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All Quiet On The Western Front Effects Of War

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War is often romanticized as a necessary and heroic means of achieving justice and peace. However, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front exposes the brutal reality of war and its devastating consequences. Through the experiences of the protagonist, Paul Baumer, Remarque vividly illustrates how war destroys individuals physically and mentally, leaving behind shattered souls and lost cultures. Firstly, war causes physical destruction that not only kills soldiers but also damages the environment and infrastructure. Baumer and his comrades witness the horrors of modern warfare, including the use of chemical weapons and the trenches' squalor and disease. Remarque writes, "The cemetery is gone. Everywhere are holes and gaps in the earth and in them lie the remains of the unburied dead" (114). This quote shows the physical destruction caused by the war, which not only affects the soldiers but also the environment. The war has left the landscape barren, and death is everywhere. Furthermore, Baumer is forced to kill enemy …show more content…

Baumer and his friends suffer from shell shock, a mental illness caused by the trauma of war. Remarque writes, "We sit opposite one another, Kat and I, two soldiers in shabby coats, cooking a goose in the middle of the night. We don't talk much, but I believe we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have" (88). This quote shows how Baumer and Kat's friendship is the only source of comfort for them amidst the chaos of war. War not only takes a toll on soldiers' mental health, but it also destroys their sense of identity and purpose. Baumer feels detached from his former life and struggles to find meaning in his existence. Remarque writes, "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces" (12). This quote shows how the war has destroyed Baumer's worldview and left him

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Approximately 20% of all war veterans suffer from a mental disorder called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short. This continues to affect many soldiers, just like it did in the past. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a first person narrative set during World War I about a young boy and his friends’ journey to war. An anti war propaganda, Remarque’s novel debates the corruption of WWI.

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The author of this anti-war novel set out to portray war as a meaningless and brutal way of life that ruined the life of many of the soldiers. Paul observes the gory and butchered bodies scattered everywhere around the battlefield and “cannot realize that above such shattered bodies there are still human faces in which life goes its daily round” (Remarque 263). The war has completely altered Baumer’s conception of military conflict with its disastrous extent of violence and slaughter. His description of the dead men who even Paul is left an utterly broken and destroyed man after the war. Furthermore, the horror of war and the animalistic nature it brings out in people is thoroughly addressed in Baumer’s description of the impoverished Russian soldiers, who like them were forced to “unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another” (Remarque 263).

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In a time of great nationalism, Remarque showed the true horrors of war which many did not know, for they were told war was noble. All Quiet On the Western Front breaks the illusion painted by the leaders of all countries, showing the true loss of life, and mental and physical effects that war had on the soldiers. As a veteran soldier from the Western Front himself, Remarque experienced the horrors that were not mentioned when he was told to sign up and help his country. Remarque tells how the many young men forced to fight in the war under their older commanders had their lives completely destroyed, even if they survived.

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A story that tells only of death, sorrow, and the bitter truth about World War One, Erich Remarque’s book, All Quiet On The Western Front, is simply a story of a generation of men who were lost to war. Told through the eyes of a 19 year old boy named Paul Bäumer, as he shows what World War One was, in all of its horrific glory. This ‘glory’ so to speak was a gruesome, traumatizing experience for many of the soldiers that fought in World War One, this experience engraved in their memory, that would continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives. In the epigraph in All Quiet On The Western Front, it tells that “ even though [the soldiers] may have escaped shells, [they] were destroyed by the war”. It is evident to say that even though some soldiers escaped death from the war, they all will be scared from the experiences they had.

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Before World War I, Baumer thinks of a peaceful world with no negatives that he knows of now because of the war. The war takes over his mind and is now in control of Baumer’s thoughts. Now that Baumer experiences war, it is all he can think of; the horror of killing innocent people, the devastation he feels to see one of his fellow soldiers dead on the battlefield. All these thoughts contribute to Baumer’s pessimistic point of view which he shares with his friends in the second

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War over a War Novel In the preface to All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque writes, “It [the novel] will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” This quote shows that this book was written for the purpose of conveying how a generation was lost because of World War I. Two critics, however, differ over the validity of the author’s purpose because of the depiction of the horrors of war and portrayal of a soldier in All Quiet on the Western Front. The critic Modris Eksteins agrees with Remarque in arguing that Paul Bäumer embodies an everyman that represents the fate of a generation.

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Erich Maria Remarque’s title choice was perfect for this novel. Although it was not all quiet on the western front until the last page (p.296), the whole novel describes the path the war took to reach that point. Each event that occurred magnifies the struggle of valiant men in their attempt to achieve peace and brotherhood. The story line of the book began with tension, evolved to hatred and decimation, and resulted in peace and relief. When Paul Baümer lay dead, he appeared calm because peace had finally been achieved.

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Warfare has a devastating impact, that can provide an impact on the nature of humankind. “All Quiet on the Western Front” is a film that visualizes to the audience the struggles and hardships that the soldiers endured while fighting in World War 1 for Germany. The audience sees the stress not only mentally, but physically that the soldiers have to go through while at war. This film allows future generations to understand the devastating impact warfare had on everything and also provides insight into the nature on humankind. There are many scenes that are good examples for future generations to see the impact war had on the humankind throughout this film.

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Paradize Martell 05/10/2023 English 1 Mr.Schipper All Quiet on the Western Front Assessment Paul's multifaceted perspective of the war serves to develop themes of the dehumanization of soldiers and the power dynamics embedded in war, illustrating the devastating consequences of warfare on the individual soldier and their views of society. The novel “All Quiet On the Western Front'' by Enrich Maria Remarque and the documentary film “They Shall Not Grow Old; showcase the futility of war and the challenges this affects due to boundaries the human psyche must endure to survive. Moreover, the psychological toll of war acts as a conduit for its destructive force, leading to the deindividuation

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They get killed… [and] they are mown down” (130). Many did see to the end of the war, contributing to the increasing number casualties. Both the film and the novel correlated in depicting reality as well as the glorification of

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Erich Maria Remarque was a man who had lived through the terrors of war, serving since he was eighteen. His first-hand experience shines through the text in his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which tells the life of young Paul Bäumer as he serves during World War 1. The book was, and still is, praised to be universal. The blatant show of brutality, and the characters’ questioning of politics and their own self often reaches into the hearts of the readers, regardless of who or where they are. Brutality and images of war are abundant in this book, giving the story a feeling of reality.

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"I am very quiet, Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear..." (page 295), this quote shows that Paul Baumer had his innocence taken away when he saw his friends getting killed and when he killed. He has no more fear, he already lost it so he is used to the war. Paul Baumer is no longer an artistic and innocent kid, he is now someone without hope and just wishes to get

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1438 Words | 6 Pages

Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front illustrates the horrifying repercussions of war on soldiers, showing how it creates psychological trauma, shatters relationships, and robs soldiers of their innocence. War is physically demanding, causing soldiers to get injured and exposing them to traumatic events that cause many mental health issues, such as, post-traumatic stress disorders, . These events are taking a toll on Paul Baumer's mental health, leaving him in exhaustion, fear, and depression. As Paul finishes a hard day of fighting, he says: “Night again. We are deadened by the strain--a deadly tension that scrapes along one's spine like a gapped knife.

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The definition for war according to Merriam-Webster is “a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land,sea, or air.” Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front illustrates the horrors the soldier experiences during war and the effects it has on him psychologically. Remarque uses the character of Paul Baumer who is a compassionate and sensitive young man, but the brutal experience of warfare teaches him to detach himself from his emotions in order to preserve his sanity and to survive. His account of the war is a bitter invective against sentimental, romantic ideals of warfare.

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Our main character Paul Bäumer narrates how much the war not only affects him but all those around him by explaining and taking note of battle and all the prospects that go along with it. The first important area Remarque has Paul address about the reality of war is the continuous and what seems like never ending amounts of death. When Kemmerich dies, his death is sadly looked upon. Even before his death, his comrades could see that “under the skin [his] life no longer [pulsed], it [had] already pressed out

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