Camaraderie in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Between the years of 1914 to 1918, the whole of Europe was locked in arms, not only for pride but mostly for survival. The years of war brought devastation upon all societies. Men were massacred in droves, food stuff dwindled, and at times an end seemed non-existent. The foundation of the first Great War, one can muse, began as a nationalistic race between rival nations. By the onset of 1914, once the Archduke Frendinad had been assassinated in Saravejo, the march for war became not just a nationalistic opinion, but now a frenzy to fight. In battle, unlike previous wars, new weaponry caused drastic alterations in strategy. No longer will armies stand to face their rivals on the plains. Now the war will be fought in trenches, hidden underground from the new, highly accurate artillery. In many respects, World War I was a war of artillery, gas, and mechanization. Except as new weapons were becoming essential for battle, the leaders, on all sides, appeared too inept to fight this new style of warfare. Generals, or any leader for that matter higher in the chain of command, sent their troops in massive assaults. Regardless of their losses there were no deviations from the main ideology of sending massive waves of men and shells to take a position. On an individual level, the scene of repeated assaults and mayhem of the front line did little to foster hope for their superiors or even for the naiveté of their fellow countrymen who were not fighting. I submit that in times of sheer madness and destitution, as during World War I, men banded together to form make-shift families for support and companionship when all seemed lost; as exemplified in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front.

The reason for which I believe that camaraderie amo...

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... his friends but also, on a deeper level, for other soldiers. When Paul becomes stuck in a hole, while a bombardment was on going, an enemy soldier falls on to him. Paul reacts as any hardened soldier would, with his knife. But while trapped in the hole, he has time to ruminate over his actions. Paul becomes sympathetic towards his enemy and attempts to soothe the man of his pain. He continually states to the man “I am trying to help, Comrade, comrade, comrade” because that is what they have become. While trapped Paul understands the similarities between him and the now deceased enemy. His empathy turns into genuine sympathy for the man’s plight but also for all soldiers, as he leaves the hole “I promise you, comrade. It shall never happen again” (Remarque, 226).

Works Cited

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine, 1982. Print.