Erich Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front, is a story based on Paul Baumer and his experiences with war. Paul and several of his friends join the German army to fight on the French front during World War I. They made this decision for honor and glory, but they soon realized war was nothing they thought it would be. Paul experienced many unforgettable scenes. He states from the book, they hid in a graveyard, where the force of the shelling caused the buried corpses to emerge from their graves, as groups of living men fell dead around them. Paul and his fellow soldiers are taking cover in a nearby graveyard. This is showing a hint of irony due to the fact that the soldiers are hiding from death at a place of death.

Chapter 2 sums up the war in a different fashion, showing the contrast between the uselessness of past knowledge and the “raw and emotional skills necessary” in the trenches (20). The duties imposed on the camp by Corporal Himmelstoss symbolize the hours of work and duties done before enlistment that mean nothing during the war. Being “put through every conceivable refinement of parade ground soldiering” shows how schoolbook tasks were diligently performed only for fear of how society would perceive the boys if they were to do otherwise (26). Himmelstoss himself is the embodiment of previous responsibilities that only make the men “howl with rage” at present (26). The death of Kemmerich goes hand in hand with the death of innocence, Kemmerich’s shiny boots being the small glimpse of hope that keeps the men going. Baumer receives saveloy, hot tea, and rum from Muller for salvaging the boots. In return for giving Muller a sense of hope, Baumer receives a more needed sense of comfort and satisfaction. His hunger, one “greater than comes from the belly alone” (33), is thus satisfied. Chapter 7 directly reinforces this transition from an old life into a new one. Baumer “feels an attraction” to the

When a soldier begins his first training camp or when he kills his first man, his boots are there warming his feet. Soldiers might not realize it but their boots are with them through their change of heart. In All Quiet boots resemble ageing, façade, and change in heart. In the beginning of the book Paul and Muller are bedside with their dieing

“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.

An ancient Chinese proverb states “One cannot know peace without knowing war” (Herzberg). In a time where all that plagues many nations was war, it was inevitable that a time of peace needed to follow or at least the sober idea of it. The proverb was created to validate wars and later turned into a way to approach life’s troubles. Being within an individual or on a global scale, war and peace are connected. They exist coherently but never together; they are the cause and effects of each other. One follows the other yet both are needed in order to understand the other one. This relationship between war and peace is developed in the Erich Maria Remarque's novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. While the first major world war is the background

Death is not the only thing to come out of war. Eric Remarque wanted to show us the facts about war and he did but he also showed us three things that happen in war with emotions. In this essay I will go over three things that come out of war other than death which is betrayal, horror, and friendship.

Dean Hughes: “War is the greatest evil Satan has invented to corrupt our hearts and souls. We should honor our soldiers, but we should never honor war.” War is a great wicked that comes down upon the lives of the soldiers. We all look at the war in general and miss to see who is destroying their lives for the cause. War powers destruction and great evil and when these young and clueless men come into it they miss to see the big picture. In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque provides an inside look to show exactly what a toll the war puts on the warriors. Throughout the whole novel the author puts into extreme detail the physical and mental agony on the soldiers and land. Remarque gives an inside look to what the soldiers are

Before Kemmerich dies, he asks Paul to give his boots to Muller knowing that it would be no use to him after he dies and that it would be better off with Muller then thrown away. The story goes on with Paul and his friends struggling to survive with small portions of food and the never ending war continuing on the front. Paul and his friends survive many attacks and bombardments learning and understanding different weapons the enemy is using and the different noises or sound that can help them understand where a shell is hitting or where a gas grenade might have been thrown. Paul also watches unexperienced rookies who gets taken over by the terror of the war and also watches them fall one by one. Soon, Paul receives seventeen days to go back home and realizes that his mother has cancer. He also feels different and realizes that he might never be the same person as he was before he joined the war. At his time at his hometown, he visits Kemmerich’s mother and does not tell her the truth about how her son really died. Instead of stating the truth, he tells her that her son died an instant and painful

Soldiers who barely knew each other were thrust into extremely dangerous situations. At the onset of the novel Paul has a naive judgement about war however, that quickly changes as Paul witnesses bloodshed. Paul and his friend go to visit their comrade, Kemmerich, whose leg got amputated. All the soldiers including Paul were aware that there friend was on the brink of death. Instead of being concerned, Paul and the others worry about who will get Kemmerich’s boots, “But as it is the boots are quite inappropriate to Kemmerich’s circumstances, whereas Muller can make good use of them” (Remarque 21). Furthermore the death of a fellow soldier doesn’t affect Paul and the others since they show no sympathy instead they are egoistic and obsessed with who will get the boots. Paul’s tone demonstrates that he no longer cares for his buddies but rather focus on his own selfish desires. Paul’s emotions have vanished and he believes that the boots are “inappropriate to Kemmerich’s circumstances”. Paul insists that “Muller can make good use of them” since the boots will be of no use to Kemmerich once he is dead. Paul can no longer feel the emotions that every individual feels such as sympathy, portraying that he is completely been dehumanized. The boots

The history and background of an author can play an important role in any story they write. If the author is a white German man who is writing a nonfiction story about a family who experienced the Trail of Tears, that story could probably offend Native Americans. That white German man has no idea what it would be like to be Native American let alone go through that suffrage. When finding literature to read it is important to consider the source it is coming from. Reading from different races of authors helps grow perspective. If you only read from old white authors, what does that do to your perspective? Is it really a problem? As long as someone is learning and gaining new knowledge, does it really matter what different races you read from?

Franz Kemmerich’s boots, in particular, are described to be beautifully crafted and of the highest quality in the whole platoon. As Franz Kemmerich lies on his deathbed, it is evident that war’s fierce complexion has caused

In Les Misérables, Victor Hugo shows that benevolent people have strong trust in others and are easily taken advantage of and manipulated which makes them especially vulnerable. Fantine is shown as being naïve with a strong faith in the goodness of others, which the Thénardiers instantly take notice of. Fantine willingly gives up her beauty and dignity so that she can afford for all of the extra costs coming from the Thénardiers, oblivious to the fact that they are asking for this money with selfish intentions (Hugo 66). Her all-encompassing love for Cosette and her immediate trust in people makes her an easy target for the Thénardiers. Jean Valjean is also taken advantage of by the Thénardiers when he goes to pick up Cosette. Monsieur Thénardier

The book begins with the death of Paul's friend. The men have, by this time, become almost desensitized to death. Kemmerich (the dying friend) owns a fine pair of English airman's boots. It is a forgone conclusion that Kemmerich will no longer require them. It is not petty greed, but pragmatism, which drives Muller's desire to have the boots. The troops’ own equipment is ragged and worn, making anything in serviceable condition an improvement on what they have. As we find out in the story, not only are the soldiers’ boots worn out, but the artillery of the German army is also worn out. This may symbolize that not only are the soldiers and equipment at the front worn out, but so is Germany as a whole. Germany was worn out and had no idea what was going to happen, just as the soldiers had no idea where the artillery shells would land.

In his novel, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo identifies the principle social evils of French society through the actions and qualities of his characters. By depicting each of his characters’ struggles through destitute and oppressed measures, Hugo is able to identify the social errors of 19th century France. The fact that characters such as Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and Cosette, attempt to rise above poverty and redeem themselves indicate that such inequalities did, and still do, exist to this day. Through the use of feminist ideals and the criminal injustice system, Hugo attacks the principle social evils that each of his characters face in Les Miserables.

The power other people have over another person is often understated. In Victor Hugo’s text, Les Miserables, two main characters undergo a remarkable transformation. Jean Valjean and Fantine both have familiar circumstances when they begin their life journey. For example, Jean Valjean and Fantine both begin their lives poor and struggling. Valjean “did whatever he could find to do” to get by, and Fantine, likewise, found whatever job she could (19). Both Valjean and Fantine had not grown up with their parents and were never educated. With similar backgrounds, one would expect these two to follow roughly the same path. Hugo’s story, however, demonstrates that it is not the circumstances one faces that determines their life’s path, but rather the people with whom they come in contact.