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All Quiet On The Western Front By Erich Maria Remarque: Critical Analysis

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Historians agree that World War I was a major war that still impacts countries all over the globe. It all started when central countries in Europe, such as Germany, Britain, and France wanted to conquer more colonies and display their powerful military strength. While these countries intended to end the war quickly, the war lasted for four arduous years from 1914 to 1918. In addition, many individuals were pressured to take part in the war because they were forced to believe that they would be considered a disgrace if they did not. All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel written by Erich Maria Remarque, recounts the experiences of a German soldier named Paul Baumer who was persuaded to fight during the four years of the war. The plot encompassed …show more content…

When Paul and his comrades attempt to protect themselves from an incoming bombardment by the French, Paul reflects on how the war has come to “[fill] [them] with ferocity, [turn] [them] into thugs, into murderers, […] this wave that multiplies [their] strength with fear and madness and greed of life, seeking and fighting for nothing but deliverance” (Remarque 114). The author utilizes the words “murderers” and “thugs” to emphasize how the soldiers have turned into inhumane, barbaric humans while participating in the war. This callous characterization suggests that Paul acts instinctively without considering his actions and the guilt that follows. The fact that Paul chooses to describe himself with such a demoralized character demonstrates how he has abandoned his morality into becoming a merciless soldier who feels no remorse for his brutal actions. In addition, Paul’s determined tone of “fighting for nothing but deliverance” indicates that he no longer has an interest in the lives of others, but only for his own survival. This dehumanization allows him to overcome his feelings of guilt and easily justify his wrongdoings. As a result of the “fear” and “madness” that he feels, he has changed mentally due to being involved in the war for such an extended period of time. Moreover, being under great pressure when fighting for one’s life can cause a …show more content…

Many individuals were emotionally scarred by atrocious scenes of the war front that led them to dehumanize themselves and were unable to regain their identity. Countries like Germany in particular ended up in a vulnerable state in the economy, which gave a gateway for Hitler to rise in power. Overall, people believed that violence from “the war to end all wars” would be the answer to solve tensions, but only causes a series of more unfortunate events to occur later on in

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The more fighting there is the worse Paul and the men’s moral become. Paul can not see an end to the war and even if it were to end, he doesn’t believe that he can ever return back to normal. He experiences this when he first visits home during the war. “A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up in me. I can not find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength.”

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Because of this Paul starts believing he will have to start doing things that may cost him his life in the war and may cost his mentality. “We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world, and we had to shoot it to pieces.”(pg 87). During the war, Paul loses so much, even control of himself that all he felt in the war was mostly insanity. Paul also experiences insanity by seeing so many of his comrades dying. “Besides us lies a fair-headed recruit in utter terror.

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War is a harsh reality that is inflicted upon the unwilling through the “need” of it’s predecessors and those whom wish it. All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about 19 year old Paul and his friends in the “Second Company”. Even though they are just out of school age, they have already seen things that many could not bear to even think about. Eventually, all of his friends die, and even Paul too, dies. Remarque uses diction and syntax as literary devices to express his anti-war theme, or lesson.

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The novel All Quiet on the Western Front Written by Erich Maria Remarque is not only a specific story of World War I, but also a criticism of the destruction and pointlessness of war. The book was banned in Nazi Germany because it was critical of German military, and the idea of the “Iron Youth”, a campaign that promoted patriotism and war to young men. The novel tells the story of soldiers who endure the terrors of battle, and shows how war destroyed and entire generation of men and irreversibly detached them from the normal world. Remarque uses his experience in the war to explain that the entire generation of “Iron Youth” were either dead after the World War I, or too separated from their previous lives after experiencing the hatred and

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Paul and his comrade, Albert Kropp were taken to a Catholic war hospital because they were shot in the leg. As Paul heals, he limped around the hospital looking at all the other injuries as he sees, “shattered bones hanging free in the air from a gallows; underneath the wound, a basin is placed, into which drips the pus. ”(Remarque Ch.#10) Through this Remarque shows us that war is very dangerous as it shatters bones into pieces in a way that it can never heal using imagery. This is abominable because of the amount of pain that one has to go through while suffering that injury.

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Title In World War One, one of the most bloody, gruesome, and horrific wars in modern-day history, the dire need for true brotherhood may be a literal matter of life and death. In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, the epic effect of comradeship is displayed throughout the actions, characters, and overall impact on the book itself. Without these aspects of comradeship, one may be as hopeless and deserted as the front lines of the battlefield. To achieve a full knowledge and realize the impact of comradeship, one must start by understanding actions as simple as roasting a goose. While some actions may seem silly or not pertinent to the powerful idea of comradeship, they may mean more than what comes to the reader's mind at first.

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When Paul had stabbed Gerard Duval, he explained to him that “[he] was only an idea to [him] before, an abstraction… [and] did not want to kill [him] ” (Remarque 223). The soldiers dehumanize their enemies

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Before World War I, all of Europe in 1914, was tense and like a bomb or a fire was waiting to erupt. Europe had not seen a major war in years, but due to Militarism, Imperialism, Alliances, and Nationalism tensions grew high. Each country was competing to be the best by gaining more territory and growing in their military size and successful economies. World War 1 was waiting to happen and the assassination of the Archduke was the spark that lit Europe up. In All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque we see the effects of the assassination.

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All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich. M.Remarque conveys the theme that war is costly on the human being and taxing far beyond the physical scars taken away from such event. This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” It is interesting that Erich could embed such heavy theme in his text on WW1, when he quoted that it wasn't meant to go much further than an adventure novel.

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The soldier himself is frightened on why he could not save him which haunts him in his dreams as he says “In all my dreams/ before my helpless sight” is how every time he dreams he sees the soldier and he cannot control it causing him to think of it every night frightening him everyday. Soon he will feel that the dead person wants revenge for his death as the soldier states “he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning”, The dead soldier always comes into the narrator's dream wanting revenge as he chokes him as how he was being choked by the gas clouds and then drowning as how the dead soldier drowned in the green sea of chlorine gas. The horrors of war is what scares the soldier even after the war. At first soldiers imagine themselves as heroes creating them eager and excited they are until they finally get to the front and see no man's land. No man's land is usually bumpy with shell holes and dead trees that are either broken or burnt.

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Script EXT. MONTAGE OF EVENTS IN NORTH AFRICAN DESERT George (Voice-Over) Dear Hester, It seems a very long time since we met in Keady. This tragic period of events has put us in a warm paradise; a place what the rest of the group refers to as an empty world. The desert gives us both an attraction and pain in its range, the worst being man himself.

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However, when they were sent out into the midst of the war many of them realised the misconceptions they had and were led to believe. They became disillusioned as they realized that the war was much more brutal and horrific than they had previously believed. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque effectively comments on the horrors of war from Paul’s perspective, especially when Paul comments on injuries the soldiers endure and witness by stating “We see men go on living with the top of their skulls missing; we see soldiers go on running when both their feet have been shot away…Another man…with his guts spilling out over his hands as he holds them in.” (Remarque,

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Moreover, commonly, soldiers are exhilarated to finally go home after long periods of time at the front, and the men dread when they have to return to battle. However, in Paul’s case, he desires to return to the front, rather than staying in his home town and seeing his mother in pain, he yearns to feel numb again. Therefore, Paul is in “agony” because before going on leave, he was hopeless and had no will to live, thus making him a better soldier. Although, after visiting his mother and sister, he has rediscovered a reason to survive, making it harder to go back. Moreover, the word, “comfortless,” illustrates how Paul feels isolated even at home, he feels little comfort where he grew up.

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Writers and producers made a lot of pieces talking about WWI during the 20st century but they often approached in many different ways the theme of disillusionment. The Grand Illusion by Jean Renoir and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque each have their own way of talking about disillusionment. The novel is more realistic in describing the perspective of Paul, the protagonist, and what he felt when he discovered the truth about war whereas the movie gives a more allegorical point of view of the war with romantic scenes and no scenes in the “real” front. But an important fact to compare both the movie and the novel is that the authors both participated in WWI but not on the same side and they both got wounded a number of times. The two works talk about disillusionment in two different ways, from two different perspectives and yet they convey the same message about disillusionment; war is never as honorable as it is shown throughout the media.

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Erich Maria Remarque, a World War I veteran, took his own personal war experience to paper, which resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed anti-war movement novels of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front. The voice of the novel, Paul Baumer, describes his daily life as a soldier during the First World War. Through the characters he creates in the novel, Remarque addresses his own issues with the war. Specifically, Remarque brings to light the idea of the “Iron Youth,” the living conditions in the trenches, and the sense of detachment soldiers feel, among other things. Therefore, All Quiet on the Western Front criticizes the sense of nationalism, which war tends to create among citizens by quickly diminishing any belief regarding it as a glorious and courageous act.

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