Character Analysis: All Quiet On The Western Front

Throughout the book we can see the change in the main character Jean’s attitude toward the war. During the beginning of the war he enlists due to his strong want to have an adventure that he will remember for years to come and a feeling of duty to his nation, France. This was common among men during the beginning of the war, they saw it as their right of passage, the great adventure that they were all waiting for to save them from their boring lives. His time in basic training proved to him that he is not the ideal candidate for a soldier. After he was denied becoming an officer, he would try to avoid basic duties that normal soldiers were assigned. These duties included formations, cleaning and maintaining gear. When he was shipped with his unit to the front lines, they were transported miles behind the line, they were to march the rest of the way on foot. Over many days of constant marching and battling heat and cold, they finally reached their assigned post at the front. There they were introduced to the reality of what they had enlisted for, the true horror of the front lines. They were exposed to the flooded trenches, decimated landscape, rotting bodies and the very real dangers of being killed in action for making the smallest of mistakes. It wasn’t long before Jean was assigned to a frontal attack on

This is a view that many people will never get to experience with the now more unconditional form of warfare that is practiced today. However, that causes people to often forget that there are these terrible situations still happening today, often leading them to forget about our veterans all together. When we are exposed to Jean’s personal experiences in war, we come to realize that our troops and the civilians in nations we are currently in conflict in experience many of the same events