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Irony In Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

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Irony in Remarque 's, All Quiet on the Western Front
Some historians and people describe World War I as “The Great War,” a label that must be ironic to those who have fought it and lost their friends and family. Erich Maria Remarque 's novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, narrates the lives of several young soldiers, Paul, Tjaden, Albert and Müller, among others, who enlisted to defend the German lines. Their schoolteachers encouraged them to enlist by stressing the nobility of and courage in serving and protecting the nation. However, deep in the trenches, Paul and his friends rapidly learn the difference between what they had been taught about the war and what the war itself has taught them. All Quiet on the Western Front reveals …show more content…

War has promptly developed the minds and characters of the young recruits in such a short time and so deeply, a transformation that their schoolteachers had never achieved. Paul believes that they know more now than their teachers because the war has schooled them about life. Kantorek, their schoolteacher, wrote that they were "the Iron Youth" and Paul thinks, “Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk” (Remarque 18). The paradox is that in terms of age, Kantorek should be wiser; however, since he is the one who sent them to war, his students have become smarter than him. As soldiers, they learned how to be pragmatic in their approach to life. For instance, Kemmerich is near death and Müller already intends to acquire his boots the moment he dies. Paul knows that pining over a struggling peer’s boots is unethical, yet “[they] have lost all sense of other considerations, because they are artificial. Only the facts are real and important for [them]. And good boots are scarce” (Remarque 21). In the midst of war bombardments, social graces have low value as they are artificial niceties. At the front, good boots can increase their comfort and perhaps even the chances of surviving. The example illustrates how war has transformed the once carefree youth into adults who focus on surviving each day and taking what life can offer them to make war more

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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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In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque’s use of irony and metaphors to prove that the horrors and evils of war outweigh any positives. When Paul, the main character, and the other men in his company move to the front lines to lay down barbed wire they are shot at and find protection in a cemetery. Paul remarks, “I merely crawl still farther under the coffin, it shall protect me, thought Death himself lies in it.” (67). Paul knows that his only protection from the shootings is inside of one of the coffins, which ironically, is where he would end up if he was shot there.

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In Erich Maria Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front," the professor's speech in the film adaptation seeks to evoke a range of emotions in the young men's hearts and minds, primarily appealing to their sense of patriotism, duty, and honor. Through impassioned rhetoric, he portrays participation in the war as a noble sacrifice for the Fatherland and the Kaiser. He may emphasize the importance of defending their homeland from perceived threats and upholding their national identity in the face of adversity. Additionally, he highlighted the camaraderie and brotherhood shared among soldiers, fostering a sense of belonging to a greater cause. The reactions of the young men to the professor's speech vary, reflecting the diverse responses to wartime propaganda and societal pressure.

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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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Paul had even become desensitized to the passing of friends. Following the death of fellow soldier Franz Kemmerich, Paul and his remaining comrades appear to be more captivated by the fate of his boots than the fate of Kemmerich himself. "It is also a sign of a general dehumanizing set of values in which the dying man's boots become more important than the dying man himself" (Birns). Remarque did not aim to portray these men as heinous monsters for wanting Kemmerich's boots. He wished to communicate that soldiers are forced to behave somewhat inhumanely to protect their mental and physical

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After experiencing the horrors of World War I, Paul believes he is “nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for everything that is so comfortless and without end” (Remarque 185). Paul is in fact guilty for his involvement in the violence of the war. He realizes this fact and becomes dispirited because he bemoans allowing himself to get involved in such cruelty. Despite the fact that Paul experiences adverse emotions because of it, he learns from his past blemishes. Even though he can never really rescind his previous actions, he still uses them as a guide towards refraining from repeating the same missteps.

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Consequently, this notion caused Remarque to pen the idea of the “Iron Youth.” Despite the

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