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

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Although it is best to try to avoid war at all costs, World War I was inevitable. Countries joined the effort in order to comply with existing alliances, or defend their nation from the fierce battles surrounding them. War also provided countries with an opportunity to establish their dominance, and gain territory. However, WWI proved to be the most ruinous event of the time, which Erich Remarque describes in his novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. Remarque uses his past experience on the battlefield to vividly detail the harsh reality faced by the young soldiers fighting on the front lines. But while soldiers faced the immediate consequences of war, the countries involved endured the repercussions of their overspending and massive military …show more content…

A majority of the German army was made up of the youth of the nation, boys 18 to 21 years old. They were recruited from school, ripped from their adolescence, and given weapons of mass destruction with the instruction to kill for their country. Prior to the war, the boys had hobbies, passions, and a path in life that did not end with their premature death. As Paul lies in the trenches, filthy and mourning the loss of a comrade, he takes time to reflect on the events that brought him into the war and says, “We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces … We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress … We believe in such things no longer. We believe in the war” (88). His words make it clear that he realizes his youth’s potential, and understands it was wrongfully taken from him. He has been trained to shoot enemies, but in the process has harmed himself. No longer does he have unlimited opportunities, or a life of his own; instead he has the war, and the instinct for survival dictating his every movement. He has given up any possibility of a future, dedicating himself to the only constant in his life: shells, gunfire, and death. The loss of his future

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