Have you ever thought about what it was like to live during World War 1, or what it was like to fight at war? At first glance of any war piece, you might think the author would try to portray the soldiers as mentally tough and have a smashing conscience. Many would think that fighting in a war shows how devoted you are to your country, however, that is not true. According to All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the reality of a soldier's life is despondency, carnage and eradication at every bombardment. Living every day is not knowing if they will eat, see their families, or even if they will awaken the next day. Demeaning themselves from heroes to barely men without their military garment or identity. Remarque conveyed how …show more content…
the men felt, how they officiate, and what they were exposed to, giving readers a solemn view on a soldier’s experience, mind frame, and detailed imagery we can otherwise just barely imagine in the most gruesome parts of our minds. It is in this way Erich Maria Remarque develops the theme that war is horrific through the motifs of army attire, separation of powers, and lost youth. Throughout All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque utilizes army attire as a symbol. For example, the narrator confesses “But when we go bathing and strip, suddenly we have slender legs and and slight shoulders. We are no longer soldiers but little more than boys…”(29). Remarque uses the phrase “little more than boys” to emphasize the change in mindset of the men, just from taking off their boots. This certainly illustrates the fact that the men feel like the boots are what makes them men. They are essentially kids again and they feel as though they have no relation to the war, and the strength and bravery that is associated with war, all from removing their boots. Furthermore, in chapter 7, the narrator declares “Then I take out my civilian clothes from the wardrobe and put them on. I feel awkward. The suit is rather tight and short. I have grown in the army…. But how light the suit is. It feels as though I have nothing on but a shirt and underpants. I look at myself in the glass, it is a strange sight”(???). Remarque uses words such as “awkward” and “strange” to emphasize how the war has changed him- not only physically, but emotionally and morally. When Baumer looks into the glass wearing civilian clothes, he does not recognize who has appeared in front of him. He feels as though he is not looking at himself. He is not wearing his army clothes and his pack, therefore, it is almost as though he is naked. It is unorthodox to him how light his attire is, because he no longer has to carry the burden of the war on his back. In closing, the symbolism of army attire helps develop the theme that war is horrible. Remarque’s dictation creates the idea that war attire symbolizes strength, bravery, and manhood. When the men are not in their army attire, they are no longer the strong men that the war has seemingly created, but they are innocent children again. This symbol contributes to the idea that war has created something of the men that they are not, and that they cannot be their own individuals without being associated with the war. The army attire symbol conveys how the war affects soldiers in a way that they are permanently altered and can never be independent. In addition to army attire, All Quiet on the Western Front exploits an obvious divide in powers between Paul’s generation and the one before him. This divide causes unneeded tension among the soldiers that bolsters the overall theme that war has a horrific effect on those involved. For example, Remarque proposes, “Give ‘em all the same grub and all the same pay and the war would be over and done in a day” (32). This quote is said by Katczinsky, not only does it give insight to his unique personality and characterization, but it also emphasizes that differences between the soldiers. To name a few, the previous generation have higher wages and better nutrition, they also are on the sidelines of the war, watching on from a safe distance. This excerpt demonstrates that if the ones who started the war had to experience the hardship that those who are fighting had to endure that they would use their power and authority to end the war. The political powers make the generations different from others because they experienced things that only one another can relate to, building even stronger comradeship. Furthermore, the narrator expresses “We had to recognize that our generation was to be more trusted than theirs,” (12). This quote is pulled before the young soldiers had violently assaulted Himmelstoss due to a pinned rage against his methods. The motif of betrayal is also blatantly evident as this shows how Paul’s feeling of being tricked into giving their lives away, to a war that they didn’t start but the previous generation did. He realizes that they are dying for a cause he may not believe in. In conclusion, Remarque uses strong phrases that show a deep distrust in superiors. This great divide in authority and power made the soldiers rely on comrades even more. Without the guidance and help of their mentors the narrator and his friends have an experience is full of fear and confusion, defending the theme that war is horrific. On account of the generational divide shown in the book, All Quiet on The Western Front, shows how soldiers feel as if they have lost their youth.
Some blaming it on the prior generation’s political agendas. This loss of youth causes the destruction of what makes these soldiers people throughout the novel. One of the first quotes we begin to see Remarque delve into this “But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk” (18). Paul’s character feels as if they have aged and his youth is long gone and irretrievable that their minds will never be the same. This marks a death within themselves, to Paul and many other soldiers their former lives are in essence dead. They continuously tell themselves that they are no longer young men albeit their young age they truly feel as if their old men. This makes them feel as if they had their youth robbed from them because of the war. An earlier moment when Remarque visits this motif is “...Muller, who still carries his school textbooks with him, dreams of examinations ”(3). Muller still has not lost his ambition from his youth which is a stark contrast to his comrades to them their previous life is essentially nonexistent to the soldiers now. Muller nevertheless breaks this status quo of the soldiers by still studying with his books as he still dreams of one day returning and having a successful career. At this stage while the war has fully crushed the soldiers former selves and ambitions Muller’s hopes and dreams still stand strong. …show more content…
The loss of youth affected these men by taking their basic humanities away, such as ambition and liveliness hope they have for the world is crushed and replaced by resentment and despair. This stripping of their liveliness contributes to how horrific war is. Not only does it kill and destroy in the physical world it destroys minds. In conclusion the novel All Quiet on the Western Front uses minor motifs and tones that demonstrate a harsh reality of war and the generalized theme that war is horrific.
Erich Maria Remarque develops this theme by utilizing the symbol of army attire, the motif of separation of powers between different generations, and the motif of lost innocence. Remarque visits the many horrors of wars in the field and in their consciences through powerful symbolism that convey the realities they face, readers can see this through remarks of the characters along the story. Readers observe how the loss of youth scars these men and their ambitions, how soldiers seemingly feel like kids without their attire and the great divide and distrust they hold towards their previous generation. It is in these devices readers can fully grasp the horror and tragedy of
war.
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 goes 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 the novel they are enthusiastic about going into the war. After they see what war is really like, they do not 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.
The young soldiers depicted in Erich Maria Remarque's text All Quiet on the Western Front represent a generation without precedent, constancy, or forethought. The men, answering their elders' calls to become national heroes, have lost their innocence on the battlefield and remain forever altered in belief and spirit. Remarque contrasts the cold realities of war in the present to the tranquility of the past in order to illustrate the psychological transformation of the men stationed on the frontlines. The soldiers appear trapped in the present and alienated from their pasts; however, deconstruction of the text rejects the present and past as opposing states of time and identity, and reveals them as related conditions that are intimately and permanently intertwined.
...be perceived: "I merely wanted to awaken understanding for a generation that more than all others has found it difficult to make its way back from four years of death, struggle, and terror, to the peaceful fields of work and progress" (Eksteins) Although we will never even begin to understand what horror these soldiers have experienced, Remarque’s novel give us a glimpse into this mindset and compels us to be grateful for the life that we have.
The novel is based on Erich Maria Remarques experiences with WWI, which gives an insight to all readers of how life is in warfare. With the conflict of Man vs. Man and Man vs. Self, it gives the theme of change in war more amplification. Comradeship gave the men hope and a mini society to live with, enabling everyone to have people to talk to. However, during rough times the dark tone gives the theme of death an extra kick, making all of the elements much more vivid. Erich Maria Remarque’s writing of this novel opens the eyes of readers all around, from going through boot camp, to the final breaths that are
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.
One way that Paul changes is that his patriotism towards his country about war decreases. Paul is sitting with his men around a fire picking off lice and comparing them before throwing them in the fire. Muller starts to ask others what they would do if and when the war is over. After dwelling on the topic for a while they realized the younger men do not know how to do anything but fight. They joined the war at such a young age that they did not get a chance to explore anything else. “‘The war has ruined us for everything.’” At the beginning of the novel he is excited about defending his country and destroying the enemy, but after having interaction with soldiers from the opposing side he realizes that they are all the same. They are just soldiers fighting for their countries and eager to get home. Paul’s experience in combat changes his thoughts of war. Because of this, he gains the ability to reflect on the events that happen. His own ideas of war changes when he first witnesses the ugly truth of war. Paul’s first experience in combat reveals to him that everything he was taught as a young recruit are lies. This causes him to make his own conclusions and thoughts about the war. As the war goes on, Paul realizes more and more about the reality of the situation that he is in.
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
After their first two days of fighting, they return to their bunker, where they find neither safety nor comfort. A grizzled veteran, Kat, suggests these ‘fresh-faced boys’ should return to the classroom. The war steals their spiritual belief in the sanctity of human life with every man that they kill. This is best illustrated by Paul’s journey from anguish to rationalization of the killing of Gerard Duval; the printer turned enemy who leaps into the shell-hole already occupied by Paul. Paul struggles with the concept of killing a “brother”, not the enemy. He weeps despondently as war destroys his emotional being.
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.
The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co...
Remarque vividly describes not only the gore that is present on the battlefield, but the emotional turmoil that wrecks the men in the trenches. Paul Baümer, the narrator, describes his inner thoughts throughout the work, as he would in a journal. His position towards the war gradually changes from anger to despair and depression. Early in the book, the soldiers lose trust in the generation before them, and channel this anger at their fathers and school teacher, Kantor...
This quote describes the inner thought processes of all types of varying soldiers. When Paul compares all of the “moody or good-tempered soldiers” to “instant human animals”, there is only one difference he states. The second that the soldiers reach the front, they become war animals, fit only for killing and destruction. Remarque writes about how war manipulates all feelings and dreams until it is the only remaining idea left in a soldier’s brain. Paul demonstrates this by seeing the things he has until he becomes familiarized to the horrible details that war entails. After living through the things the soldiers have to, it mellows down the soldier’s empathy. These soldiers endured horrific ordeals most, if not all, of the days. Eventually, the events that most civilians would be terrified by, become second nature to these soldiers. Things like bombardment and gas bombs are normal occurrences for the men. Killing changes from a terrible experience into something that can easily be done. Remarque repeatedly symbolizes the soldiers to portray to the reader the barbaric shadows that remain of soldiers that once had aspirations and hobbies of their own. He utilizes the motif of
War is one of the most horrific things that the human race is capable of. Such armed conflicts are nothing more than a manifestation of the barbarism that lurks within the human heart. Nonetheless, some beautiful things have emerged from the ashes of war. One such thing is Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. This particular novel covers the struggles of Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier, and his brothers-in-arms during the First World War. As such, Remarque mounts a concerted effort to try and depict the savagery of war accurately. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque uses plot, character development, and setting to illustrate the horrors of the First World War, as well as the effects that they have on
Unlike most writers, the author of All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque portrays war as it really is; full of visions with fear, butchery, and meaningless deaths instead of an abundance of romanticized and glory descriptions. Remarque includes the terror and savagery of war, showing the physical and mental toll taken on the soldiers. The only way for them to survive was to disconnect themselves from their emotions and the events happening around them.
The theme, the brutality of war, is a very important message that Remarque tries to send to readers. It means that war is a horrific event that occurs, causing a massive loss of human life, while achieving nothing. More specifically, the theme means that people who experience war firsthand also experience a severe level of ruthlessness that some wouldn’t think possible. After being on the front for such a long time, Baumer explains that “war is the cause of death like cancer and tuberculosis, like influenza and dysentery. The deaths are merely more frequent, more varied and terrible” (Remarque 271). This quote perfectly describes the horrors of war which the source of is the extreme ferocity. Massive amounts of life that