All Quiet on the Western Front: Effective Criticism of War
All Quiet on the Western Front was a sad tale of Paul Bäumer, a lad just entering adulthood, who
fought in a war that he did not even believe in. Erich Maria Remarque wrote this novel to show the
war through the eyes of Paul, who saw everything that happened; every death, every horror, and
all the bloodshed. Remarque denounced war by showing how it destroys human lives and, more
importantly, how it devours the human soul. World War I was pointless to the young soldiers
who did not even seem to know why a war was being waged. Paul showed how war affected
an entire generation, of people, which he represented through Paul. Altogether, All Quiet on
the Western Front was a powerful and moving criticism of the war.
Every character in the novel was a tragic character and a sad loss in the war. This includes Paul,
whose eyes Remarque used to show the atrocities of war to the world. All the events were shown
without heroism, or at least without what was officially determined to be heroic by the people. Paul
watched people die and killed people, something that tore him apart emotionally, but for which he
would be considered a hero for. "We reach the zone where the front begins and become on the
instant human animals" (56). The humanity was taken away from these soldiers, a horrible and
mournful thing, and completely unwarranted. These were students like Paul, farmers like Detering,
and other ordinary men who were enlisted and taken to the front, not really knowing what they
were fighting for, stripped of even their humanity. At one point Paul even said "[i]n many ways we
are treated quite like men" (91). However, they were men, even though they were made to feel
like animals. They were still men. Remarque effectively used Paul's experiences to illustrate his
criticism of World War I, showing the destruction to humanity and human emotion. There was
already the mention of the soldiers becoming animals when at the front. He described this further:
"The blast of the hand-grenades impinges powerfully on our arms and legs; crouching like cats we
run on, overwhelmed by this wave that bears us along, that fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs,
The novel goes from first person narrative to third person when Paul passes away. " He fell in October 1918 on a day that was so still and quiet along the entire front." This line is important as it refers to the title of the book and how it is still and quiet on this day because it is the end of the war. The death of Paul stresses to me that war is pointless and is only a destructive force which rips apart family, friends and lives.
In the history of modern western civilization, there have been few incidents of war, famine, and other calamities that severely affected the modern European society. The First World War was one such incident which served as a reflection of modern European society in its industrial age, altering mankind’s perception of war into catastrophic levels of carnage and violence. As a transition to modern warfare, the experiences of the Great War were entirely new and unfamiliar. In this anomalous environment, a range of first hand accounts have emerged, detailing the events and experiences of the authors. For instance, both the works of Ernst Junger and Erich Maria Remarque emphasize the frightening and inhumane nature of war to some degree – more explicit in Jünger’s than in Remarque’s – but the sense of glorification, heroism, and nationalism in Jünger’s The Storm of Steel is absent in Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Instead, they are replaced by psychological damage caused by the war – the internalization of loss and pain, coupled with a sense of helplessness and disconnectedness with the past and the future. As such, the accounts of Jünger and Remarque reveal the similar experiences of extreme violence and danger of World War I shared by soldiers but draw from their experiences differing ideologies and perception of war.
... Paul wanted to get out of the war. Maybe Paul died on the right day; he loves quiet, and he dies on possibly the quietest day of the whole war. Maybe he just wanted to end his misery. In any case, Paul cannot accept the philosophy of war and thus gives himself up for death.
All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, is a classic anti-war novel about the personal struggles and experiences encountered by a group of young German soldiers as they fight to survive the horrors of World War One. Remarque demonstrates, through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, how the war destroyed an entire generation of men by making them incapable of reintegrating into society because they could no longer relate to older generations, only to fellow soldiers.
The new technological advances of weapons add to the cruelty and tragedy of World War 1. This ultimately is why Remarque focuses on the losses suffered by Paul and his fellow soldiers. In addition, the observations made by Remarque are not unique to war and are exemplified by the struggles soldiers, like Paul, face physically and
Why does the world need to kill two million men just because two countries can’t agree with each other? War is devastating to countries and most indefinitely to individuals and soldiers. A war can ruin families, friendships, education, economy, and the minds of innocent people. Most young men, who were just approaching manhood, were pulled of their innocence of childhood, and thrown into a world of rage and destruction. Soldiers that luckily survive a horrific war often find their lives turned completely upside down since they enlisted, and sometimes it is just impossible to forget the vicious past and start over again as a civilian. Many older men believe that wars being fought are wars of dignity and glory, but truthfully, wars are battles of death and gore. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque expresses dramatically the negative effects of war.
Paul and his company were once aspiring youth just graduating school thinking about having a wonderful life. Sometimes things don’t always play out the way you want. The effects of war on a soldier is another big theme in the novel. Paul describes how they have changed and how death doesn’t affect them anymore. “We have become wild beasts. We do not fight, we defen...
...my own hometown, like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid” to show how they both were compelled to carry out a message one being the gospel of Jesus Christ and the latter being human equality (p.61). By comparing himself to historical figures he makes numbers of ethical appeals and he builds up the author’s character. His use of great leaders can have a great influence in the reader and have an effect on the emotions of the reader.
There was a drastic change in Paul’s mindset when he came home for his break. For example, he lied to Franz’s mother about his death. He said he had a quick death, but in reality, Franz had a slow and painful death. As a result of the war, many soldiers also gave up on their beliefs as well.
Depression, one of many psychological disorders, is an illness that Paul is stricken with in the war. This disease can plummet people into a state of complete sadness and hopelessness, a common theme that
Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that takes you through the life of a soldier in World War I. Remarque is accurately able to portray the episodes soldiers go through. All Quiet on the Western Front shows the change in attitudes of the men before and during the war. This novel is able to show the great change war has evolved to be. From lining your men up and charging in the eighteenth century, to digging and “living” in the trenches with rapid-fire machine guns, bombs, and flame-throwers being exposed in your trench a short five meters away. Remarque makes one actually feel the fun and then the tragedy of warfare. At the beginning of the novel Remarque gives you nationalist feelings through pride of Paul and the rest of the boys. However at the end of the war Remarque shows how pointless war really is. This is felt when everyone starts to die as the war progresses.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul is morphed from an innocent child into a war veteran who has a new look on society. Paul used to have a carefree life where he was able to be a kid, but when he enlisted into the army it all changed. Paul became a person whose beliefs were changed because of the war. Paul doesn't believe in society anymore especially parents, elders, and school, which used to play a big part in his life. He changed his beliefs because society does not really understand how bad war really is and pushed many young men, who were not ready, into the army. Paul connects with his fellow soldiers because they are going through the same situation and feel the same emotions. Paul's beliefs were changed by the lies that were told to him.
People who have actually been through war know how horrible it is. Society on the other hand, while it believes it knows the horrors of war, can never understand or sympathize with a soldier’s situation. The only people who can understand war is those who have been through it so they can often feel alone if they are out of the military. Paul cannot even give a straight answer to his own father about his dad’s inquiries about war. Paul’s dad does not understand that people who have been in the war can in no way truly express the horrible things that that have seen and experienced. Nor can Paul fit in with the society who does not understand him. Paul and so many others were brought into the war so young that they know of nothing else other than war. Paul held these views on society as he said, “We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered;-the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall in to ruin.
After entering the war in young adulthood, the soldiers lost their innocence. Paul’s generation is called the Lost Generation because they have lost their childhood while in the war. When Paul visits home on leave he realizes that he will never be the same person who enlisted in the army. His pre-war life contains a boy who is now dead to him. While home on leave Paul says “I used to live in this room before I was a soldier” (170).
What is censorship? That might be hard to explain. For every person a “word” can mean many things. Yet at the same time can have a similar overall idea. Take these two examples of the definition censorship. The American Civil Liberties Union claims that it means the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive." The Global Internet Liberty Campaign states it is the control of the information and ideas circulated within a society. Just by these two definitions alone you can find similarities and differences in their meaning.