...“All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque is not merely a novel itself, but an honest picture of the devastating war to its every corner. Throughout the story, all characters undergo continuous changes, from their appearances to their personalities, from their actions to their thoughts, from their previous lives to the brutal present. As a result, a man coming out of the war turns into a different person as he adapts to the changes. This general idea embraces the whole story and links the details together. Most of the soldiers in the story are Paul’s comrades. Despite their different backgrounds, they are all young and just standing at the threshold of life when they are pushed into the war. In their pre-war lives, they were taught at school about the mind, literature, and other subjects. They strived for freedom and happiness. For such a long period of over 10 years, they were surrounded by teachers, friends and the culture, which were important and had great impression over our men. However, on coming to the training system, they are now taught in the army with guns. They put an end to all dreams and habits. The only things that matter are drill and more drill, boot brush and surviving in the harsh system. Specifically, the narrator, Paul, used to write a play and a bunch of poems earlier, which indicates that he has an artistic mind and a sense to melody and rhythm. Sadly after being trained for the war, not only does he stop writing and composing, but he cannot...
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...Explore Paul's relationship with Kat. What effect, if any, does this relationship have on Paul's view of his experiences throughout the novel? Standing next your best friend unaware of if they will live or die is a quite terrible situation. Would you be able to stand next to your best friend and watch him or her die? Feeling like your whole world could come crashing down, enveloping you and your loved ones at any moment is the feeling many of the soldiers had in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The camaraderie felt between the soldiers was quite evident throughout this piece of work. One connection that was immense throughout the book was the main character and narrator, Paul’s feelings toward Kaczynski (Kat), a fellow soldier and great friend. Paul’s relationship with Kat only seems to grow, creating a special bond as the novel progressed. From comforting Paul after his first hand to hand combat to simply being a friend to rely on, Kat was always by Paul’s side. Kat had an amazing impact on Paul during his time at war and on leave. When Paul was released for his short leave in Chapter 9, Paul couldn’t help but feel like he was out of place once he arrived back home. Paul realized he had changed as a person and was worried about his fellow comrades fighting on the battlefield. He often longed to return to the war so he could be back with his friends. When he arrived back however, he felt different. “I have an uneasy conscience...
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...All Quiet on the Western Front How Was Erich Maria Remarque Life? Erich Maria Remarque was born in Germany in June 22nd and died at the age of 72 in September 25th. Remarque participated in the First World War. He was sent to war when he was only 18 years old, and during his participation in World War l he was constantly moving. Erich went to the Western Front, Reserves, Field Depot of the 2nd Guards Reserve Division at Hem-Lenglet and to the 2nd Company. It was the 31st of July 1917, when Remarque got an injury by shrapnel; which can be fragments of a bomb or pieces of metal. The shrapnel lead to severe injuries in his left leg, neck and right arm. After his incident he was sent to a Hospital in Germany, where he spend the rest of the war days. Remarque had many kinds of different of jobs throughout his life; Erich was a teacher, writer, librarian, journalist, businessman and editor. His job as a...
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...The War’s Effect’s Towards Soldiers World War I was one of the most significant wars in U.S. history. It was significant because it created a gateway for new tactics, weapons, and it carved the way for a whole new style of warfare. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul Baumer, the main character, and his comrades go through horrifying experiences that affect them both physically and mentally. Throughout the book Paul shows how war is a dehumanizing experience, but he continues to find ways to make him more human by appreciating the little things that he didn’t notice before his previous war experiences. Throughout the war Paul witnesses things that make him more empathetic and compassionate. These specific war experiences have influenced Paul in both negative and positive ways. For example when Paul comes to realize that the Russian prisoners are suffering he suddenly shows sympathy towards them by, “I take out my cigarettes break each one in half and give them to the Russians.” (194) As Paul overlooks the violence and fighting of the war he realizes that the so called “enemy” is just another man fighting for the same reason as he is. Paul now has a new outlook on the war and he is showing a very unexpected sensitive side, which is most definitely him being “human”. During the intensity of the war Paul was holding nothing back while being in battle with the men shooting at them with no feelings or regret. As Paul now looks at the enemy...
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...“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow”(Remarque.) In his novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” Remarque describes how young men have their innocence destroyed and their youth and identity lost through war. He does this by Remarque demonstrates how young men have their innocence destroyed by describing the horrors they face daily and explaining how it impacts them as young men. In the novel, Remarque, through one of his characters, says, “We are not youth any longer. We don’t want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing. We fly from ourselves. From our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot...
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...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...
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...The years leading up to World War I were characterized by extreme nationalism as well as glorified militarism. As a result, the world was shocked and unprepared for the widespread destruction and devastation brought on by the war. As seen in the novel All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque as well as poetry by Wilfred Owen and Thomas Hardy, the harsh realities of WWI compelled soldiers to erase their own identities and essentially become emotionless beasts—changes that would render them incompatible with the society they came from. The setting of war sees soldiers not as unique individuals, but simply a generalized unit part of a bigger whole. Paul proves this by explaining how the strictly disciplined preparation for the...
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...All Quiet on the Western Front There are not many books written about World War I. All Quiet on the Western Front was written by Erich Maria Remarque. Paul Bäumer is a German soldier who fought in the trenches during WWI. Bäumer is the protagonist and narrator of All Quiet on the Western Front. Paul Baumer’s testament of the war is bitter invective against sentimental ideas. Paul Bäumer is a 19 year old male that enlisted in World War One. Bäumer is very fit because of the war. All Quiet on the Western Front states, “All four are nineteen years of age, and all four joined up from the same class as volunteers for the war.” (Remarque 4). Because of Paul’s fitness, he can do many things in the military, and to help him stay alive. Paul Bäumer...
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...“War: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that he too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.”-Karl Kraus. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, displays how the brutality of war continues to affect generations of soldiers. The horrors war can cause are timeless. Remarque shows this by writing about how war causes suffering not only towards the family of soldiers, but to soldiers themselves. He describes how when back home after the war, soldiers feel out of place. He also talks about how war brings out the worst in people and how it affects the mental/emotional health of soldiers. The lives of sons, daughters, parents and friends are lost for the purpose of what? War. The effects these losses can cause are seen when Maria Remarque states, “I must go and see Kemmerich's mother. I cannot write that down. This quaking, sobbing woman who shakes me and cries out on me: "Why are you living then, when he is dead?"--who drowns me in tears and calls out: "What are you there for at all, child, when you --"--who drops into a chair and wails: "Did you see him?...
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...War…. what is it good for? Absolutely nothing except the internal achievement the leaders feel in winning the war. The Poor soldiers who sacrifice themselves arent cared about, the men and women who give up their lives are disregarded by these power hungry men. All Quiet on The Western Front By Erich Maria Remarque explains how the horror of facing wars affects soldiers and their families. The Horrors of war were captured in the examples of witnessing loss, isolation, and suffering. Paul suffered loss by losing his closest men in the war including his mother,katzinsky and kemmerich. In Chapter 7 of AQOTWF paul realizes that his mother doesn't have much time remaining, “I ought never to have come here. Out there i was indifferent and often...
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...All Quiet on the Western Front During the course of the book All Quiet on the Western Front the trench warfare was terrible, the men were faced with inhaling toxic chemicals, uncomfortable situations, starvation and having to fight off the rats to protect their food. Living conditions and the lack of food was also another major contribution of the men slowly becoming worn out. Throughout this long battle there were also some challenges for instance the muddy conditions, classmates and close friends dying quickly. Finally this was one of the most momentous wars for the reason that, the battle lasted so long that it became a one on one battle, new guns are being created and used. WW1 is The life of a solider was described to as nonstop fighting for a long period of time. Paul has narrated that he was a part of a German army of 150 company fighting on the French front in World War 2, over a short period of time the men were quickly dying. The cook would make just enough food. Paul explains that “We cannot afford to throw the bread away, because then we should have nothing left to eat in the morning, so we carefully cut off the bits of bread that the animals gnawed”() Any food that the they have can be compared to a...
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...In “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Erich Maria Remarque illustrates scenes of death to demonstrate how war has no place for young men. Most war novels try to convey, war to be a glorious, honorable, and patriotic duty. However this book is different, it portrays war how it is actually experienced; fear, brutality, and the tragedy of death. Death in this novel, specifically Paul killing a french soldier, Gerard Duval, and when Stanislaus Katczinsky is shot in the head and killed, shows us important themes in the book. Paul volunteers to go to No man's land and collect enemy intel. On his way back to his camp, he notices a attacking is coming and decides to take cover and act dead in a shell hole. A French soldier falls into the hole with him. Instinctively, Paul stabs the french soldier, Gerard Duval, fatally wounding him, this is his first time killing someone...
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...All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, tells the story of Paul Baumer, a German soldier, and his comrades’ experiences in combat during World War I. Paul Baumer, along with a few other men, enlisted in the military after being persuaded by their school master, Kantorek. Although “no one [had] the vaguest idea what [they] were in for” (Remarque 11), the men still decided to join the war. Throughout the story, Paul instantly discovers that the war is not all that it is made out to be. Paul and his comrades struggle to survive on a daily basis. The men realize that the only way for them to stay alive is to develop friendships between one another and stick together. The horrifying images of death and the sacrifices they are required to make cause the soldiers to lose their identity. Through the eyes of the “Lost Generation,” Remarque is able to portray the sacrifices, comradeship, and the brutality of war a typical soldier of World War I endured....
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...All Quiet On The Western Front Erich Marie’s novel All quiet on the western front shows that there is absolutely nothing redeemable about war.The physical effects, mental effects, or the results of World War One are too horrible to be justified. The physical effects of World War One include bullet wounds, scars, etc… In the novel countless people are wounded or killed causing several problems such as psychological damage and permanent scarring. Such as the death of Kat in chapter 11. This proves the point of there is nothing redeemable about war. One of the most common types of mental effects during the first war is P.T.S.D or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the book they refer to this as “Trench Fever,” One great example of this...
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...World War I, being a soldier was seen as a very noble thing due to the glorification of war. All Quiet on the Western Front shows life on the battlefield during WWI, as well the effects and influences off the battlefield. The protagonist of the film, Paul Bäumer is a young German soldier who joins the war shortly after finishing high school. Paul and other young soldiers are trained in harsh conditions and learn the basics of combat. Once they enter the war Paul and other soldiers see what life is truly like on the battlefield. When he goes onto the front for the first time he learns of the travesty that is war and it is not how his teacher’s have described it. Many of the soldiers’ die or are wounded and left in the harsh conditions of the hospitals. When Paul goes home for the first time he returns a changed man. His father wants him to wear his uniform because he should be proud that he is a soldier, but Paul refuses to, knowing that war is nothing to be proud of. World War I is known as the first industrial war. New inventions and weapons added to the impersonality of war. Instead of having to fight with the enemy face-to-face, soldiers were able to shoot their rifles or throw poison gas. Because of the impersonality of war, the scene where Paul kills a man while...
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