All Quiet On The Western Front Theme Essay

The novel All Quiet on the Western Front, written by author Erich Maria Remarque, tells the story of a german veteran of World War 1 named Paul and the struggles him and many of the other soldiers were faced with. The book goes into the physical and mental stress change the men went through and had to overcome during the war. It also goes into depth about the detachment from civilian life that Paul had felt. Throughout the story, there are many themes that show the pointlessness and destructiveness of the war,such as a lost generation, human destruction and lastly, moral decay.

By looking at the theme of lost generation it becomes clear that war is overall both pointless, and destructive. Towards the beginning of the story, all the boys come together and are talking and Kropp states how Kantorek had written to them as the “Iron Youth”, which they all smile bitterly to while Paul thinks to himself “ We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago, we are old folk.”(pg.18) This supports the theme of this generation becoming lost. They no longer consider themselves young with the things they have to face. They know they need to grow up and face the war. The war is destructive to their youthness. Towards the middle of the story Paul was shot in the leg by an enemy soldier and was hospitalized for a while, as he was on there he looked around and saw all the broken people that were in there with him, as this was happening he

thinks to himself “ 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.”(pg.263) At this point Paul is beginning to feel lost and like his life will never be anything other than war. All of these young men and boys are forced into the war, forced into this life. They are faced fear and death. The war all pointless and destructive to this whole generation of young men like Paul. Later on throughout the story towards the end, Paul comes to the realization of how is life will never be the same for his generation once the war is over, “We will not be able to find our way anymore.”(Pg.295). Paul feels broken, burnt out, and just completely without hope for life after the war, none of these men will be understood, and will never be the same again, haunted everyday with memories of the war. A generation of men completely lost to a pointless and destructive war.

By looking at the amount of human destruction present, it becomes vividly clear that war is overall pointless and destructive. In the beginning of the story the soldiers are all marching to the front good tempered but once they hear the first droning of gun shells they turn to their animal instincts to protect themselves, “... we reach the zone on the front where we become on the instant human animals.”(pg.56) This helps tie to the theme of human destruction in the way that these men have changed so much since they first arrived. They now refer to themselves as animals and are left with nothing but their own animal instinct to survive. Later on throughout the story Paul and Albert Kropp were injured and sent to the infirmary. Albert had a gunshot wound to the leg which was pretty bad and had the chance of having his leg amputated, “If they take my leg, I’ll put an end to it.”(pg.242). Kropp refuses to live his life as a cripple so much that he threatens to take his own life, this is shows human destruction with how he is willing to take his own life than live without a leg, all because of a pointless war. Lastly, towards the end of the story Paul is coming to another realization of the pointlessness of the war and the destructiveness of it.”War is the cause of death.”(pg.271). The war is just as murderous as cancer, influenza, tuberculosis, and dysentery. This supports the theme of human destruction with how people are being killed pointlessly like diseases. Fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, cousins, all being murdered by a pointless and destructive war.

By looking at the moral decay present in this story, it becomes quite clear that war is both pointless and destructive. Towards the beginning Muller has no sympathy for Kemmerich and his death, all he cares about is boots because they will benefit him,”Do you think he will last till tomorrow, if not, we know where the boots are.”(pg.18) Right now, Mullers only main concern is the boots, most people would feel sympathetic towards the people dying like Kemmerich. If they had not been in the war, things would be different and he would feel sympathy for his dying. The war changes them and conflicts them both internally and physically. A little later in the story they are still discussing the boots and how boots are scarce and that at that point it was all that mattered. Paul thinks to himself, “We have lost all sense of other considerations, because they are artificial to us.”(pg.21) Right now the only things that matter are facts and your own health. They get blisters on their feet and boots are a necessity to them. Other considerations don’t phase them anymore, only their own survival. Later on in the story, Paul is thinking to himself how they are all dead men who are still just able to run and kill. They have lost control of themselves when they see another man, “We have lost all feeling for one another.”(pg.116). The war is changing their attitude towards one another and murder had became normal to them. They begin to feel dead inside from all the killing of the war, it’s pointless and destructive.

Overall, All Quiet on the Western Front is an excellent novel that goes into miraculous detail and depth of the struggles soldiers were faced with, and the feelings they felt towards the war.

The author meticulously adds many events and context to really show how war seemed pointless to the soldiers and that it was destructive. Of the many themes in the story, there are three that do an excellent job of proving the pointlessness and destructiveness of the war; human destruction, lost generation, and moral

decay.