All Quiet on the Western Front
Francois Fenelon once said, “All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers” (BrainyQuotes). Every man no matter what country he is from is interrelated. Whether someone is Christian or Catholic, they both believe in God; whether an American is Democratic or Republic they both agree on a democracy, and whether someone is Chinese or German, both are human beings. Throughout war every army man faces the horrors of watching their comrade’s die and the act of firing on a fellow human being. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul and his classmates experience exactly this. Paul went into war expecting a memorable experience but realized just the opposite was imminent. He was forced to murder fellow brothers, according to Fenelon. Paul and his comrades represent the Lost Generation after suffering physical, mentally, and emotionally in Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front.
Throughout a war, many men will be titled as a casualty. The amount of death resulting from war is emphasized when the narrator says, “On the last day an astonishing number of English heavies opened up on us with high-explosive, drumming ceaselessly on our position, so that we suffered severely and came back only eighty strong” (Remarque 2). Just before this bombardment, the company consisted of 150 healthy men. Sometimes, other battles could be even more damaging to an army. Although the men were injured during the war, sometimes even the animals suffered. The pain endured from animals is shown when the narrator says, “Those are the wounded horses. Some gallop away in the distance, fall down, and then run on farther. The belly of one is ripped open, the guts trail out. He becomes tangled in them and falls, then he stands up again” (Remarque 63). It is so disheartening when one realizes how much these innocent animals suffered because of the war. Animals are not looking for violence or killing. They are merely there because they are forced to pay for everyone elses mistakes. The
Throughout a war, many men will be titled as a casualty. The amount of death resulting from war is emphasized when the narrator says, “On the last day an astonishing number of English heavies opened up on us with high-explosive, drumming ceaselessly on our position, so that we suffered severely and came back only eighty strong” (Remarque 2). Just before this bombardment, the company consisted of 150 healthy men. Sometimes, other battles could be even more damaging to an army. Although the men were injured during the war, sometimes even the animals suffered. The pain endured from animals is shown when the narrator says, “Those are the wounded horses. Some gallop away in the distance, fall down, and then run on farther. The belly of one is ripped open, the guts trail out. He becomes tangled in them and falls, then he stands up again” (Remarque 63). It is so disheartening when one realizes how much these innocent animals suffered because of the war. Animals are not looking for violence or killing. They are merely there because they are forced to pay for everyone elses mistakes. The
Cited: BrainyQuote. “War Quotes.” Online. Available HTTP: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_war.html Remarque, Erich. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: A Fawcett Crest Book, 1991.