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Analysis Of Paul Bäumer's All Quiet On The Western Front

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All Quiet on the Western Front is narrated by Paul Bäumer, a young man of nineteen who fights in the German army on the French front in World War I. Paul and several of his friends from school joined the army voluntarily after listening to the stirring patriotic speeches of their teacher, Kantorek. But after experiencing ten weeks of brutal training at the hands of the petty, cruel Corporal Himmelstoss and the unimaginable brutality of life on the front, Paul and his friends have realized that the ideals of nationalism and patriotism for which they enlisted are simply empty clichés. They no longer believe that war is glorious or honorable, and they live in constant physical terror.

When Paul’s company receives a short reprieve after two weeks …show more content…

Pounded by artillery, they hide in a graveyard, where the force of the shelling causes the buried corpses to emerge from their graves, as groups of living men fall dead around them. After this gruesome event, the surviving soldiers return to their camp, where they kill lice and think about what they will do at the end of the war. Some of the men have tentative plans, but all of them seem to feel that the war will never end. Paul fears that if the war did end, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. Himmelstoss arrives at the front; when the men see him, Tjaden insults him. The men’s lieutenant gives them light punishment but also lectures Himmelstoss about the futility of saluting at the front. Paul and Kat find a house with a goose and roast the goose for supper, enjoying a rare good …show more content…

Detering, one of Paul’s close friends, attempts to desert but is caught and court-martialed. Kat is killed when a piece of shrapnel slices his head open while Paul is carrying him to safety. By the fall of 1918, Paul is the only one of his circle of friends who is still alive. Soldiers everywhere whisper that the Germans will soon surrender and that peace will come. Paul is poisoned in a gas attack and given a short leave. He reflects that, when the war ends, he will be ruined for peacetime; all he knows is the war. In October 1918, on a day with very little fighting, Paul is killed. The army report for that day reads simply: “All quiet on the Western Front.” Paul’s corpse wears a calm expression, as though relieved that the end has come at

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After the 14 days of fighting, they got to be able to rest from the war. However, almost half of their regiment is gone, only having 80 members of the 150 of them. Bäumer then explains about his day after the 14 days of fighting and who the soldiers really were. He introduces Leer, Müller, and Kropp, and explains that they were all friends from the same school, same age, and they all in the same class who volunteer to join the war. He also meets two new friends name Tjaden and Westhus, who they became friends with when they enlisted for the war.

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Paul explains that his friend Haie is dead, but feels like he and his rest of his friends are lucky to be alive today. He also explains that he is also lucky because he doesn’t need to fight in the war. Paul decides to go to patrol with Kat, and explains, “in very short time, we have collected a dozen eggs and two pounds of fairly fresh butter.” (Remarque 233) Also, when on patrol, they hunted down two pigs, which they had slaughtered later on and eat them for 4 hours.

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Paul’s company finally catches a break and is brought back from the front. Unfortunately only 80 out of 150 men are alive to experience the relief. When they are back, an issue arises between the men of the company and the cook who refuses to give rations designated to the deceased. After quite an uproar from the men the cook finally

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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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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.”

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They are in trouble because the English are surrounding them. But, the German counter-attack comes and the guys make it out safely. The reader then finds out that another friend of his, named Muller dies because of a shot in the stomach. And Paul’s dear friend, Kat also dies because he was hurt in the shin, and was wounded on the back of his head which brought him to death. Poor Paul goes through all this hardship as to see so many of his friends that he went to school with die on the battlefield.

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When Paul Baumer enlisted for World War I, he was unaware of how his mentality would drastically change. Throughout All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul is presented with situations that conflicts with his personality, and the war itself conflicts with how he feels he should acts. A once sensitive man who wrote poetry, Paul was a dynamic character who ended up a burnt-out, torn up man with no regards to other’s feelings, much less his own. All Quiet on the Western Front exemplifies how repeated exposure to the horrors of war left Paul Baumer a hollow shell of a man.

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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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