All Quiet On The Western Front Sparknotes

In a time of great nationalism, Remarque showed the true horrors of war which many did not know, for they were told war was noble. All Quiet On the Western Front breaks the illusion painted by the leaders of all countries, showing the true loss of life, and mental and physical effects that war had on the soldiers. As a veteran soldier from the Western Front himself, Remarque experienced the horrors that were not mentioned when he was told to sign up and help his country. Remarque tells how the many young men forced to fight in the war under their older commanders had their lives completely destroyed, even if they survived.

1. Erich Remarque’s purpose for writing All Quiet on the Western Front was to show the devastating effects of war on soldiers and to protest against the war. He does this by depicting the experiences of a group of young German soldiers who are fighting in World War I. One example of how Remarque fulfills this purpose is when the protagonist, Paul Baumer, reflects on the futility of war and the sacrifices soldiers are forced to make. On page 49, Paul says, "We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial - I believe we are lost."

The great details Remarque included added the feel of watching it in the readers own eyes rather than just reading. “The first minutes with the mask decide between life and death: is it tightly woven? I remember the awful sights in the hospital: the gas patients who in day-long suffocation cough their burnt lungs up in clots” (All Quiet Men of the Western Front 153) this part of the reading gave the reader the ability to feel how soldiers’ lives were at a stack on the battle fields, a small mistake might lead to their end. The readers were able to feel the anxiety the writer felt about his gas mask being tightly wore. Also, the writer’s memories at the hospital of those suffering

Kemmerich, Paul’s classmate, is visited by his fellow soldiers at the hospital after he wounded his thigh. He states to Paul that “they have amputated my leg”, and as Paul tries to comfort him, Kemmerich explains how he “wanted to become a head-forester once” (Remarque 27-28). After being incited through nationalistic pressures by his teacher, Kemmerich enlists in the army only to lose a part of himself. Kemmerich’s lose and the cold pointlessness of his eventual death disillusions the idea that there is honor in war. Remarque also shows opposition to the war later on in the book when he illustrates a scene of soldiers starting to question the actions of the higher authorities and pondering the reasons for war.

Remarque wrote this story so that common people would know the true treachery of war and how war is only a device to achieve greatness. War is portrayed as a waste of valuable time and human life that in the end, only corrupts and destroys the minds and lives of the many military families- all because a political power wanted something that somebody else had and couldn't come to a peaceful

Their life during the war was hard on them at first. When they were just starting out, they had “proudly shaved for the first time before going to the barracks” (Remarque 21). Remarque is showing the reader how young these classmates really are. Paul recalls “how embarrassed we were as recruits in barracks when we had to use the general latrine” (Remarque 7), and how they have adapted now, and use “square, neat boxes with wooden sides” (Remarque 7). During World War I, many soldiers from all sides, and from many countries were killed.

”(Remarque 217). An illustrious novel, All Quiet on the Western Front portrays war’s true nature atrocious and vile. Remarque expertly depicts the drastic transformation of these innocent young men into killing machines with all of their youth lost to them, because of the travesty that is

Jayden Isabella Mrs.Berry English 3.1 9 March 2023 In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque uses powerful symbols to illustrate the effects of war on the human mind and to convey the universal themes of beauty, and destruction to convey the emotional and psychological impact of war on individuals and society. Showing that war is always destructive for both the “winners and losers”. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the first-person point of view focuses on the true perspective of war & creates a deeper impact on the reader.

It is in chapter 6 when we start to see the Paul is experiencing despair. After a heavy attack with the French, Paul and the other soldiers take the chance to fall back and rest for an hour. While Paul is standing watch, his memories start to wash all over him, but the memories don’t bring him joy or calmness. The memories bring sorrow and he start to believe that his youth is forever gone along with his hopes and dreams. It is also in this chapter that Paul and looked and listen a fellow solider die for 3 days, and even with their best efforts they could not find

However it may seem, this is not violence simply for the shock factor, neither is it simply included to add realism to the novel. Instead this is an effort on Remarque’s behalf to communicate the human aspect of war, and describe the immense suffering that could be inflicted on any soldier during the GReat War. Through the use of the Narrator Paul Baumer, and the graphic imagery and description, Remarque illustrates the suffering that a soldier had to go through, both psychological and physical. The physical injuries sustained by men on the frontline in All quiet on the western front were absolutely horrendous. Remarque communicated this through his vivid use of gore and graphic imagery, however did was not supposed to be a surprise factor, but more for the reader to truly understand what soldier could go through.

They look just as kindly as our own peasants in Friesland.” (p.190). Again the author's use of first person narrative works on two levels. On one, Paul is just describing the prisoners he sees, on another, Remarque is once again expressing how the men on either side are no different, and they have no personal reason to fight. Like Paul and his friends, they are all simply fighting for survival, eating any scraps they can, and he mentions they look unfit for battle.

The more fighting there is the worse Paul and the men’s moral become. Paul can not see an end to the war and even if it were to end, he doesn’t believe that he can ever return back to normal. He experiences this when he first visits home during the war. “A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up in me. I can not find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength.”

Review All Quiet on the Western Front is great piece of literature because it incorporates a lot of different aspects into the book. It has the action of war, the happiness of friendship, and the sorrowness of loss and given up hope. It varies from other books i have read about war and loss because it gives a perspective that I have never seen through before. The book is based on the lives of German soldiers in World War I, rather than the usual book through the eyes of an American soldier.

Remarque’s Development of Wartime Brutality and the Differences in Wartime Today All Quiet on the Western Front is a timeless story that portrays the good and the bad of being involved in a war, specifically World War 1 (WW1). Throughout the novel, Remarque develops the theme of brutality in the war. He presents the topic of brutality quite often. The brutality during wartime has short and long term effects, but also is somewhat different from war today.

Erich Maria Remarque, a World War I veteran, took his own personal war experience to paper, which resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed anti-war movement novels of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front. The voice of the novel, Paul Baumer, describes his daily life as a soldier during the First World War. Through the characters he creates in the novel, Remarque addresses his own issues with the war. Specifically, Remarque brings to light the idea of the “Iron Youth,” the living conditions in the trenches, and the sense of detachment soldiers feel, among other things. Therefore, All Quiet on the Western Front criticizes the sense of nationalism, which war tends to create among citizens by quickly diminishing any belief regarding it as a glorious and courageous act.