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Symbolism In All Quiet On The Western Front

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When the youth are put into danger, it takes away their innocence and makes them adapt to survive. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul Müller and his classmates signed up to fight in the war. Unknowingly, they enlisted to fight in one of the deadliest wars in human history. World War 1 involved the death of 41 million men and women and changed the lives of the soldiers fighting in it forever. Remarque uses the symbols of Paul’s books, Kemmerich’s boots, and the butterflies to show how the war robs the youth of their innocence, causes the soldiers to lose their sympathy for others, and how nature distracts from this. Paul’s books shows how he has changed since the beginning of the war and lost his innocence. When Paul comes and visits back home, he rediscovers his childhood books and “wants to feel the same powerful, nameless urge that [he] used to feel when [he] turned to [his] books”(Remarque 173). Paul has learned that his childhood had ended when he joined the war. He isn’t the same person as he used to be and it is harder for him to feel happy after the traumatic …show more content…

During a quiet morning on the front, Paul notices two butterflies that “play in front of [the] trench...and they settle on the teeth of a skull”(Remarque 127). The playful butterflies bring back bits of aspiration to the soldiers because of how contrasting the purity of the butterflies are to the dreadful warzone. The contrast illustrates how the soldiers find tranquility despite their atrocious circumstances. While reflecting on his surroundings in a flowery meadow, Paul observes “the white butterflies fluttering around and float on the soft warm wind of the late summer”(Remarque 9). This gives him and the soldiers a sense of serenity that frees them from the troubles of war. They stop focusing on all of their terrifying experiences and relax during the down

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The more fighting there is the worse Paul and the men’s moral become. Paul can not see an end to the war and even if it were to end, he doesn’t believe that he can ever return back to normal. He experiences this when he first visits home during the war. “A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up in me. I can not find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength.”

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Zach Miller English II Accelerated September 4, 2014 All Quiet on the Western Front Character Chart Name Description Paul Braumer Paul is the narrator and main character of the story. He enjoys writing poetry, reading books, smoking cigarettes, and drinking beer. He is very kind and compassionate towards his friends.

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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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“breeding, education are changing…hardly recognizable any longer”(121)this shows how the norm for paul has become the war. Paul has been in the war for so long that when he returns home he feels out of place and later goes on to talk about he his new home is the front line. Towards the end of the book paul goes into great detail about how the war has drastically changed them all and that for those who have survived the war things will never be the same “few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit and most will be bewildered”(131). This depicts how paul and his generation will never fully recover from the war things will never be the same few will be able start over but most were scared and lost at war. Paul and his generation are considered the lost generation because they will never be able to fully recover from the war they will forever live in the war mentality because of PTSD or other mental health

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In the shelter of the trenches, effective attacks could not be made, because, while trenches were beneficial defensively, they caused weak offensive tactics. The only way to break enemy lines was to charge to the enemy’s trench, however this was exceptionally difficult to do because soldiers were vulnerable to machine gun fire when crossing the open space between trenches. This situation slowed down the war process, causing soldiers to spends years in the filthy, cramped, and dangerous trenches of World War I. A soldier of such, the novel’s main character, Paul, narrates his ordeals as a German soldier. Among other things, Paul discusses the inconvenience of lice, arguably one of the “worst things in the war”(“Veterans of the Great War”), when saying that, “killing each separate louse is a tedious business when a man has hundreds”(Remarque 75). Paul explains how he and his fellow soldiers try to get rid of the lice by throwing them into the lid of a boot-polish tin that serves as a makeshift pan with a candle lit underneath.

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The trenches of World War I reveal the petrifying realities of war and the profound bond between soldiers in the chaos of battle. The All Quiet on the Western Front Novel follows the life of Paullistened to by Paulclimbed, a young man who has just joined the war as a German soldier fighting on the Western Front. Alongside him are his schoolmates and other soldiers going through similar hardships. Comradeship is shown strongly across All Quiet on the Western Front, which Erich Maria Remarque supports by showing the bond between classmates, the connection between enemy and friendly soldiers, and the struggles that these soldiers go through together. The strong bond between these men is shown throughout the novel in the early chapters, especially between Paul and his schoolmates.

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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.

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Overall this shows that all the time spent on the front turned that environment into the only place Paul has confidence in what he does and confidence in the meaning for being there. This contrasting to his loving memories of home about his childhood, his mum and the books he read and all of a sudden at his return on leave he doesn't remember how to engage or use any of those

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A hero’s journey is not necessarily an explosion filled, action packed, kung fu filled story that has a happy ending. It is “the pattern of life, growth and experience,” (The Hero’s Journey). Paul Baümer, young german soldier, goes on true hero’s journey of his own even though he lacks encaptivating superpowers, stunning physical features, an attractive damsel in distress, and a super villain to fight. Paul Baümer, the protagonist of All Quiet on the Western Front, goes on his own hero’s journey by incorporating the same steps of a traditional hero’s journey, though divaracates slightly from the traditional hero’s journey when Paul actions contradict that of a hero.

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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.

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Throughout the novel on way the theme is portrayed is when you would go home from war on leave it was hard for some soldiers to deal with. Being on leave the soldier would eventually have to go back, but they would go home and some could have a hard because some of them could have been through a lot. When soldiers would be on leave they would usually arrive home with their family hugging them and showing them love. In the story Paul is going home on leave to arrive at his mother’s house. When soldier usually go on leave they go to visit the people that are most important to them.

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"Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and uniforms you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert (Remarque 223)". Comradeship among soldiers is a major theme throughout the novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front" because the soldiers knew each other before the war, protected each other during combat, and can relate to one another without having to literally speak. This story 's theme shows comradeship because Paul and the other soldiers were in class together before joining the war. In the beginning of the novel Paul introduces his friends he went to school with before going to war with. "

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This demonstrates how much these soldiers depend and need one another. In the novel it says, “Our only comfort is the steady breathing of our comrades asleep, and thus we wait for the morning” (Remarque 275). I imagine being in a dangerous environment such as an ongoing war it would be difficult to find comfort. However, Paul knowing his comrades are alive and getting some rest brings him comfort.

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