Even though a story is not an autobiographical work, a relationship can still exist between the author and the main character. This circumstance occurs in the anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front. This novel presents a relationship between the main character Paul Baumer and the author Erich Maria Remarque. If a reader knows Remarque’s life and background, the reader can determine the connection between his life and his work. All Quiet on the Western Front is a fictional story and contains fictional characters, but Remarque bases these characters on real people he actually knew and used Paul Baumer to represent himself (Roberts). All Quiet on the Western Front was the closest book to Remarque since he had personal experiences of the war (“The Life and Writings of Erich Maria Remarque”- nyu.edu). Remarque exhibits a relationship between his life and personal experiences with the main character of All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer. Remarque was drafted into the German army at age 18 in November 1916. He was never in actual war combat, but he still managed to get wounded by shrapnel in July 1917; he spent the next fifteen …show more content…
Both were in the army as early as age eighteen and both were confused at the threshold of adulthood. Remarque’s diary expresses confusion during the beginning of adulthood; Paul was unsure of his future if the war ended (“The Life and Writings of Erich Maria Remarque”- nyu.edu). Paul did not know much about life so he could not imagine his postwar life. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul claimed, “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow” (Remarque 263). Paul did not know enough about life leading to his confusion; he only knew what war presented to him about life. Remarque’s confusion relates to Paul’s confusion at the beginning of
The author uses historical fiction to build up bonds between the characters to show how much they have to rely on each other during war. The author also uses historical fiction to present points of views of people in war about friends in the army and the importance of them during war. 3/4. Choose TWO of the following to answer. Delete the questions you do not choose to answer.
says:‘Albert, what would you do if it were suddenly peace-time again’” and Albert responded,”There won’t be any peace-time”(Remarque 76). Even Paul “can’t even imagine… [or] see anything at all”(Remarque 87). They also lost touch with anything from their previous life and it “has become so unreal… [that they] cannot comprehend it any more”(Remarque 19). It shows how the soldiers do not know what to do when they get home when Paul finds that he does “not belong [there]” and that “it is a foreign world”(Remarque 168).
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.
Remarque displays in All Quiet on the Western Front the toll this takes on the youthful soldiers that have partaken in the war. For since the beginning of time, war has always revolved around killing and destroying. The illustrious novel All Quiet on the Western Front exposes the drastic effects it has on the soldiers. War forces civil good men into doing acts they would never even imagine in their wildest dreams. At one point, Remarque artfully depicts a scene in which Paul is forced to kill another soldier in hand to hand combat.
Erich Remarque, author of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, presents a true story of a soldier throughout World War I. At the young age of 19, Paul Bäumer voluntarily enters the draft to fight for his home country, Germany. Throughout the war, Paul disconnects his mind from his feelings, keeping his emotions away from the bitter reality he is experiencing. This helps him survive mentally throughout the course of the war. The death of Paul 's friend Kemmerich forces him to cover his grief, “My limbs move supplely, I feel my joints strong, I breathe the air deeply. The night lives, I live.”
In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Paul Bäumer participates in the bloodiest war of all time, and he develops the skills of intelligence, leadership, and loyalty. In
"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a war novel by Erich Maria Remarque that reveals the ways in which war is not glorious, and the ways in which destroys a soldier 's happiness, innocence, and youthfulness. In addition, it uses imagery and characterization to describe some of the hardships the soldiers face in the trenches and at the front. Likewise, "Suicide in the Trenches" is a poem by Siegfried Sassoon that glosses over these topics as well, in the form of a poem. While both Remarque 's "All Quiet on the Western Front" and Sassoon 's "Suicide in the Trenches" portray war as a destroyer of innocence and youthfulness, Remarque 's use of characterization to illustrate the theme is more effective than Sassoon 's use of imagery and word play, because it is more
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.
In order to emphasize the degree to which the soldiers in World War I changed emotionally, Paul juxtaposes the innocence of his youth with a primal instinct of desperate survival that forms from the brutality of the war. As time passes, each of the soldiers slowly loses his sense of self, specifically seen when Bäumer and Kropp, a fellow soldier, cannot seem to recognize themselves in a regular life in the future after the war. Kropp then interprets this as a loss of preparedness because of war. Paul seems to agree as he reminisces, “We were eighteen
However, when they were sent out into the midst of the war many of them realised the misconceptions they had and were led to believe. They became disillusioned as they realized that the war was much more brutal and horrific than they had previously believed. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Remarque effectively comments on the horrors of war from Paul’s perspective, especially when Paul comments on injuries the soldiers endure and witness by stating “We see men go on living with the top of their skulls missing; we see soldiers go on running when both their feet have been shot away…Another man…with his guts spilling out over his hands as he holds them in.” (Remarque,
Also, Remarque incorporates fond memories of Paul’s life before the war, when everything was calm and peaceful. Page 120 provides an example of one of these memories: “The pure fragrance of the water and the melody of the wind in the poplars held our fancies…It is strange that all the memories that come have these two qualities. They are always completely calm, that predominant in them; and even if they are not really calm, they become so. ”(120). The words from the first quote in contrast to the words from the second quote.
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 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.
Erich Maria Remarque’s title choice was perfect for this novel. Although it was not all quiet on the western front until the last page (p.296), the whole novel describes the path the war took to reach that point. Each event that occurred magnifies the struggle of valiant men in their attempt to achieve peace and brotherhood. The story line of the book began with tension, evolved to hatred and decimation, and resulted in peace and relief. When Paul Baümer lay dead, he appeared calm because peace had finally been achieved.
Paul’s reunion with his mother permits him to recognize the impacts war has had on his mind and life. In the seventh chapter, Paul receives 17 days of leave. During this time, he visits his mother as she suffers in ominous distress. After Paul witnesses his mother deteriorating, he aspires to “weep and be comforted too, indeed I am little more than a child” (Remarque 183). Paul feels little, if any, content with his life as a consequence of experiencing a plentiful