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Analysis Of Erich Maria Remarque´s All Quiet On The Western Front

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Erich Maria Remarque, a German author, published All Quiet on the Western Front in 1929 as an anti-war novel. Remarque was a former soldier who actually endured the horrible effects of WWI (1914-1918). He used his experiences and writing to unveil the destructive aspect of war. Remarque was bothered by the fact that there was no anti war literature, and he became the first to publish an anti war novel. Although he bravely chose to publish his novel to shed light upon the detrimental effects of war, he was punished for doing so. The Nazis burned copies of his novel because of its anti-war message. Although publishing his novel did not come without consequences, Remarque is credited with being the first author to officially speak out about his …show more content…

The vile conditions and levels of danger led to physical damage to the soldiers’ bodies. The trenches were extremely dirty as they were muddy and cramped. Corpses constantly surrounded the soldiers who were stationed in the trenches. Nothing about life in the trenches was sanitary. Remarque describes the soldier’s struggles to keep their bread away from the rats that invest their living quarters (Remarque 102). The environment that the soldiers were forced to live in, was extremely uncomfortable, but also put them at risk for disease. Along with the disgusting living conditions, and life threatening injuries due to destructive explosions and gunfire, the soldier were endangered by WWI’s new use of mustard gas. Remarque explains the sheer panic that occurred when gas was detected. The soldiers alerted their fellow comrades of the gas, and then they had to quickly put their masks on and take cover in the shell hole. The use of gas was so destructive and dangerous because the soldiers could only hope that their masks were airtight, and were protecting them from the gas. The physical consequences of breathing in the gas resulted in damaged and clotted lungs (Remarque 67-70). Remarque portrays the destructive physical aspects to war, to show how brutal war truly is. Remarque also explains the mental and emotional damage that war can have on a

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War trenches are troughs in the ground where soldiers eat, sleep, prepare for battle, and fight. Besides the fact that the trenches were impractical, they were additionally very unsanitary, and caused countless issues for the soldiers. Diseases such as the flu and pneumonia were spread easily through the trenches. Other problems included conditions such as “trench foot” also advanced throughout rapidly. Dead bodies, trash, limbs, blood, guts and more were scattered across the trench floors, providing an unlivable space for the thousands of soldiers.

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The great details Remarque included added the feel of watching it in the readers own eyes rather than just reading. “The first minutes with the mask decide between life and death: is it tightly woven? I remember the awful sights in the hospital: the gas patients who in day-long suffocation cough their burnt lungs up in clots” (All Quiet Men of the Western Front 153) this part of the reading gave the reader the ability to feel how soldiers’ lives were at a stack on the battle fields, a small mistake might lead to their end. The readers were able to feel the anxiety the writer felt about his gas mask being tightly wore. Also, the writer’s memories at the hospital of those suffering

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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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Remarque’s Remark Remarque took a gamble in writing a war novel that articulates the truth about the pragmatic images of war: gruesome, and specifically dedicated his book, All Quiet on the Western Front, to World War I and the sheer horror of being on the scopeline of the enemy. Until this novel was published in 1929, the concept of war was highly praised but almost taboo to talk about in a public setting; All Quiet on the Western Front not only uncovered all the dark “secrets” about war but started a revolution of literature, allowing the truth about war to be told. This war novel was written to depict the true images of war, up until this point, everyone talked about war hesitantly in hushed voices as if it was a curse to mention the word “war”. Remarque’s novel was written “simply to tell of a generation of men who…were destroyed by the

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The book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque portrayed war as a great hole of death and despair dug by a nation's higher power for the citizens to patriotically march into. All Quiet on the Western Front was written as a 'new-age' war story; The book focused on the horrors of war rather than the romantic veneer other previous writers had plastered on. The War obliterated the distinction between civilian and military targets. 'Armies were no longer targeting just their opponents, but the civilian towns that supply them too, killing innocent people. People still today, who are innocent civilians, are being killed for being on the wrong side.

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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 quite in the western front was a very good war book. For people like me who have never experienced the horrors of being in battle during war, this book painted a good picture of what it was like being in battle. The emotional trauma that these men had to endure, words cannot express what they must have been through. The book All quite in the western front had many traits that it expressed in it such as loss, despair, and alienation. Many would agree that this book expressed the trait of loss in this book many times; however, this book portrayed loss not only in death, but also innocents, and how the characters have changed.

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However it may seem, this is not violence simply for the shock factor, neither is it simply included to add realism to the novel. Instead this is an effort on Remarque’s behalf to communicate the human aspect of war, and describe the immense suffering that could be inflicted on any soldier during the GReat War. Through the use of the Narrator Paul Baumer, and the graphic imagery and description, Remarque illustrates the suffering that a soldier had to go through, both psychological and physical. The physical injuries sustained by men on the frontline in All quiet on the western front were absolutely horrendous. Remarque communicated this through his vivid use of gore and graphic imagery, however did was not supposed to be a surprise factor, but more for the reader to truly understand what soldier could go through.

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Elie survives and is liberated by the American troops. Erich Maria Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front showing Paul Bäumer and his school friends joining the army and fighting on the French front in WW1. They joined the war enthusiastically but later learned that war in the trenches was treacherous and brutal. This book shows how much sacrifice and loss young men were going through on the front during the war. Paul at the end of the book dies from poison gas showing a calm expression on his face after years of having fear in his eyes.

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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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Similarly, lice and glum are used to describe the conditions of the trenches/front in "All Quiet on the Western Front". Remarque shows the trenches as hell for the soldiers, especially Paul and his comrades. The extent is more severe in "Suicide in the Trenches", because the soldier boy ends up committing suicide, hence the title. However,

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While many soldiers thought that World War I was going to be exciting, they hadn’t yet realized the horrendous conditions they would have to live in. Remarque writes in the narrator and main character Paul Baumer's perspective: “Our food is bad and mixed up with do much substitute stuff that it makes us ill… The latrine poles are always densely crowded; the people at home ought to be shown these gray, yellow, miserable, wasted faces here, these bent figures”(280). Words like "miserable" and "wasted faces" let the reader clearly understand how the trenches' conditions affect the troops' morale. Furthermore, Remarque also employs nature and the earth as a comfort for the soldiers.

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1064 Words | 5 Pages

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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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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Do you think Romeo and Juliet is just all about romance? Shakespeare's play is not all about romance. It's about a tragedy and lots of deaths--even the main characters Romeo and Juliet passed away. Lord Montague and Lord Capulet were the reason why Romeo and Juliet passed away because Romeo and Juliet had to date undercover because there has been a long-time rival with the Montagues and Capulets, Lord Capulet was forcing Juliet to marry somebody she did not want to marry, and the Capulets rushed the wedding. To begin with, Lord Montague and Lord Capulet were the reason Romeo and Juliet died because of the families´ rivalry.

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