Themes Of All Quiet On The Western Front

“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.

To soldiers, fighting on the front lines is a life changing event that can forever alter the way they look, think, and feel. By using juxtaposition, Erich Remarque is able to capture how feelings and behaviors can change while trying to become free from the war experience in Chapter Seven of All Quiet on the Western Front. The main character, Paul, faces three events that make him yearn to rid himself of the terrible weight of war on his shoulders. It is clear that you can never truly understand what it is like in a war until you are the one doing the fighting.

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.

focusing on the life of the soldiers.The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque, tells the story of the German soldiers in world war I. This novel illustrates the destructions of a war and the real effects of a war on a soldier’s live while finding villains and heroes amongst the soldiers. The soldiers are also shown to be normal human beings just like anyone else in the world. Villainous and heroic characteristics exists in or outside of a war, in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the villains and heroes are judged by a humanity scale

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

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.

In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque depicts the effects of power and authority on the characters. Young school-going “men” are given no choice but to support their country by signing up to be on the front line. Pushed into war by the ones they trust most, these soldiers quickly learn the realities of the abysmal trenches and immediately begin to question the older generations that pressured them to enlist. Furthermore, these leaders who speak of patriotism are willing to sacrifice the lives men of lower social classes even when it is evident that the war cannot be won. In the novel, Remarque brings to light how the circumstances of war influence an individual to abuse their role of authority. Additionally, Remarque depicts an individual’s desire for power exposing that their hunger intensifies over time. As a result, the authoritative figures depict that once power is given to an individual, greed and misuse begin to control the person and sway their decisions. Remarque portrays the abuse of power that arises due to the appalling circumstances of the novel, uncovering their inhumane behavior.

The young men at the front had a distant relationship that seemed to grow as the war went on. The men that fought at the front became alienated through all of the gruesome scenes they encountered and the problems they faced daily. After just two weeks of battle only half of the men that went to battle with Paul remained at the battle front. Paul along with all of the other soldiers at the front had to see their “brothers” shot and killed or wounded while fighting right by their side. Paul

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.

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) .”

     “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

Erich Maria Remarque utilizes many symbols in chapter 6 of All Quiet on the Western Front to help emphasize the importance and meaning of certain aspects in the book. Within the abundance of symbols used, two that exceedingly stood out were the broken down schoolhouse and the butterflies in the battlefield. At the beginning of this chapter, the soldiers describe “a shelled school-house.” (99). The destroyed schoolhouse signifies how useless their prior education is in their current situation. As they walk past the building, there is a constant reminder that their knowledge of the outside world and how it works cannot help them on the front lines, and many of the soldiers will not make it home in order to even have any hope of receiving an education

“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.”

Through out this book the author shows that war is not about heroism and fighting nobly for your country, war is a terrible thing. Paul and his friends are on the frontline in the shelters for days and the pressure gets to the men as Paul says here. "The recruit who had the fit earlier is raving again and two more have joined in. One breaks away and runs for it." This shows that the frontline, added by lack of food, has driven the young recruits mad and so much so that one recruit runs away out into the battle field with inevitable consequence of death. Paul describes the front line in many ways to show the reader and give the reader a good picture of what the frontline is like for a soldier, as Paul expresses here." The front is a cage and you have to wait nervously in it for whatever happens to you", and Paul also says. "I can be squashed flat in a bomb-proof dugout, and I can survive ten hours in the pen under heavy barrage without a scratch." This shows the reader that it is very unpredictable on the frontline and that a soldier owes his life only to lucky chances that they have not yet been killed.