Summary Of All Quiet On The Western Front

The author of All Quiet on the Western Front makes it very clear that he condemns war. The story is told through the eyes of an 18 year old student who enlisted in the army after his professor convinced the his class to serve for their country. From that point on, Remarque leads the reader through the battlefield with Paul and gives an unpleasant idea of the psychological impact the war has on the young soldiers. Paul begins to see his friends suffer from severe anxiety attacks with nightmares and uncontrollable shaking, while the “seasoned” soldiers in the company don’t seem to have any emotions toward the events going on around them. These are only a couple of the things that suggest that the author is against war and the stress it brings

A large majority of the soldiers fighting experience a psychological change that causes them to lose their emotions. He eventually gets wounded and returns home on leave, but the dehumanization of war shows damage has been done - Paul decided to return to the front early when he can’t live the way he used to in his hometown. As for his attitude towards his comrades, he shows his insensitivity when Kemmerich is dying and wants his boots. Kat is the only close friend Paul has left, but he is hit in the back of the head by piece of a bomb and dies. Paul’s attitude changes once again, where this time he no longer cares if he lives or

Remarque tells the story from the perspective of a soldier on the front, which allows us to better understand the thought process that the soldiers went through. A traditional history textbook would more than likely only contain facts and general information rather than a point of view from an individual involved in the war. It also gives a bit more depth to the understanding of how trench warfare was in World War I, as the author is a veteran of the war