All Quiet On The Western Front Rhetorical Analysis

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War can wound and burn, but it can also heal. In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque presents this, and then some--a thoroughly unsightly image of war-guttural, jagged landscapes of emotion, meandering rivers of humanity, and acrid pictures of the soldier's experience. Set starkly in WWI, it focuses on the brutality and senselessness of war, even going so far as to vividly depict scenes of viscera, gore, and trench warfare (how synonymous those three may be). It has no intended political connotation, and stands solely to vocalize the scarring experience that soldiers went through. Paul Baumer and company, the main characters of our book, serve as the medium through which the loss (or the contrary, perseverance) of …show more content…

Paul’s leave, is in truth, an allegory for his estrangement and the pain his lingering dregs of personhood bring him. By the process of war, he has been molded to be useful as a soldier and nothing else. It is said explicitly, “We had fancied our task would be different, only to find we were to be trained for heroism as though we were circus-ponies. But we soon accustomed ourselves to it. We learned in fact some of these things were necessary, but the rest merely show. Soldiers have a fine nose for such distinctions (Remarque 22).” And in addition to that “They talk too much for me. They have worries, aims, desires, that I cannot comprehend.none feels it with his whole essence; I cannot even say myself exactly what I mean (Remarque 168-169).” But, the fact that he is not totally and utterly estranged from his people, and that he subtly manages a quiet personal defiance of military standardization stands as a stark symbol of his struggle to maintain his humanity. Rather than being locked in another room with a closed door, it’s akin to him looking through an open window, one with a …show more content…

He still is, no doubt. But that lifeblood, that vigor that once coursed within him, has been strangled to an inaudible trickle. Humanity is not a thing. Paul (&co) is by no means exempt from this principle. His character ebbs and flows with what he’s surrounded by, even more so than his peers. See, “These are wonderfully carefree hours.We hear the muffled rumble of the front only as a very distant thunder, bumblebees droning by quite drown it (Remarque 9)” To accrete further, “Then we begin to realize we are in for trouble. The observation balloons have spotted the smoke from our chimney.Immediately afterwards I am up again and going on with the frying (Remarque, 234-235)” This type of transient joy with subliminal, ever-present grim undertones is very commonly illustrated in Remarque’s work. For good reason it is instrumental in displaying the innate contradiction that the soldiers have to live with. The highest highs and most pitiful lows of their lives are in direct sync with each other. They have no choice but to endure a wavering, unstable state. To forcibly “live” in such a way that upsets and overturns a man’s regular order for so long. It’s no wonder Paul began to loosen his grip on

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