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Symbolism In All Quiet On The Western Front

680 Words3 Pages

Jayden Isabella
Mrs.Berry
English 3.1
9 March 2023

In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque uses powerful symbols to illustrate the effects of war on the human mind and to convey the universal themes of beauty, and destruction to convey the emotional and psychological impact of war on individuals and society. Showing that war is always destructive for both the “winners and losers”. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the first-person point of view focuses on the true perspective of war & creates a deeper impact on the reader. This allows the reader to feel like they are “in the book” and puts them in Paul’s perspective. Paul said “The man gurgles. It sounds to me as though he bellows, every gasping breath is like a cry, a thunder--but …show more content…

Paul and his buddies come across a group of butterflies in a field early in the novel, which they pursue and capture. The beauty and fragility of butterflies contrast sharply with the violence and cruelty of war, emphasizing the value of life and the sadness of its loss. Paul reflects on this contrast, saying, “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow”. In the middle of the destruction and chaos of the battlefield, the narrator describes the trenches and is stunned by the sight of a butterfly: “One morning two butterflies play in front of our trench. They are brimstone-butterflies, with red spots on their yellow wings. What can they be looking for here? There is not a plant nor a flower for miles. They settle on the teeth of a skull.” (pg.126) In this situation, the picture of the butterfly provides a moment of peace. Despite the seriousness of the war, the narrator perceives the universe as a bright ball traveling through space. In the midst of war's devastation, the butterfly signifies the promise of beauty and

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1. Erich Remarque’s purpose for writing All Quiet on the Western Front was to show the devastating effects of war on soldiers and to protest against the war. He does this by depicting the experiences of a group of young German soldiers who are fighting in World War I. One example of how Remarque fulfills this purpose is when the protagonist, Paul Baumer, reflects on the futility of war and the sacrifices soldiers are forced to make. On page 49, Paul says, "We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial - I believe we are lost."

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(page 1). The moth lives his life, as if positivity is the only thing it knows. This creates the moth as an embodiment of life. As the others work in the sun, and appreciate the summers day, the moth flies around, its’s only concern in getting from corner to corner. The moth does not think about

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His mother calls him a“[p]oor bird! [who’d] never fear the net nor lime” (4.2.34). The mother says the boy does not fear things he should, using the motif of birds to both warn the boy and create a sense of foreboding. In that way, the birds warn that peace is destined to be broken. The birds’ quick shift from hopeful to foreboding highlights how order leads to chaos.

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