Remarque also uses imagery to display the horrid environment of war. For example, in the Catholic Hospital that Kropp and Paul go to in the novel, people are trying to kill themselves because they can no longer take the pain of war, "In the evening, while he is being fed, the sister is called away, and leaves the plate with the fork on his table. He gropes for the fork, seizes it and rives it with all his force against his heart, then he snatches up a shoe and strikes with it against the handle as hard as he can" (261). Paul portrays the petrifying environment Paul had to see as followed, "Two fellows die of tetanus. Their skin turns pale, their limbs stiffen, at last only their eyes live- stubbornly.
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.
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.
Remarque uses the thematic concept of sacrifice to impact the plot of the story and to show how soldiers had to live during this time period. Throughout the novel, Remarque writes about many different types of sacrifices. For the majority of World War I, sacrifices were constantly being made. These sacrifices included time, money, future, education and even lives. Early in the book, the reader is introduced to one of the first sacrifices mentioned in the book.
They look just as kindly as our own peasants in Friesland.” (p.190). Again the author's use of first person narrative works on two levels. On one, Paul is just describing the prisoners he sees, on another, Remarque is once again expressing how the men on either side are no different, and they have no personal reason to fight. Like Paul and his friends, they are all simply fighting for survival, eating any scraps they can, and he mentions they look unfit for battle.
All is Lost in War Before World War I, war was glorified and many a young boy hoped of becoming a soldier. After World War I, war had been given a new darkness of scarring memories from veterans of the debacle. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, and In the Field, by Tim O’Brien, help shed the light on this shade that looms over war now. In All Quiet on the Western Front and In the Field, common themes of lost generation and horrors of war are present in a bold fashion.
Direct and impactful experiences are the only way to completely uncover the truth of situations. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer, a young German schoolboy-turned-soldier, exposes the reality of fighting in World War I. Like many others, Paul’s teacher, Kantorek, lectured and coerced Paul and his friends into enlisting by fixating on the heroism of soldiers and the honor of serving one’s country. While on the frontlines, Paul experiences firsthand the damage and destruction of war that are ignored by . Those outside the war have difficulty focusing on anything other than the success of their nation in battle. This optimism, while uplifting, is ignorant.
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.
The texts and images produced before World War I differ from those made later in the war in terms of attitude, reasons for fighting, and forms of warfare, both for those in the trenches and those back home for a variety of reasons. In the texts and images produced before World War I, it displayed that people did not necessary dislike the war. Most people hated and liked certain things about the war but for the most part, they were optimistic about the war. The Germans before World War I also hated England as a whole and disregarded England and France. As stated in Ernst Lissauer’s Hymn of Hate, 1914, “We love as one, we hate as one, We have one foe, and one alone – ENGLAND!,” (Discovering, 308).
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.
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.
The Impact of War on Individuals Wars are produced by the powerful. They take young faced men to fight, however the impact of war on those cannot be erased. Erich Maria Remarque the author of All quiet on the Western Front has taken the viewer through the eyes of young 18-year-old Paul Buemer and his horrific experience of being sent to fight on the Western Front during World War One. The novel takes the reader through the physical, social and the psychological effects of an individual impacted by war. Paul’s physical experiences of pain and loss has contributed to his character’s survival instincts and loss of innocence that he feels when joining the army.
Remarque’s Development of Wartime Brutality and the Differences in Wartime Today All Quiet on the Western Front is a timeless story that portrays the good and the bad of being involved in a war, specifically World War 1 (WW1). Throughout the novel, Remarque develops the theme of brutality in the war. He presents the topic of brutality quite often. The brutality during wartime has short and long term effects, but also is somewhat different from war today.
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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