The First World War was a lengthy and brutal affair that claimed the lives of over 17 million individuals. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, its effects were equally as ferocious on the intellectual front, where it marked a turning point in the clash of European intellectual values. Philosophers such as Nietzsche had already challenged established institutions of Positivistic thinking toward knowledge and progress; however, his movement lacked widespread support. It was the disaster of WWI that accelerated their movement by inspiring culture-wide undermining of prior intellectual beliefs through newfound uncertainty: authors such as Erich Remarque and Vera Brittain drew upon sudden doubt underscored by the war to completely reverse prior thinking by breaking down pre-war notions of intellectual …show more content…
To him, the war represented newfound uncertainty of ridiculous social norms and thus a complete remodeling of those rules and strident challenging of Positivistic thinking. Entering the war, Germany was a confident nation full of “noble” young Nationalists ready to die for their country, but the realities of the war soon dispelled that veil of Positivistic thinking. Prior thinking states that it is noble to die for your country, but Remarque is deeply critical of this belief. There is no reason to die for the cause – he calls for soldiers to break the social norm of unwaveringly fighting for your country. The war dashed the confidence of young soldiers and shocked them into realizing that what they perceived before was not so certain. In the novel, Paul longingly reflects, “It will be [peaceful] like this too. If I am lucky, when the war is over and I come back here for good. I will sit here just like this and look at my room and
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Show MoreProtagonist (Max and Freak) : Maxwell Kane (Max) and Kevin Avery (Freak) are the two main protagonists in this novel. Maxwell Kane is a tall twelve year old boy who has a learning disability in school. He often gets bullied about his dad who had choked his mother to death and went to prison. He lives with his grandparents Grim and Gram who often takes very nice care of him.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarqueis a book about a German soldier Paul Bäumer and some of his friends from school who joined the army voluntarily after their teacher talked about joining the war. The group of nineteen year olds started the war with a great sense of nationalism and enthusiasm, but after experiencing ten weeks of hard training from Corporal Himmelstoss and the brutality of life on the front. Paul and his friends realize that the reasons of for which they enlisted are simply meaningless after some time on the front. Also, Paul and his friend realize that war is not as glorious or honorable as it is made out to be, and constantly lived in strain both mental and physical.
Before World War I, all of Europe in 1914, was tense and like a bomb or a fire was waiting to erupt. Europe had not seen a major war in years, but due to Militarism, Imperialism, Alliances, and Nationalism tensions grew high. Each country was competing to be the best by gaining more territory and growing in their military size and successful economies. World War 1 was waiting to happen and the assassination of the Archduke was the spark that lit Europe up. In All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque we see the effects of the assassination.
The war novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque depicts one protagonist, Paul, as he undergoes a psychological transformation. Paul plays a role as a soldier fighting in World War I. His experiences during the war are not episodes the average person would simply experience. Alternatively, his experiences allow him to develop into a more sophisticated individual. Remarque illustrates these metamorphic experiences to expose his theme of the loss of not only people’s lives but also innocence and tranquility that occurs in war.
Erich Maria Remarque was a man who had lived through the terrors of war, serving since he was eighteen. His first-hand experience shines through the text in his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which tells the life of young Paul Bäumer as he serves during World War 1. The book was, and still is, praised to be universal. The blatant show of brutality, and the characters’ questioning of politics and their own self often reaches into the hearts of the readers, regardless of who or where they are. Brutality and images of war are abundant in this book, giving the story a feeling of reality.
World War I was one of the most barbaric and horrendous events that impacted world history. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich M. Remarque drives home this brutality through his main character. The theme brutality and carnage is displayed through the presence of death, violence, and the guilt the soldiers must carry within them. The soldiers were permanently scarred by the events they witnessed as death is always around them..
War is a harsh reality that is inflicted upon the unwilling through the “need” of it’s predecessors and those whom wish it. All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about 19 year old Paul and his friends in the “Second Company”. Even though they are just out of school age, they have already seen things that many could not bear to even think about. Eventually, all of his friends die, and even Paul too, dies. Remarque uses diction and syntax as literary devices to express his anti-war theme, or lesson.
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.
Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men. Many soldiers entered World War 1 as innocent young boys, but as they experienced the full effect of the war they consequently lost their innocence.
The book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque gives us a good understanding of what war was like for the people fighting on the front. When reading this book people can get a front hand experience of what it is like being in battle. Remarque wrote this book so well that often times you picture yourself actually with Paul and all his friends. The one thing you specifically get to see is how humanity affects warfare. Humanity affects our decisions in warfare because humans are selfish, have fear, and seek revenge.
Erich Maria Remarque showed disillusionment in very many different ways in his book that he wrote ¨All Quiet On The Western Front. ¨ The theme of ¨All Quiet On The Western Front¨ is to never let your emotions get to you when you need to power through things and need to be strong at the moment. Paul never let his emotions get to him throughout the story. Besides at one point when he went home and saw his mother so sick she was stuck in bed, and she left all the good food that they had for when Paul came back even though Paul knew his mother and sister needed the food more than him.
From 1914 to 1918 World War One occurred due to the murder of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, by a Serbian group named the Black Hand. Additionally, several powerful countries, including Germany, France, and Britain, established a series of alliances that amplifies the size of the war. Likewise, the war expanded by the strong nationalist beliefs of each country, therefore a countless amount of men desired to fight the war, in order to support their country. This sense of nationalism is a theme explored throughout Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, through the lense of a young German Soldier. The protagonist, Paul, a 19 year old soldier, explores the horrors of war through strong comradeship, the death of companions,
Erich Maria Remarque, a World War I veteran, took his own personal war experience to paper, which resulted in one of the most critically acclaimed anti-war movement novels of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front. The voice of the novel, Paul Baumer, describes his daily life as a soldier during the First World War. Through the characters he creates in the novel, Remarque addresses his own issues with the war. Specifically, Remarque brings to light the idea of the “Iron Youth,” the living conditions in the trenches, and the sense of detachment soldiers feel, among other things. Therefore, All Quiet on the Western Front criticizes the sense of nationalism, which war tends to create among citizens by quickly diminishing any belief regarding it as a glorious and courageous act.
Human kind have experienced many processes of changes throughout the history, and World War I was a new process that Winston Churchill talks about in his excellent article “Mass Effects in Modern World” written in 1925. He mentions that the new mode of life is different from previous because “collectivization” becomes more significant than individual independent, and he talks about the destructiveness of the WWI and its difference with previous wars. He also predicts some features of the future wars that would be seen in WWII. In modern world, the roles of individuals have been reduced by the impact of the mass production and corporation companies. This happens because of people’s attempt to work together in order to enhance the difficult
The World War 2 is the most large scale war that had ever happened in the world history. It reflects the cruelest sides of the human beings by killing tremendous amount of innocent people. This war not just brought people’s deaths, but also resulted big financial losses to all countries that had participated in it. Many people had to spend most of their time in the underground, apart from the sun, because it was the only place that was considered to be safe. Some of them gave up their hopes, while others cried out for current safety, other than tomorrow’s smile.