Like the concept of survival of the fittest, it is essential for the soldiers to have an animal instinct to survive on the battlefield. Many moments are shown in which the soldiers become two faced, changing from good-mannered and soft soldier to animal - like characteristics. Paul informs us that they only way to survive in battle, is to block away all your emotions, if not, it would drive you insane. Another aspect as to the book’s anti-war sentiment, is how Remarque describes the consequences of war, the loss of the young life. Paul's generation was known as the "Iron Youth", which was a group of young boys who enlisted and fought in the war as a way of showing gratitude for their country, Germany, but his age group is lost because
World War I and All Quiet on the Western Front World War I was the first of two major wars that affected the world. Germany was one of the Central Powers during the war. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front follows the story of how German soldiers braved complications during World War I.
In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front soldiers admit themselves in the war and struggle more than just staying alive. Oftentimes their lives as regular humans are threatened. Remarques purpose in writing this novel was to show how the war dehumanizes the soldiers,how comradity is created during war, and how their life after war is changed. One of the most common motifs throughout the novel is how soldiers in the war are dehumanized and turned into killing machines. In an article written by Common Dreams a story is shared about a veteran who simply became dehumanized.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a story, in which it allows people to know the true horrors of war. Throughout the story and in Erich Maria Remarque’s writing he uses many literary devices to emphasize what he experienced and the emotions he felt. The devices that he used are used in order to help the readers understand his experience and emphasize the theme of his war novel. Throughout this essay, I will show you a few of the literary devices used within the novel that emphasized the theme, the brutality of war. Within this essay you will learn about imagery, metaphors, and symbolism.
The Struggles of a Soldier The brutalities of war are shown through a soldiers experience through a war. In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of a group of friends in World War 1. Remarque uses the protagonist, Paul, to display the brutalities of war by experiencing some of them himself. Brutalities of war are expressed through Paul’s experience of the war harming soldiers by negatively impacting their physical bodies, making it hard for soldiers to reintegrate themselves into society and, damaging their psychological health.
As author Alex Morritt once said “The word 'friend' has become so utterly void of meaning in a world governed by social media. How can anyone truly claim to have eleven hundred friends ? In my book that would involve making time to meet at least three of them every day of the year.” This fascinating perspective on friendship is one that is exhibited by both Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Man he Killed” as well as Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Although not related to social media, both of these books dehumanize the terms “friends” to simple objects, portraying ideas on how allies are deemed allies and enemies are deemed opponents in war, even though this may not be the case if one was to meet them in real life.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a riveting novel about World War 1, told through the eyes of a German soldier, Paul. This novel is different than other war stories because it forces you to experience the war from a point of view other than a United States Soldier. The author, Erich Maria Remarque, beautifully balances the hardships, horrors and loss of innocence that war brings to young men, with scenes of serenity, as soldiers fight to save their country. In chapter one Remarque writes, “Yesterday we were relieved, and our bellies were full of beef and beans.
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.
His recollections about his experience as a young boy makes the horror real and urgent for the audience: “I remember his bewilderment, I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast.” (paragraph 4) The audience’s inevitable emotional response to these memories is one of deep sadness and empathy. The need for action instead of silence in the face of such horror is made even clearer.
Millions of people have gone through life-altering experiences in their time in World War I. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer, a 19-year-old German soldier, narrates his personal memoirs of this war. He describes the mental change and suffering he goes through as he is forced to mature from a young boy to a soldier in order to survive, leaving him permanently scarred from the throes of war. By employing juxtaposition to contrast Paul’s mindset, before and after the war, Remarque demonstrates how the mental health of the World War I soldiers is damaged because of the abrupt loss of their youth, leaving them in a state of survival and mental instability.
Despite the obvious differences, both plots have a major similarity – a corpse of a close person, which had a serious impact on the character’s further life. But this effects were different. The murder and further interaction with the body were a sign of the “peak” of the
In “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Erich Maria Remarque makes the protagonist also the narrator of the novel; his name is Paul Baumer. In this writing, I will start of by telling you about Paul Baumer, his appearance and his bigger ideas and feelings towards life. Then I will explain a little about what he went through in the novel. Finally, I will give a few examples of literary elements that are noticeable.
“There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” (C.S. Lewis) In Enrich Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front, a story is told through the eyes of a young soldier named Paul Baumer.
Erich Remarque, a former soldier, created this war novel to show readers the horrors that occur behind the scenes of war. The biggest misconception that people have about war is that it is just fighting, it is more than that; war is something deep that cannot be described unless one has experienced it. When a person becomes a soldier, they are forever scarred as a soldier; they will never be the same person they used to be. Living a normal life outside of the war becomes “a thing incomprehensible to [them]” to be able to live in; something that once was their reality became a dream that will never come true (Remarque 122). Remarque exemplifies this depressing reality in his novel when Baumer goes on leave; he was unable to reconnect with his
Baumer feels he loses his purpose in life because of the brutality of the war. Prior to enlisting in the war, Paul is an emotional, artistic boy. After a prolonged period of time in the war, Baumer returns to his home on leave, and looks through his books, he says, “I stand there dumb. As before a judge. Dejected.