Analysis Of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, shows the everlasting hardships that stay with soldiers after World War One, leaving them with mental and emotional issues creating a separation between life and reality. Remarque, expresses how the harsh living conditions resulted from war, left the men mentally, emotionally, and socially separated from life; leaving all men questioning their decision on why they joined the war? As we read through the story, we learn about what life was like being during World War One, though we finish the book with the realization of how the generation of men in the war had their lives destroyed.
Remarque tells the story of Paul Baumer, a 19 year old soldier who has been affected immensely by war. During

an attack, Paul finds himself stuck in a shell-hole with the enemy, where he has to face the idea of killing the man, “Every gasp lays my heart bare. This dying man has time with him, he has an invisible dagger with which he stabs me: Time and my thoughts”(pg.221). Paul refers to this moment as a dagger stabbing his time and thoughts, shows us how big of an impact the war can have on a human being. At age 19, no one should have to face the decision on whether or not to kill a man. Paul is losing his time in life that he spent being happy, normal, and alive. No longer can he go through life as the man he was before war, his thoughts will always be stuck with his time spent in the war. Looking back at Paul’s story, it relates to many other soldiers that left the war with the mental disability known as, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which was a result of being constantly surrounded by death and violence for a majority of their lives. Consequently, the mental effects that one suffered changed their emotional behaviors while being in battle as well as being affected when returning home.
Coming home was not something that many soldiers looked forward to anymore, it was a forgotten place of past memories, that many would never be able to return home to nor create any new lively moments in their life.

Paul expressed how he felt about returning home, “...the generation that has grown up after us will be strange to us and push us aside. We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered:--the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall into ruin”(294). Leaving the war many expect themselves to become separated from the rest of society, their honorable acts while in war will be forgotten, and no one will be able to relate to them on what they went through. Emotionally, this took a big toll on not only Paul, but every soldier that has ever gone into war. Looking in perspective of what they went through, picture going away with all of your friends to protect your country, being told that you were going to be written down in the history books and become heroes. Then, quickly you realize that everyone has lied to you. You slowly watch all of your friends die around you, you start to lose hope in yourself that you will ever return home as a hero, leaving you with nothing left to fight for. At first many fought hard for the idea power of their country, knowing that tbey had the love and support from their families back home, but when they returned they found

themselves emotionally and socially separated from others.
Going into the war, the men wanted to return home with power, they wanted to have the ability to be proud of something, allow their family to be proud of them.

Once the war started Paul questioned the reality of what people would think of them when they returned home, “What do they expect of us if a time ever comes when the war is over? Through the years our business has been killing;--it was our first calling in life. Our knowledge of life is limited to death. What will happen afterwards? And what shall come out of us,”(264). The men that went into war, joined at such a young age that to them it feels as if their whole life has been taken over by war. As Paul discovers the realities of war, he questions what will come out of him when he gets home. His life for such a long time as revolved in killing, while other 19 year olds were going off to college or jumping into the business world, Paul along with millions of others, were left to deal with death and violence. The entire time they were away they missed out on the progression within their societies, their youth-hood, and coming to full development mentally and physically. World War One destroyed the lives of soldiers, creating a generation of lost

men.
War was promised to be a place of hopes and dreams, a place where one could achieve the great things. The experiences that the war gave left men mentally drained from life, emotionally corrupted and separated from others socially. The book, All Quiet on the Western Front not only depicts the life of a soldier, Paul Baumer, but it allows us as readers to realize that there was nothing great about war. The war left us with millions of men whom would never recover from all of the tragic events that they had to suffer through and there was no one back home that could relate to anything that they went through. Going home Paul was scared, he didn’t want to face the realities of returning, having to lie to everyone by telling them that war was amazing and that there was nothing bad about it. Remarque, uses realistic images within the text that help the reader connect with the story on a personal level. The book has taught us about one’s mental, emotional and social state before going into war and after. Making us realize that war not only resulted in millions of causalities but the ones who survived it came back as if they were dead. Soldiers of World War One came back with no distinction between life and reality, leaving them to live the rest of their lives never mentally or emotionally present.