In the first chapter, right away it is revealed that the book is told in first person point of view. The narrator, along with other men fighting in the war, is resting and is five miles away from the line of fighting. They had been fighting for the last fourteen days; one hundred fifty men went, but only eighty survived. He mentions how when they are fighting, they barely get any sleep and that the war wouldn’t be as bad if they had more time to rest. Certain charaters are then introduced: Albert Kropp, Müller, Leer, (and the narrator) Paul Baümer. They are all nineteen-year-old volunteers for the war and were from the same class. Additionally, there are Tjaden, Haie Westhus, Detering, and Stanislaus Katczinsky. During meal time, the cook had prepared food for 150 men, but when the cook realizes that only 80 remained after the rest died in battle, the second company is delighted to have more to eat.…
Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a World War I anti-war novel that uses different objects that all symbolize different themes that impact the story. The leaves and different seasons impact the storyline to show the point in the lives of Paul and his comrades and to represent their feelings. The beginning of the novel takes place in late summer while everyone is experiencing a short period of lighthearted fun (9). The end of summer is usually associated as a time that people begin to wonder what had happened to the time that had previously appeared to be everlasting. Paul is faced with the stripping of his childhood due to being exposed to the harshness of war immediately after he was living without a care. Paul reports…
Paul Bäumer is a German, young boy, who, together with his classmates, enlists for the army to fight in the Great War. Full of enthusiasm and adventurous thoughts, they arrive at the front, but then are faced with the horrific and soul-destroying war. One by one the classmates are fall in action……
In All Quiet on the Western Front, author Erich Maria Remarque reinforces the idea that war is horrific, through his use of visual, auditory, and tactile imagery. Towards the end of the second chapter of the book, Remarque begins to disillusionize the glorious imagery of war by describing the death of Kemmerich, a German soldier and a fellow classmate of the protagonist Paul. Paul and his other classmates that enlisted sit by Kemmerich's deathbed, illustrating the mourning for their comrade by saying “Franz Kemmerich looked as slight and frail as a child...There he lies...Nineteen and a half years old, he does not want to die!” (29) Remarque uses words such as “slight” and “frail” to describe the condition in which Kemmerich is in. As you approach twenty years old, you should be in prime shape, ready for or already in college, strong and independant, not “slight” nor “frail.” When you are twenty, it should be the start of your life, not the end of it.…
Contrary to other literary history works, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Remarque Erich Maria is so unique because of the way it displays such a realistic view of war and the associated loss of humanity, innocence, and emotion that accompany it. Throughout this novel, Remarque proves his point that war is unnecessary, and dishonorable. The novel really emphasizes on the accumulating body count everyday, showing every aspect of how war is absolutely gruesome and such a waste of pure lives. Also, “All Quiet on the Western Front” shows how the position of being in war can change a person dramatically preventing them from returning to their previous lives, and scarring them permanently.…
use nature as the judge to condemn war, along with shocking imagery, so that his…
World War One, The Great War, or The War to End All Wars lasted between summer 1914 to the fall of 1918. This period of destruction would be fought between the Allies, consisting of Great Britain, Italy, France, and later the United States, and the Central Powers made up of mainly Germany. An estimated 17 millions soldiers and civilians are said to have died in the war. Motives for countries entering the war included a series of alliances and agreements tying countries together, nationalism, and violation of foreign policy. However, the experience of the average soldier was far from those at the top deciding who and when to go to war with as told from Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. His novel follows from the perspective…
Tensions rise between different cultures, always have and always will. That being said, violence is bound to occur, it’s just a matter of how and when. During the late 20th century of France, conflict was a reoccurring theme, with the involvement of wars, rioting, and social controversy. These conflicts are shown within the movies “Cache” and “The Battle of Algiers.” In this paper, I will discuss the violence partaken in each film.…
I saw the theme of survival in the texts "Tomorrow when the War began" by John Marsden, "The Hunger Games" Directed by Garry Ross, "Lying on the side walk bleeding" by Evan Hunter and "Rush" Directed by Ron Howard.…
In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer and his generation feel separated from the rest of the world. These boys’ lives were drastically changed by the war, and “even though they may have escaped its shells, they were destroyed by the war,” (Remarque Epigraph) describing that even though they survived the war physically,they were mentally destroyed by the dangers and chaos of war. Paul expresses that “he has been crushed without knowing it” and “does not belong anymore, it is a foreign world” (Remarque 168). The generation of men who fought in the war are “pushed aside,” (Remarque 249) as an unpleasant reminder of a war that society would like to disregard. After surviving such dreadful…
In the book All Quiet on the Western Front the main character and narrator Paul describes the war as not fighting for his country but fighting for his own survival. This theme has been repeatedly outspoken in the book because Paul and the other characters have lost their sense of patriotism. Once the characters have left their previous feelings of patriotism, which is why they joined the war initially, they have no other choice but to fight in order to survive the war. Throughout the book Paul thinks back to when he was in school listening to one of his teachers lecture and he thought that at this point he had great feelings of patriotism and love for his country. Later on in the book when he is with his classmates overseas in the war he realizes that he no longer fights in the war is for love of country but for his own survival.…
Paul Baumer leaves for the western front a young boy, but as All Quiet on the Western Front goes on, Paul becomes more of a soulless soldier. Multiple events while fighting for Germany caused Paul to become this way. He began pushing away his family, friends, everyone, everything. This was a technique he used to survive. He cut off all emotions to become the best possible soldier he could be. When Paul and his friends signed up to go overseas, and fight for Germany, they had the idea planted in their heads that their actions were actions of patriotism. They never stopped to think about the opposite side of the spectrum. Training gave the boys a chance to start to realize that enlisting in the war was no joke. The boys didn't fully understand how brutal and violent the war was until they were out, fighting in total war.…
It has been 20 years or so since World War I ended. But yet another war had broken out, this time with the Germans and the Japanese. It seems that the war to end all wars wasn’t the end of them all. It’s now the year 1945, and World War II is still in the works. Bryant didn’t want to fly overseas to total war, but war, war never changes.…
Upon the outbreak of World War I, excitement ran rampant throughout every country in Europe. It was enthralling, this idea of war, to young people who were bored with their day to day lives. As the war began to drag on the European collective began to truly understand the tragedies that came with it. The toll on European consciousness was immense due to the divide the war caused between civilians and the men who protected them.…
“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” ~~epigraph…