All Quiet On The Western Front as an Anti-War Novel

All quiet On the Western Front, a book written by Erich Maria Remarque tells of the harrowing experiences of the First World War as seen through the eyes of a young German soldier. I think that this novel is a classic anti-war novel that provides an extremely realistic portrayal of war. The novel focuses on a group of German soldier and follows their experiences.

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...

... middle of paper ...

...oided, but war, in comparison, could have been avoided and is mans fault.

War in the end does kill Paul, but not before his closest friends are killed. Katczinsky is hit by shrapnel and is horrifically described by the author here "Kat got a splinter of shrapnel in his head on the way. The war has ripped apart Paul's life and now his closest friend is dead. The final chapter describes Paul's last days and how he is resigned to dying. The novel goes from first person narrative to third person when Paul passes away. "He fell in October1918 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.