Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine, 2008. Print. All Quiet on the Western Front is a book written by Erich Maria Remarque in 1929. The story is told from the perspective of a young German soldier, Paul Baumer, who along with some of his schoolmates, is encouraged by his teachers to enlist into the army during World War I. It follows the story of his experiences in the war, along with the interactions he had with his friends and fellow soldiers. Once the young men are thrust into the front lines and get a glimpse of what the war really is, they begin to question the patriotic and nationalistic reasons for which they joined. Paul survives many bombardments, …show more content…
Although no one would be able to fully understand the agony that is battle unless you were there, the book is very vivid and gives a detailed look into what life was like on the front lines. In today’s world, war is mostly fought at a distance using missiles and bombs, but during World War I, war had to be fought up close, and soldiers had to kill hundreds of men in hand to hand combat, and that really took a toll on their mental state. Many people at the time the book was published did not fully know the consequences of the war, or how brutal combat was since the men returning home were so shell shocked and unable to talk about it. The they were expected to come home and share their glorious war stories, which, were not in fact glorious, and that brought back painful, troublesome memories that they would much rather avoid reliving. They were also expected to return to life as usual, which would have been nearly impossible with their psychological scars. The book gives the reader a look inside of the mind of a young soldier, and his many philosophical ideas and thoughts, and how the war slowly ate at
The German government: Instable and “You take it from me, we are losing the war because we can salute too well” ( Remarque 40 ) . This quotation from the book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque stands in representation for the symbol of questioning the decisions of a government. This book shows how a government may not be making decisions regarding war that are in the best interests of the people. The German government was in a time of struggle and despair during the times of World War I (1912-1918). The instability and false trustworthiness of the German government in the time period of 1910-1930 fed the feelings and themes from the book All Quiet on the Western Front.
1. What have you read this week? How has the plot progressed? Write a 6-8 sentence summary of the novel so far. Robin and his crew continue to go town to town helping town memeber who have lost everything or children who have sustained injury.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the last straw. In October 1914, World War I broke out. Long before the war, the creation of the alliance system and the competition between European countries lead to an increasing tension that spread throughout Europe. As an attempt to resolve the global issues, the Triple Alliance, including Russia, Great Britain, and France, went to war against the Triple Entente, Austria Hungary, Germany, and Italy. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque eloquently depicts the horrors of war and its disastrous consequences by following the journey of a young German soldier.
In a time of great nationalism, Remarque showed the true horrors of war which many did not know, for they were told war was noble. All Quiet On the Western Front breaks the illusion painted by the leaders of all countries, showing the true loss of life, and mental and physical effects that war had on the soldiers. As a veteran soldier from the Western Front himself, Remarque experienced the horrors that were not mentioned when he was told to sign up and help his country. Remarque tells how the many young men forced to fight in the war under their older commanders had their lives completely destroyed, even if they survived.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a World War I novel written by Eric Maria Remarque. Some believe it has become known as the greatest war novel of all time. Remarque himself fought in World War I, so it is based off of events that he experienced first-hand. He endured five injuries during this war, and never forgot about his experiences. The reader is taken on a journey through the war experience of nineteen-year-old Paul Bäumer.
Direct and impactful experiences are the only way to completely uncover the truth of situations. In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer, a young German schoolboy-turned-soldier, exposes the reality of fighting in World War I. Like many others, Paul’s teacher, Kantorek, lectured and coerced Paul and his friends into enlisting by fixating on the heroism of soldiers and the honor of serving one’s country. While on the frontlines, Paul experiences firsthand the damage and destruction of war that are ignored by . Those outside the war have difficulty focusing on anything other than the success of their nation in battle. This optimism, while uplifting, is ignorant.
All Quiet on the Western Front was written to show the horrors and intensity war has and that it is inevitably hell. Author Erich Maria Remarque was an intryman during the first World War and that was his inspiration for writing this novel. The book is written in a way to impact the reader with intense emotions and confused thoughts to really understand what the soldiers were experiencing on the war field. Remarque mentions many war technologies in the novel such as explosives, rifles, and toxic gases that show how deadly the war field can be. In chapter 6, Paul Baumer mentions the “[b]ombardment, barrage, curtain-fire, mines, gas, machine-guns, [and] hand-grenades” that lie in the war field, which are things to frighten the reader and therefore
Through his eyes, truths about war are slowly revealing itself one by one. This novel contains heart-wrenching scenes which show the brother-like relationship among the comrades, and the
All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel written by Enrich Maria Remarque in 1928 represents the horrors of wars that brought trauma upon the soldiers during the war, and eventually changed their ideals of their patriotism. Remarque shows the horror of the war through the traumatic experiences of the narrator Paul Baumer, his best friend Stanislaus Katczincky, and Paul's other closest friend and classmate, Albert Kropp. Paul Baumer, the narrator of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front experiences first hand the horrors of the war that lead to trauma from the encounters during the war. Throughout the story Paul starts to develop anxiety, as well as many of the other soldiers in the war, he learns to separate himself from his thoughts and
Personal Change Through Experience People in their lives are pushed, challenged, met with difficult decisions and go through strenuous ordeals which will form and develop their beliefs, values and how they perceive the world. The novels All Quiet on the Western Front and Purple Hibiscus share these similar themes through the novels. All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, is a War novel about the physical and mental challenges of a young German man who volunteers to join up into the military to fight in World War One. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a fiction novel involving a young girl, her brother, her abusive, demanding father who controls her and her family’s life, the stress and pain it brings
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through. In the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front" is the description by Erich Maria Remarque of the graphic violence and gore and the psychological pain that the average soldier endured on the western front.
Esteban Gonzalez Professor Voth Humanities Oct 7, 2014 All Quiet on the Western Front Paper This story wastes no time getting into the hardships and devastation that war has on a young soul. Our protagonist Paul, a young man who has voluntarily joined the war out of amongst many of his friends and classmates have undergone 10 weeks of mentally and physically exhausting both in training and on the front lines.
Protagonist (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.
Present throughout the book is the theme of disillusionment. In the school, they’ve been told by their schoolmasters and parents that unless they join the war, they would remain cowards. They see propaganda after propaganda, all alluding towards the glory of battle and warfare. Out on the front, they realize that nothing was further from the truth. Their dreams of being heroes shattered, like when they compare themselves to the soldier on a poster in chapter 7.
In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the young men in battle quickly learn that the war is a awful, destructive force that ruins lives. The boys, who are pressured by their teacher to join the army for glory, soon discover that the war is not glorious, but rather devastating. Paul, the narrator of this novel, goes through a lot of pain as a result of this war. The war destroys Paul and his friends’ lives, both physically and mentally.