Imagery In 'All Quiet On The Western Front'

“Which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war - comradeship,” (Remarque 27). Throughout the war, soldiers depend on each other to be able to live another day. Through small acts of kindness, sorrow from loss, and never leaving one behind emerges the theme of comradeship, which is clearly represented in the novel, All Quiet On The Western Front.”

     “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

Throughout the story All Quiet On The Western Front several different types of literary devices are used to add meaning. Symbolism takes place in countless parts of the story, “just you think, boys, a real feather-bed with a spring mattress…” as the guys can only think that if they had that bed they would love to stay in the war further more to fight longer(Remarque 78). During the war, numerous soldiers didn’t get nice as well as luxurious items, consequently, as for these soldiers they are sure-enough thankful to have the items they have.

“We developed a firm, practical feeling of solidarity which grew on the battlefield, into the best thing that the war produced - comradeship in arms” (Remarque 19). In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front the men are faced at the decision of life and death, protecting each other so each individual will make it home. Facing horrific images while being put at risk on the line in the front. Comradeship plays an important role in All Quiet on the Western Front, by being able to survive, build a brotherhood bond, and restoring comfort and courage.

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.

It’s no surprise that soldiers will more-than-likely never come home the same. Those who have not served do not often think of the torment and negative consequences that the soldiers who make it out of war face. Erich Remarque was someone who was able to take the torment that he faced after his experience in World War I and shed light on the brutality of war. Remarque was able to illustrate the psychological problems that was experienced by men in battle with his best-selling novel All Quiet on the Western Front (Hunt). The symbolism used in the classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front is significant not only for showing citizens the negative attributes of war, but also the mental, physical, and emotional impact that the vicious war had on the soldiers.

He explores the grim reality the soldiers' faced on a daily basis and demonstrates the tremendous toll the war took on the mental and physical condition of the soldiers. The author, Erich Remarque depicts the brutality of the front and how the war brainwashes many people into thinking that their opponents are evil. The impulse of Paul killing his opponent shows the survival and fear of death. It is not against the men that they fling their bombs, but it is the idea of them being killed in an instance and ending their lives at a very young age. Out of 4 stars I would rate this novel a 4 out of 4 because of its description of how the war changed a nation and its people. All Quiet On The Western Front paints a very vivid picture of the realities of WW1 and the nature of warfare experienced by the soldiers' at the front. The impact of the war of those at the front was undoubtedly life altering for the few who were lucky to survive, the consequences of which would be witnessed in civilian life for generations to come until the process repeated

In the incredible book, All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, the reader follows Paul Baumer, a young man who enlisted in the war. The reader goes on a journey and watches Paul and his comrades face the sheer brutality of war. In this novel, the author tries to convey the fact that war should not be glorified. Through bombardment, gunfire, and the gruesome images painted by the author, one can really understand what it would have been like to serve on the front lines in the Great War. The sheer brutality of the war can be portrayed through literary devices such as personification, similes, and metaphors.

The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a tale about a group of young gentlemen in Germany who decide to join the army, and fight in World War I for their country. The boys become interested in fighting for their country after their schoolmaster informs them about the importance of this war. With much excitement, the young men have high expectations of what they want the war to be like. Throughout the course of the novel, the attitudes and opinions of the boys change as they develop an anti-war perspective. The war really takes a toll on the main character, Paul, as he often finds himself anxious and uncomfortable. This gives the feel that the novel has anti-war themes that are exhibited by this negative perspective on the part of Paul. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front shows an anti-war perspective that is demonstrated by Paul’s personal struggles in war, how Paul is changed by the war, and the theme of fearing war.

In chapter four of Erich Remarque’s book All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque uses sensory images. Putting extra sensory images into a scene gives the reader more idea of what’s happening “I hear aspirant for the frying pan” (52). By describing how excited the men are when they hear geese Remarque is, in a way, letting the reader know that, to soldiers at war the smallest thing can be the brightest beaken of hope. When Remarque outlines how happy the soldiers get over some simple geese, it really helps to show how while the war has helped the men grow up, they are still young boys. In the previous chapter Remarque used sensory images to make the boys seem more grown up by giving them power while beating Himmelstoss “It was a wonderful picture”

Within All Quiet on the Western Front, the most prevalent theme is the horrific nature of war and its ramifications upon the soldiers, both mentally and physically. Through the use of dialogue, a vast contrast in emotion is displayed through Kemmerich’s death. “All three of us are thinking the same thing: even if he did get better he would only be able to use one of them, so they wouldn’t be any use to him.” Through this quotation

Lost generation is the idea of an unfulfilled generation coming to maturity during a period of instability (New Oxford American Dictionary). The idea of lost generation first started with writers such as Ernest Hemmingway after having served time in the war felt a disconnection to his prewar self. In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, the author Erich Maria Remarque wrote about war and included details that were often kept as a secret. A very prevalent theme in Remarque’s novel is the loss of innocence, which ultimately leads a generation of soldiers to become known as the lost generation. World War One caused a sense of instability and uncertainty in its young men, ultimately leading the soldiers to lose their innocence and questions their sense of self.

In the Greatest War Novel of All Time by Erich Maria Remarque titled All Quiet on the Western Front, the idea that intense bonds are formed between soldiers is displayed by the emotions and impulses Paul experiences when one of his comrades is injured or dying from battle. In the opening of the novel, Kemmerich is suffering from his leg amputation. Paul continually visits Kemmerich in the hospital until he passes, Paul says it is the “...most disturbing and hardest parting I have ever seen…” (31). After Kemmerich dies, Paul feels that “...[he] could drop down and never rise up again” (32). Kemmerich and Paul’s bond carried from the battlefield to the barracks. Paul spends hours accompanying Kemmerich in the hospital and feels such strong emotions

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.

All Quiet on the Western Front is an enthralling story about WWI, which, unlike other war stories at the time, vocalized the negative aspects of the war specifically the psychological effect. You can see throughout the book, the psychological horrors which Paul experiences. This psychological aspect of stories is generally not as conspicuous or as horrifying as shown in All Quiet on the Western Front. I have always been intrigued by the psychological affect that war has on you, and this book was able to provide an accurate representation of why war effects the solders in such a horrid way. The part that was most compelling was when Paul was stuck in the hole. He had a sudden revelation that the French soldier was a “person” too. He