The novel All Quiet On The Western Front was written by Erich Remarque about a young adult whose generation was essentially obliterated. After being in the frontlines for the Central Powers in World War I, Remarque saw how destroyed his generation was and wrote a work of realistic fiction that was based on his own experiences of fighting on the side of the germans. Soon, Remarque created a resounding story dealing with how the war had destroyed a generation of children. Remarque is far from accusing and does an excellent job of not exaggerating the horror of war. An example of this is when the boys are talking about how Kemmerich's “…leg is amputated. He looks ghastly, yellow, and wan,” (7). That is, sadly, just how the war was; it was gruesome and risky. World War I was just over 100 years ago, and one of the last wars where amputation was a common practice. People forget this happened, that often people got amputated to be saved. Remarque has given us straight up facts of what the conditions were, and doesn’t accuse war of anything. The author also strays from exaggeration how the war was. Some of the appeal to the novel is being able to vicariously live through Paul, without much more detail than “someone shot him point blank in the …show more content…
Yes, there are moments where the boys are joking around, like when Tjaden says “you’ll be thankful if you get so much as a coffin,” (45). But in perspective, Tjaden was only trying to bring levity to the heavy atmosphere as they march to the front. The heavy tone of the novel is further explored as time progresses. Paul becomes so broken; he’s fought so hard and yet “[he is] the last of the seven fellows from our class,” (131). He has seen death many times as all his friends get killed, by the end, Paul breaks down. Paul’s mental capacity had been shattered to pieces as he see’s his own generation get annihilated. Paul’s death was peaceful, but not