All Quiet on the Western Front

In the autumn of 1918, a 20 year old german soldier contemplates to himself: “Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear” (295). These last few thoughts happen right before this soldier, Paul Baumer, dies. In the book All Quiet On the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque creates the character of Paul Baumer in order to illustrate a generation full of men who are well known throughout our history, of what we all know of, the “Lost Generation.” About eight million soldiers lost their lives in combat and millions more were injured under the occasion of what we call today, “The Great War.” Remarque wrote this book about what these fighters at war deal with first hand; like with their teachers, families, and government. All Quiet On the Western Front expresses a story filled with the beauty of comradeship between each of the soldiers by finding solace in one another and the extenuating gestures of raillery throughout the book that help keep them from completely being taken over by the fear of death, or even war itself.

Throughout all the horrifying pictures of death and inhumanity, Remarque shows a quality that makes it better: comradeship. Two scenes that caught to my attention that showed acts of soldiers finding comfort with one another were the goose roasting and the battle where Paul hears his comrades’ voices that help him regain his nerve again. In Chapter 5, Paul and Kat have captured a goose and have been roasting it late at night. Paul says, “We don’t talk much, but I believe we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have. We are two men, two minute sparks of life; outside is the night and the circle of death” (94). As he watches Kat roast the goose and the sound the sound of his voice, it gives Paul the feeling of peace and reassurance. Again and again, in the scenes of battle and rest, you can notice the