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Literary review of all things quiet on the western front
Symbolism in all quiet on the western front
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Brutality and carnage of all quiet on the western front Throughout the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” brutality and carnage is shown as a major theme. Throughout WWI, many soldiers died and the main characters closest friends. Brutality and carnage is seen throughout the novel through characters death,traumatizing events and the post traumatic stress that the soldiers suffered with themselves. Throughout the novel characters deaths happened frequently. Most of the characters that died in the novel were very close to paul. Kemmerich who was a very close friend to paul because of an injured leg when the were at war, later on his leg was amputated. Paul visits kemmerich in the hospital where he died in front of him. “Suddenly kemmerich groans and begins to gurgle. I jump up, stumble outside and demand, where is the doctor? Where is the doctor? As i catch sight of the white apron i seize hold of it.” “come quick, franz kemmerich is dying.” (remarque pg.31) Another character's death in the novel was kat who was like a bestfriend to paul. When kat is bringing back …show more content…
One traumatizing event for the new recruits was when all the soldiers were under attack and the new recruits were scared for there life from hearing all the explosives. The new recruits never experienced shell bombs, explosives and bombardements. All of it was new to them so with the attack going on it was all a traumatizing scene to them. Another traumatizing event is just the soldiers seeing all the other soldiers wounded or dead lying around the trenches helpless. Paul and his crew actually sees man fighting for their lives or man that are already dead. “And into our pierced and shattered souls bored the torturing image of the brown earth with the greasy sun and the convulsed and dead soldiers, who lie there - it can't be helped - who cry and clutch at our legs as we spring away over them.” (remarque
At the beginning of chapter seven, the Second Company is taken further back to a depot for reinforcements, and the men rest. Himmelstoss wants to get on good terms with the boys and shows them kindness. Paul starts to respect him after seeing how he carried Haie Westhus when he was hit in the back. Tjaden is won over too after he learns that Himmelstoss will provide extra rations from his job as sergeant cook.
All Quiet on the Western Front takes place in Germany where a group of young boys are first encouraged to join the military. Thinking that it would be a great adventure, they enlisted, not knowing the fate that lies before them. At first, the group is sent to training. They aren’t in a serious mood, thinking that war conditions aren’t as bad as they really are. When the boys are sent to the front, it is only then when they start to realize how war is not great. This is when the boys are cramped into the trenches. Some of the soldiers were shell-shocked because of the constant bombardment. When one of the boys was wounded, he was taken to a hospital where there were many wounded soldiers. Some soldiers had to have parts of their bodies amputated in order to survive. When Kemmerich was in the hospital, Müller asked for his pair of boots. The boots was a visible reminder to the boys of the cost of war. Paul then has to face his own conscience when he kills one of the Frenchmen. He doesn’t see the face of an enemy but just a face of another human being. He tries to comfort himself by promising to help the fallen soldier's family. After Paul is relieved from the front line, he decides to go on leave and return home. But when he tries to tell every one of the horrible conditions of the trenches, everybody either laughs him off or calls him a coward. Paul returns before his leave actually ended, wishing that he had never come home. In the end, when Paul loses Kat, Paul realizes that the war has destroyed his way of life.
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times go by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings, especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital. Training camp was the first actuality of what war was going to be like for the men. They thought that it would be fun, and they could take pride in defending their country. Their teacher, Kantorek, told them that they should all enroll in the war. Because of this, almost all of the men in the class enrolled. It was in training camp that they met their cruel corporal, Himelstoss.&nbs most by him. They have to lie down in the mud and practice shooting and jumping up. Also, these three men must remake Himelstoss’ bed fourteen times, until it is perfect. Himelstoss puts the young men through so much horror that they yearn for their revenge. Himelstoss is humiliated when he goes to tell on Tjaden, and Tjaden only receives an easy punishment. Training camp is as death and destruction. Training camp is just a glimpse of what war really is. The men do not gain full knowledge of war until they go to the front line. The front line is the most brutal part of the war. The front line is the place in which the battles are fought. Battles can only be described in one word- chaos. Men are running around trying to protect themselves while shooting is in the trench with an unknown man from the other side. This battle begins with shells bursting as they hit the ground and machine guns that rattle as they are being fired. In order to ensure his survival, Paul must kill the other man. First, Paul stabs the man, but he struggles for his life. He dies shortly after, and Paul discovers who he has killed. The man is Gerald Duval, a printer.&n Having to deal with killing others is one of the horrors of war. The men who are killed and the people who kill them could have been friends, if only they were on the same side. The other important battle leaves both Paul and Kropp with injuries.
...ly he went home, back to his hostile environment, never escaping reality. Paul refused to give up on his dream and refused to go back to reality. Instead of giving up his dream on a glamorized, extravagant life, Paul gave up on his average life and killed himself.
On page 227 paragraph 13 it says, “I saw you face down Erik and those other guys, and I saw Arthur Bauer hit you with a blackjack.” This choice impacts Paul because Luis was someone that Paul cared about and to know that it was Erik and his friend Arthur that hit Luis that caused Luis’s death, will cause Paul a lot heartache and emotional pain. But this inevitably makes Paul stronger because now he has the drive to somehow get back Erik for all the horrible things that Erik has done. On page 245 Paul is very distraught because he finds out that Luis has died and knows the reason why. This bothers Paul an incredible amount that he even goes home early from school. This shows that Erik’s choice affected Paul because Paul will forever acknowledge himself as Erik’s little brother, the brother of the person that killed Luis Cruz and this is something that will take Paul a long time to get
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that greatly helps in the understanding the effects war. The novel best shows the attitudes of the soldiers before the war and during the war. Before the war there are high morals and growing nationalist feelings. During the war however, the soldiers discover the trauma of war. They discover that it is a waste of time and their hopes and dreams of their life fly further and further away. The remains of Paul Baumer's company had moved behind the German front les for a short rest at the beginning of the novel. After Baumer became Paul's first dead schoolmate, Paul viewed the older generation bitterly, particularly Kantorek, the teacher who convinced Paul and his classmates to join the military. " While they taut that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, we already that death-throes are stronger.... And we saw that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone, and alone we must see it through."(P. 13) Paul felt completely betrayed. " We will make ourselves comfortable and sleep, and eat as much as we can stuff into our bellies, and drink and smoke so that hours are not wasted. Life is short." (P 139) Views of death and becoming more comfortable with their destiny in the r became more apparent throughout the novel. Paul loses faith in the war in each passing day. * Through out the novel it was evident that the war scarred the soldiers permanently mentally. Everyone was scared to go to war when it started.
Paul who creates himself this other persona he has to be with Paul and Ousia Kittredge, based on Trent’s information allows him into their household with ease. In order to get into their homes and obtain help from Ouisa and Flan, Paul decides to stab himself so they would take him in and treat his wound. He then lies to them and tells them he is friends with their children and all the good things their children said about them to make them feel more delighted with his presence. Geoffrey who was there with the Kittredges’ talking about busines...
Life for the soldiers in the beginning is a dramatic one as they are ordered up to the frontline to wire fences. The frontline makes Paul feel immediately different as described here. "As if something is inside us, in our blood, has been switched on." The front makes Paul more aware and switched on as if his senses and reactions are sharpened. I think Paul and his friends are frightened when they are near the front line. After they wire the fences and they are heading to the barracks their group start to be fired at by the enemy. They manage to get through the shelling unscathed but they hear a horse that has been shot. The horse makes a terrible noise of anguish and is in terrible pain and it has been shot as the author describes here. "The belly of one of the horses has been ripped open and it guts are trailing out." This shows that there are not just human casualties of war; the innocent lives of animals can be affected as much as humans who fight in wars. Detering-one soldier in Pauls group-says." It is the most despicable thing of all to drag animals into a war." I agree with Detering, as animals had no choice about going to war. On the way back to the trucks that would take them back to the barracks Paul Baumers company are hit again by heavy shelling and they have to take cover in a military graveyard. The shells blow huge holes in the graveyard and create large...
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
All Quiet on the Western Front follows the story of a young soldier named Paul who was enlisted at a young age to fight for his country. Remarque, being a German veteran from the Great War was compelled to write this novel to show the reality of war unlike other authors who write a story about war witho...
World War I had a great effect on the lives of Paul Baumer and the young men of his generation. These boys’ lives were dramatically changed by the war, and “even though they may have escaped its shells, [they] were destroyed by the war” (preface). In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer and the rest of his generation feel separated from the other men, lose their innocence, and experience comradeship as a result of the war.
All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death-- together. Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader insights into the realities of war. In this genre, the author is free to develop the characters in a way that brings the reader into the life of Paul Baumer and his comrades. The novel frees the author from recounting only cold, sterile facts. This approach allows the reader to experience what might have been only irrelevant facts if presented in a textbook.
One character I believe changed Paul overtime is his parents. During the book Mr. and Mrs. Fisher made countless decisions to affect Paul. This has a negative impact and a positive impact too.
Throughout the book there are many examples of these horrific events. "Three guns open fire close beside us. The bursting of flame shoots across the fog, the guns roar and boom. We shiver and are glad to think that we shall be back in the huts early in the morning” (Remarque 54). This quote relays the imagery of the battlefield and being on the front all the time. How they longed for protection and the comfort of the huts. This simple event in Paul’s life could have caused PTSD. Another quote from the novel also shows another event that could have caused Post- traumatic stress disorder "These hours .... The gurgling starts again- but how slowly a man dies ! For this I know- he cannot be saved, I have, indeed, tried to tell myself that he will not be, but at noon this pretence breaks down and melts before his groans. If only I had not lost my revolver crawling about, I would shoot him, stab him I cannot" (Remarque 182). Seeing someone die after a long time of suffering is a very traumatic experience which could definitely lead to PTSD. Many events like these occur during many wars. This is why soldiers often suffer from the symptoms of PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD occur soon after the event or develop weeks, months, or, rarely, years later. They may include: Involuntary thoughts about the experience and repeated reliving of events, daytime flashbacks of the event, panic attacks with symptoms such as shortness of breath and fainting, avoidance of reminders of the event and refusal to discuss it, sleep disturbance and nightmares, poor concentration, and irritability (Post- traumatic stress disorder). With the help of the treatment provided to the patients affected by Post- traumatic stress disorder they can live happy normal lives granted they do not experience another traumatic event
Around the end of the story, Paul decides to run off to New York for a week to finally live his dreams. However, by making his dreams a reality he exposes himself to something he wasn't prepared for, the truth. At first, everything is all Paul ever wanted it be. He is able to finally live life as he sees fit. He spends his money without care, and is able to live up to all his lies. (Although this reaches its climax when Paul meets a young man in the street), "The young man offered to show Paul the night side of the town, and the two boys went out together after dinner, not returning to the hotel until seven o'clock the next morning" (Cather 11). After this, Paul's fake reality falls apart quickly. Faced with the reality that he will have to return home, Paul decides to take his own life. Instead of ending it quickly with a gun, he decides to go a different route, "When the right moment came, he jumped. As he fell, the folly of his haste occurred to him with merciless clearness, the vastness of what he had left undone. There flashed through his brain, clearer than ever before, the blue of Adriatic water, the yellow of Algerian sands. He felt something strike his chest, and that his body was being thrown swiftly through the air, on and on, immeasurably far and fast, while his limbs were gently relaxed. Then, because the picture-making mechanism was crushed, the disturbing visions flashed into black,