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All Quiet On The Western Front Theme Analysis

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The theme of a book could be described as what the reader or audience has learned throughout reading the story. One way the theme is portrayed in this novel is when the soldiers would go home on leave for a little while. Another way the theme is portrayed throughout the novel is when you lost your friends and fellow soldiers in battle. “Theme is the underlying message or big idea that is portrayed throughout the story” (What is Theme in Literature). In reading this book you can learn that being a soldier during any war can be a hard road to go down. In the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Remarque, the theme of the story is how the main character learns that the effects of war is hard for some soldiers to deal with. The novel shows this theme in at least 2 instance; going home from …show more content…

Throughout the novel on way the theme is portrayed is when you would go home from war on leave it was hard for some soldiers to deal with. Being on leave the soldier would eventually have to go back, but they would go home and some could have a hard because some of them could have been through a lot. When soldiers would be on leave they would usually arrive home with their family hugging them and showing them love. In the story Paul is going home on leave to arrive at his mother’s house. When soldier usually go on leave they go to visit the people that are most important to them. “The fatalities are bizarre with pictures of unearthed corpses showing the tragedies of war” (Krutch). While soldiers are on leave they would sometimes be quiet because they are in shock from what they have been through. At this point in the story Paul has already arrived at home and he

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In chapter two, we see Paul reminiscing over his poems and plays that he wrote abundantly while at home. Paul and the other soldiers have lost their zeal and human need for curiosity and growth as a person. When out on the front, the risk of them dying is high and survival is of utmost priority. The men are currently living at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a psychological theory, in the Physiological section. This means that the top priorities of the men are eating, sleeping, and basic bodily functions while they did not spend time or energy focusing on meeting their personal potential or “self-actualization”, which is at the top of the pyramid.

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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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“breeding, education are changing…hardly recognizable any longer”(121)this shows how the norm for paul has become the war. Paul has been in the war for so long that when he returns home he feels out of place and later goes on to talk about he his new home is the front line. Towards the end of the book paul goes into great detail about how the war has drastically changed them all and that for those who have survived the war things will never be the same “few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit and most will be bewildered”(131). This depicts how paul and his generation will never fully recover from the war things will never be the same few will be able start over but most were scared and lost at war. Paul and his generation are considered the lost generation because they will never be able to fully recover from the war they will forever live in the war mentality because of PTSD or other mental health

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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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The book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque gives us a good understanding of what war was like for the people fighting on the front. When reading this book people can get a front hand experience of what it is like being in battle. Remarque wrote this book so well that often times you picture yourself actually with Paul and all his friends. The one thing you specifically get to see is how humanity affects warfare. Humanity affects our decisions in warfare because humans are selfish, have fear, and seek revenge.

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All Quiet on The Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, is a novel composed after World War One to convey the experiences of German soldiers during this horrific time of fighting. He brought to light many important issues that occur during wars. In this book, three horrors of war that had the largest impact were the lack of sanitation in the trenches, the loss of comrades, and the shock that came from unexpected and ongoing shelling. The lack of sanitation in the trenches caused many diseases, infections, and terrible memories to me made.

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All Quiet on the Western Front is a story, in which it allows people to know the true horrors of war. Throughout the story and in Erich Maria Remarque’s writing he uses many literary devices to emphasize what he experienced and the emotions he felt. The devices that he used are used in order to help the readers understand his experience and emphasize the theme of his war novel. Throughout this essay, I will show you a few of the literary devices used within the novel that emphasized the theme, the brutality of war. Within this essay you will learn about imagery, metaphors, and symbolism.

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Throughout the story Paul shows that he cares about his comrades by protecting them from the dangers of war, and he also displays that he will guide them in war. Paul uses his skills of intelligence to guide his team in the trenches and at the front, and he passes on his knowledge and tricks of war to the new recruits. Not many soldiers have all of these qualities, which makes Paul stand out more than his comrades. Even today some men don't express the passion and leadership Paul shows in All Quiet on the Western Front, which brings up the fact that the war needs more men like Paul. To sum up, Paul is an honest and true man who will always be there for his comrades when needed, and he is a man the troops are proud to say is a patriotic

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Paul is part of the lost generation his only aim, like that of his comrades, is survival. He envies the older soldiers who have a life once the war ends, those who can forget, those who have a trade, a family, a passion. They envy those who have hope and faith, for Paul and his comrades have none of that. They will not do anything but war and will never forget it. Just like Paul states, “[their] early life is cut off from the moment [they] came [into the war] … all the older men are linked up with their previous life.

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Present throughout the book is the theme of disillusionment. In the school, they’ve been told by their schoolmasters and parents that unless they join the war, they would remain cowards. They see propaganda after propaganda, all alluding towards the glory of battle and warfare. Out on the front, they realize that nothing was further from the truth. Their dreams of being heroes shattered, like when they compare themselves to the soldier on a poster in chapter 7.

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All Quiet on the Western Front tells the story of Paul Baumer, a German young man who is drafted into the army with some of his high school friends. Unfortunately, he and his friends have unrealistic ideas about what they are going to face while serving. The movie shows the tragedy of war through the emotional connection characters have, and focuses on the experiences had by the newly enlisted group of friends. I both enjoyed and did not enjoy the movie All Quiet on the Western Front. The parts that I enjoyed included the detail and historical accuracy which could be lined up with the information we have been learning in class.

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Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men. Many soldiers entered World War 1 as innocent young boys, but as they experienced the full effect of the war they consequently lost their innocence.

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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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"Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and uniforms you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert (Remarque 223)". Comradeship among soldiers is a major theme throughout the novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front" because the soldiers knew each other before the war, protected each other during combat, and can relate to one another without having to literally speak. This story 's theme shows comradeship because Paul and the other soldiers were in class together before joining the war. In the beginning of the novel Paul introduces his friends he went to school with before going to war with. "

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This demonstrates how much these soldiers depend and need one another. In the novel it says, “Our only comfort is the steady breathing of our comrades asleep, and thus we wait for the morning” (Remarque 275). I imagine being in a dangerous environment such as an ongoing war it would be difficult to find comfort. However, Paul knowing his comrades are alive and getting some rest brings him comfort.

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