Throughout the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator of the story, Paul Baumer goes through the realization how joining the war was destroying his and others’ youth while turning people against each other. Remarque uses the phrase “abyss of sorrow” as figurative language to describe the suffering and heartbreak the young boys experience in the front line, earning the generation of boys that served in World War 1 the name “the Lost Generation”. After Paul observes the pain of the prisoners that he is assigned to watch, he sees for himself “how people are set against one another, and in silence…slay one another”. Just because two sides are waging war, people are brainwashed or persuaded to sacrifice themselves for a fight that is
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel set during World War One that discloses the atrocities of the War. The story focuses on a German soldier’s life and experiences during his service along the Western Front. While focusing on a single man, the story is representative of all fighting men on all sides of the war. The book provides insight, without glamorization, into the lives and sacrifices of soldiers, the brutality of war, and the disparity in Germany’s last attempt to hold the Western Front. One of the most memorable qualities of Paul Baumer, the main character in the story, is his young age.
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.
Erich Remarque, author of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, presents a true story of a soldier throughout World War I. At the young age of 19, Paul Bäumer voluntarily enters the draft to fight for his home country, Germany. Throughout the war, Paul disconnects his mind from his feelings, keeping his emotions away from the bitter reality he is experiencing. This helps him survive mentally throughout the course of the war. The death of Paul 's friend Kemmerich forces him to cover his grief, “My limbs move supplely, I feel my joints strong, I breathe the air deeply. The night lives, I live.”
World War I affected the lives of many. The character Paul in the book "All Quiet on the Western Front" breaks down what war is like. High school students are recruited into the war. As young adults, these students have hopes and dreams to become writers, doctors, teachers, etc. All their hopes to become something great died when they entered the war.
All Quiet on the Western Front is the most influential war novel of all time and demonstrates the camaraderie formed in the trenches. One of the most memorable characters, Katczinsky (better known as Kat) shows clear leadership qualities, making him an essential character on the front. On the western front, food and hope is scarce but Kat is able to provide both of those things for him men. The soldiers are sitting when Kat comes back with “two loaves of bread under his arm and a blood-stained sandbag full of horse-flesh in his hand” (Remarque 39). Kat takes initiative to provide, making him a strong leader and a good friend.
Joby is a young boy of just fourteen who is in the Civil war. He is scared and afraid because he is only a drummer boy and the other soldiers have weapons and armor to protect them. All Joby has is his drum and he doesn't feel that it will protect him from what it is ahead. The general inspires Joby to overcome his fears and walk bravely onto the battlefield.
In the autumn of 1918, after the bloodiest summer in Paul’s wartime experience, Paul is the only living member of his original group of classmates. The war continues to rage, but now that the United States has joined the Allies, Germany’s defeat is inevitable, only a matter of time. In light of the extreme privations suffered by both the German soldiers and the German people, it seems likely that if the war does not end soon, the German people will revolt against their leaders. After inhaling poison gas, Paul is given fourteen days of leave to recuperate. A wave of intense desire to return home seizes him, but he is frightened because he has no goals; were he to return home, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
In the year 1914, a war started that would turn innocent people against each other, and have aftermaths that include thousands of people dead due to new equipment like tanks, gas attacks, and hand-to-hand combat. In this war there was a soldier named Paul Bäumer who is a German nineteen year old who has made friends that will last a lifetime during this experience, but has also felt immense pain. His daily routine is to sleep, eat, and fight in the trenches, and he experiences death every day. Most soldiers view death as a recurring event, but Paul views it as wretchedness, which makes him different from others by caring about his comrades more than others. Paul shows many qualities through this experience of being a soldier in the First World War, and he learns what is necessary in life, which takes some people years to figure out.
War habitually desensitizes and numbs the fighting soldiers due to the harsh, crippling events they have witnessed. War creates a feeling of endless hopelessness felt by the comrades during the war. In “All Quiet on the Western Front”, Erich Maria Remarque exposes the change of characterization of Paul Baumer from an innocent boy transformed by the monstrosities of war into a desensitized soldier by repeating the pattern of soldiers going to the front, being at the front, and then being away from the front to expose the personal destruction caused by it. On the way to the front, the comrades are experiencing rising anxiety and intimidating tension from the realization of the unavoidability death on the frontline.
E.M. Remarque portrays death gradually enveloping the body of Franz Kemmerich in his novel “All Quiet on the Western Front”. Paul stands by his friend Kemmerich’s side as death works its way through his body, to not only comfort him during his final hours, but also to retrieve his expensive boots. Paul was detached from natural emotions, as he was not mournful or depressed while at his old friend’s death bed, but instead felt that letting go of his companion was only “a bit difficult” (25). As soldiers in the war these boy’s emotions became altered, and made abnormal. After watching his friend die, Paul ran to Kimmerich to “give him the boots” (28).
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,
Impressions on the novel The novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, portrays a very realistic life of a soldier during WWI. One of the many images that made an impression was when Paul’s friend Kemmerich died while crying. This left a big impression because Kemmerich was not much older than any of the seniors in high school.
Narrator and protagonist Paul Bäumer, along with his comrades, including Tjaden, Müller, Albert Kropp, Franz Kemmerich, Haie Westhus, and Detering, constantly support one another while out on the front, in the hospital, and throughout the war. Most of them went to the same school before enlisting, but their bonds grew and strengthened during the war, as conveyed by them often referring to each other as if they were brothers. The leader of their small group, Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky, acts as a mentor and father figure to them, but especially to Paul. They all have to deal with the chaos and brutality of war, many mental and physical challenges, along with many losses, but they have the support of their comrades to help them through it. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque exhibits that in the hardships of war, the bonds between soldiers are extremely prevalent, and comradeship and brotherhood become stronger and more important.
All Quiet on The Western Front shows the dependence the soldiers convey to one another. For example, Kat, “Kat appears I think I must have been dreaming he has two loaves of bread under his arm” (Remarque 39). Without Kat the soldiers would be starving all the soldiers realize this and appreciate him for being there. Kat has the ability to find food in the middle of nowhere. The soldiers also depend on each other for comfort.
