How Does All Quiet On The Western Front Change

     “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another (263).” Powerful changes result from horrifying experiences. Paul Baumer, the protagonists of Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front utters these words signifying the loss of his humanity and the reduction to a numbed creature, devoid of emotion. Paul’s character originates in the novel as a young adult, out for an adventure, and eager to serve his country. He never realizes the terrible pressures that war

In All Quiet on the Western Front author and World War I veteran Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of a young soldier named Paul Bäumer who enlists in the German army with a group of his classmates. In the novel the reader comes discover the many horrors that Paul has to endure during his service before his untimely death in October 1918, only weeks before the war ended. The events that happen in the novel to Paul and his friends in his company during the war are very similar, if not identical, to what the German soldiers had to endure while World War I raged on in the real world. The way that the novel portrays the soldiers’ rations and reliance on food, their life on the front and in camp, how the young soldiers’ lives were destroyed before they even began, how the older generations pushed the younger ones to enlist, the death of soldiers in battle, and the refusal to surrender matches almost perfectly to how things were during World War I, particularly for the German soldiers.

The rise of World War I caused millions of casualties and was yet another demonstration of how supposedly civilized nations could be led into a chaotic war of power over lands and people. Since the beginning of civilization, war has been the way of the world. However, with major advances in technology, this idea of war has since become mechanized and deadlier. There is no doubt that the powerful men who lead wars often don’t care to think of nitty gritty of war, to them, rather, it’s a matter of power and legacy. In Remarque’s novel, the particular story of Paul and his comrades is a perfect example of how a generation can be used and manipulated to drive the agenda of power- hungry men. Through Remarque’s own personal experience and unparalleled writing ability, this novel presents many first-hand experiences into the living conditions of soldiers and peoples.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, is a novel illustrating the struggles in World War 1. Paul, whom the novel is based upon, is forced to change his personality to avoid mental damage during war. Paul and his group of friends are altered not only physically, but also mentally. Experiences during war causes them to cast their emotions away to avoid getting hurt emotionally. Paul and his comrades are being shaped by the experiences during war and are beginning to accept that life is fragile. As war drags on, death becomes common enough to become a casual thing for Paul. When Paul goes back to talk to Kemmerich’s mother, he is shock how much pain she is in, “. . . she strikes me as rather stupid all the same. . .Kemmerich

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.

Paul and his classmates are forced to grow up and fight the enemy, even though they have not experienced life yet. “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.” (Remarque 263). The destruction of these young men’s innocence is a subject not typically covered by resources such as textbooks, giving the reader a different outlook on how individuals were affected. According to Novels for Students, “[Paul’s] loss of innocence during the cataclysm is the focus of the author's anti-war sentiment.” (All). Remarque effectively projects this idea when Paul goes on leave and returns to his home to visit his family and teachers. Upon his arrival, the first apparent change is physical: he has grown taller and his features are more mature. However, as he interacts with the people he has known all his life, he feels like an outsider because he neither understands them nor is understood. Remarque

World War I affected the soldiers mostly negatively mentally and physically because no war before it was as horrifying as the Great War. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, tells the tales of a group of German teenagers that were convinced to enlist to fight in World War I. Paul Baumer is the protagonist and the narrator in the novel who changes from an innocent young man to a hardened soldier along with his friends. The author uses the characters Paul, Himmelstoss and Kat to reveal the negative and positive consequences of war and to exemplify that war brings out the worst in people, war brings people closer together, and that war is dehumanizing.

"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.

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

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.

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 #).

During a violent encounter with the French, Paul realized the soldiers around him, and himself have “become wild beasts”, who “defend [themselves] against annihilation” (Remarque, 113). The introspective soldier

In the beginning, Paul and his friends viewed Kantorek as a wise authority person who talked about joining the war and fighting for your country patriotically. Kantorek uses the phrase “iron youth” (16) as a way of describing his students as indestructible, but Paul and his friends completely changed their feelings about Kantorek and older generations, because of the horrors of war that these young men are seeing. World War one was a much different war then the wars previously fought, the scenes of blood and death were unimaginable for someone who has never seen such horrors. Paul states: “Youth? That is a long time ago. We are old folk” (16). He says this because through everything that his friends and he have seen isn’t usually seen by a 20-year-old which is completely different to what Kantorek and the older generations have ever experienced. Paul is angry that his schoolteacher convinced him to join such a horrible and bloody war. Paul’s friend Kropp refers to the new recruits as “infants” (28) which shows how inexperienced they think the new recruits are. These

Paul began to realize this in chapter 11 and, greatly despised this. Paul stated that he and his comrades had to think like animals. He said he felt like an animal because he relied solely on his instincts in battle which he said was his best chance to survival. When analyzing he basically stated at in order to survive there was no room for emotion. Although Paul does not realize that this is effecting him and the war is wearing them down. As stated previously Paul realized there was no avoidance of death in war. All of Paul’s dearest friends began to all die one by one, as the war went on. Paul stated that he felt hopeless in chapter 12 because he had nothing, and even if he returned home there would be nothing for him

All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death-- together. Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader