures to see the opposing fighter as the main enemy, Paul understands the problem goes beyond killing other men. The war tears Paul apart and leaves him scarred by the lack of

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.

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.

Paul is given seventeen days of leave in which he visits his family. When he returns home, he feels out of place and is not comfortable sharing his awful combat experiences with others. His mother is sick and dying of cancer as his father is struggling to pay for her care. Paul also finds out that Kantorek, his teacher from school, was forced to become a German soldier. This pleases Paul because Kantorek now has to actually experience the tragic events of the war firsthand like the

All Quiet on the Western Front is narrated by Paul Bäumer, a twenty-years-old German soldier who fights in the French front in World War I. Paul and his classmates (Kropp, Müller, Tjaden, Leer, Haie and others) were urged on and eventually convinced by his school teacher – Kantoreks – with the theories of

All Quiet on the Western Front is a story about the horrors of World War I from the perspective of a German soldier named Paul. Throughout Paul’s service he sees and does horrible things, becoming disillusioned with the ideals of the German high command and of world leaders in general. This book makes it clear not only that the generation of boys and men that were sent out to fight feel betrayed by the previous generation and by their government, but also that there was a huge gap between the soldiers and everyone else around them.

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.

All the soldiers have identifying features back at home. But when they fight, they are no longer the same teens as they are a home. The war takes their identity. They “march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers” and “reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animal”(56 Remarque). This metamorphosis into barbaric creatures, develops as a result of the toll that war has taken on these men. As they approach the front, they turn into animals with beastly instincts which they cling onto for survival(Wagener). They have no identity which causes them to feel confused at times. Paul claims, “We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial—I believe we are lost”(123 Remarque). With this paradox, Paul understands that his past no longer defines him. He only knows life as a soldier on the front. Paul know he can never return to a normal life as he says, “A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up in me. I cannot find my way back, I am shut out”(172 Remarque). When Paul goes home to see his parents, it feels like years have past. This distance that he feels, results from the war taking over life and identity. No longer a studious and creative child, Paul takes on his new role as a strong and experienced soldier, giving testimony to the horror that occurs from

All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel published in 1929, continues to have major appeal today because of universal and timeless themes. Similar to how it was in 1929, war plagues the lives of millions and millions of human beings. All Quiet on the Western Front discusses the debilitating effects of war on the soldier, and how it can turn them into a shell of a human. The other timeless theme of the novel is that men, when they gain power, will show it and feel as if they need more. These patronizing men will often cause the insubordination of the people below them. Both of these themes are still palpable in everyday modern life.

In the words of Otto Von Bismarck, “Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.” Many of the preceding war novels to All Quiet on the Western Front, misrepresented or overlooked the anguish of war, in favor of more resplendent ideals such as glory, honor, or nationalism. The predominant issue of All Quiet on the Western Front is the terrible atrocities of war. The reality that is portrayed in the novel is that there was no glory or honor in this war, only a fierce barbarity that actually transformed the nature of human existence into irreparable, endless affliction, destroying the soldiers long before their deaths.

The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque explores and demonstrates the themes of war and its devastating effects on the soldiers who participate in it. Set during the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front follows a man named Paul Baumer and his classmates who enlist for the war effort. A theme repeatedly expressed in the novel is the disdain for leadership such as Kantorek, Corporal Himmelstoss, and the Kaiser.

There are thousands of reviews for this deeply moving and heartbreaking book , and I don't know that I could add anything new. It simply broke my heart. However I do strongly feel that I should describe the vivid pictures in my mind when I am reading it .I first time read All Quiet on the Western Front in my first year of university that I took history world war as an elective course.During this re-read, I reflected on not only in appreciation of what soldiers and their families suffer during war, but also for my university’s teachers who spend their days trying to inspire me to have perspective and big Ideas and to think deeply. I remember how meaningful it was to read this book when I was 19, and it helped shape how I think about history

Kantorek and other commoners do not see the horrors of war until they are actually in it. People such as him spit the word “coward” if people do not enlist. For example, Joseph Behm who originally didn’t want to enlist but eventually caved into enlisting because he didn’t want to be ostracized. Paul said the poorest and the simple people were the wisest whereas the people that are better of, who should have known what they were doing, were enlisting. Like many other war books at the time, people going into war were shown as a glorious and amazing thing. If the people such as Kantorek wrote this book, he would have glorified going to war without knowing what war was actually like. The author’s viewpoint was similar to Paul viewpoint on this matter because both experienced war firsthand. Unlike the others who didn’t fight in the war, these two have experienced war and know what it is like to fight. For the soldiers it is not glorious, it horrendous to see comrades fall by your side, in a painful, grotesque way.