World War I was a brutal time period, with over hundreds of deaths each day. The soldiers in this period had great exposure to many harsh environments and moments. The novel
All Quiet On the Western Front emphasizes the many themes consisted throughout World War I. The novel focuses on the essence of camaraderie,the horrors of war, and transformation from man to animal. The themes are also present in the expert, “The Things They Carried” and the Poems from, “Poetry of the Lost Generation” and “The Hollow Men”. In All Quiet On the Western Front , Remarque does an absolutely amazing job showing the idea of camaraderie amongst the soldiers. In the novel the men go through very difficult times if it is either, someone dying, hurt, having a
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“It is a great brotherhood” these soldiers have from everything thick and thin, experiencing the men “condemned to death” to the “desperate loyalty” of men as well (Remarque 272). Throughout the novel the awareness of camaraderie comes at you because it is just so strong. The displayance of camaraderie is shown also in the poem “The Dug-Out”, sharing the hurt the men feel when one is suffering. When a bond is so strong, it will ache the other side of the bond when there is pain. The men would feel “ hurt [in their] heart to watch them]” go through the deep horrors of war …show more content…
Men transforming into animals happened throughout World War I and is shown in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Through the eyes of the soldiers seeing over thousands of deaths of either your camarades or even the enemy is brutal. The cognition of the human mind cannot handle that brutality which can turn the men into “wild beasts” (Remarque 113). At this point in the novel the men have experienced so much that they will do whatever it takes, it is either kill or be killed. The Hollow Men had experienced the “fall [of] the Shadow” (Kurtz). The innocence of the soldiers had been demolished by the deaths and horrors of war, turning the men into animals. As a breaking point struck soldiers in an abundant way with the deaths and traumatizing aftermath it had “transformed [them] into unthinking animals” (Remarque 273). the men undergo a change throughout the novel and war becoming dynamic