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All Quiet In The Grand Illusion Analysis

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Disillusionment in All Quiet on the Western Front and Grand Illusion
When World War I is featured in literature, at many times the theme of disillusionment appears. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque shows the illusion of war through the elderly and leaders of the war, whereas the soldiers portray the disillusionment of it. On the other hand, In the Grand Illusion, Jean Renoir assumes that the illusion is already understood; instead he focuses on depicting the disillusionment through the soldiers as well. Overall, the life of a soldier wasn't what it was depicted to be.
In both books, All Quiet on the Western Front and Grand Illusion, both authors exploit the theme of disillusionment in their works. Though they sometimes …show more content…

In the beginning, one of the first scenes is when both Frenchmen go and eat some kinds of a meal with the Germans. A wreath is brought in, saying congratulations on killing a French pilot. The Germans apologize for having the Frenchmen see this. The Frenchmen basically shrug their shoulders and say that it is completely fine, as though saying it is normal to them. This shows the disillusionment of war and how death is dealt …show more content…

This can be seen in All Quiet on the Western Front when Paul sees the Russians prisoners and the French soldier that he killed. He realizes that they are nothing like the illusion depicted them to be. The illusion made them seem to be cruel and wicked when they are just like any other man. After realizing how terribly wrong he has been he states, "But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. […] Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert." (Chapter 9) In this quote Paul realizes how wrong he has been this whole time, he says if they were not in the war, both men could have possibly been close friends for all they

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