Western Front Youth
Erich Maria Remarque demonstrates, through the character of Paul Baumer, how World War I obliterates almost an entire generation of men. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, these men, including Paul, no longer have a place in normal life and are incapable of relating with former generations. This is the result of the early involvement with the war, which lead to what is called the “lost generation”. Youth can be defined as the early period of existence and growth. These important years of development in Paul’s life have been replaced with roag animal instincts, loss sense of home, and the brutality of combat. For a soldier to survive battle he must turn off his mind full of fear and operate only on instinct, becoming less like a
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The impact of death upon Paul is shown the most when he kills a man with his hands at close combat for the first time. He is disgusted with himself almost immediately after he kills Gérard Duval. Thinking of himself as only a monster, Paul states, “This dying man has time with him, he has an invisible dagger with which he stabs me: Time and my thoughts” (221). However, the madness within Paul passes when he comes to the realization of, “to-day you, to-morrow me” (226). With war, death will always follow, and in the end it is to kill or to be killed. For a while, Paul develops the ability to keep death at a distance, enabling him to move on when so many soldiers die right before his eyes. The ability to journey on is yet another part of the lost generation, in war one can not be distracted by the deaths of others because he must be focused on fighting for his own life. The early involvement with the war resulted in the lost generation of young men. When talking about how the war ruined everything, Paul stated, "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war” (88). Paul, amongst several others, developed as a pawn in the lost generation. World War I captured the souls of youth and never let go until death
The impact of death upon Paul is shown the most when he kills a man with his hands at close combat for the first time. He is disgusted with himself almost immediately after he kills Gérard Duval. Thinking of himself as only a monster, Paul states, “This dying man has time with him, he has an invisible dagger with which he stabs me: Time and my thoughts” (221). However, the madness within Paul passes when he comes to the realization of, “to-day you, to-morrow me” (226). With war, death will always follow, and in the end it is to kill or to be killed. For a while, Paul develops the ability to keep death at a distance, enabling him to move on when so many soldiers die right before his eyes. The ability to journey on is yet another part of the lost generation, in war one can not be distracted by the deaths of others because he must be focused on fighting for his own life. The early involvement with the war resulted in the lost generation of young men. When talking about how the war ruined everything, Paul stated, "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war” (88). Paul, amongst several others, developed as a pawn in the lost generation. World War I captured the souls of youth and never let go until death