Throughout the story, All Quiet on the Western Front can be classified in many themes that befits the novel written by Erich Maria Remarque. The journey includes how people changed their definition of war, correlating to what they experienced, a taste of how it felt, feeling as if it changed them mentally and physically. Before and after the war, the experiences gained affected them, throughout the whole novel as the theme of identity appears, defining the concept of war. As if words are not enough to express how war changed who the soldiers were, and their way of life, who they identified with during war changed previous teachings through experience. Not only how the soldiers would identify themselves as, but the identification of who was the enemy makes them question the reason of war. The novel caused the main character to question who he has become as well as the reasons why wars must be fought throughout the experience he faces.…
“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” ~~epigraph…
“All Quiet on the Western Front” written by Erich Maria Remarque explores the idea that men have escaped the shells of battle but were often destroyed by war. Remarque presents the changes in Paul and his friends and by displaying the sense of isolation the men feel after the war by using a range of techniques.…
In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, the characters sacrificed their youth in the war and their innocence was lost. Paul Bäumer, the narrator, was forced to discover a harsh reality. Paul’s high school teacher, Kantorek, pressured Paul and his classmates to enlist in the army. Paul was optimistic and naïve. At first, he was convinced that it would be an honor to die for his country. He enlisted, unknowingly signing up for a terrible suffering. His patriotism vanished and his personality battled with the truth of war. This led him to feel great sorrow. Paul and his classmates later realized that there is another aspect in the world and things around them are not as simple and innocent. The battle influenced their minds and attitude throughout the novel. Paul and his group of friends changed their thoughts and outlooks on life by witnessing the horrors of war when they became soldiers. The many deaths became part of their lives, which they were forced to deal with. The innocence that they once knew slowly altered.…
The novel, All Quiet on the Western Front is the harshest story about war ever written. This novel was written by Erich Maria Remarque, based on his real life experience about World War 1. It tells a story about a group of companions at war and how they live their life everyday there. After analyzing the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, readers realized that almost all the characters were either very noble or not noble at all. The one character that stood out of all the character for being a noble man was the narrator, Paul. He is the most noble for being loyal to all his companions, for being sensitive to others and for being selfless in difficult times.…
In the book All Quiet on the Western Front the main character and narrator Paul describes the war as not fighting for his country but fighting for his own survival. This theme has been repeatedly outspoken in the book because Paul and the other characters have lost their sense of patriotism. Once the characters have left their previous feelings of patriotism, which is why they joined the war initially, they have no other choice but to fight in order to survive the war. Throughout the book Paul thinks back to when he was in school listening to one of his teachers lecture and he thought that at this point he had great feelings of patriotism and love for his country. Later on in the book when he is with his classmates overseas in the war he realizes that he no longer fights in the war is for love of country but for his own survival.…
In the autumn of 1918, Paul Bäumer, a 20-year-old German soldier, contemplates his future: "Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing anymore. I am so alone and so without hope that I can confront them without fear" (Chapter 12). These final, melancholy thoughts occur just before his young and untimely death. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque creates Paul Bäumer to represent a whole generation of men who are known to history as the "lost generation." Eight million men died in battle, twenty-one million were injured, and over six and a half million noncombatants were killed in what is called "The Great War." When the smoke cleared and the bodies were finally buried, the world asked — like Paul and his friends — why? Remarque writes his story to explain their reason for asking this question and why they felt betrayed by their teachers, families, and government. He creates a tale of inhumanity and unspeakable horror and the only redeeming themes of his book are the recurring ideas of comradeship in the face of death and nature's beauty in the face of bleak hopelessness.…
All Quiet on the Western Front was a story of a raging war, where a soldier is highlighted in his fight for freedom. In this novel, the main character; Paul is battling for his life and struggling maintain his basic physical needs. At war, he is prepared for anything and everything, often going hungry and spending nights without shelter. He has no stability in sustaining his basic needs, but it is also evident that he strives for approval. Throughout his journey, he had a couple of short returns to his family, and showed how much he wanted to impress them, and make his ill mother proud. He also seeks the approval of his comrades, which is why I don't believe he has reached Self Actualization yet. He is still affected by peers and family, seeks approval, and wants to validate his motivations. This is shown when Paul was hiding in a shell…
In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, a profoundly horrific image of war is formed in the eyes of the reader. In the past, War stories leaned toward themes of glory, adventure, and honor. In presenting his realistic version of a soldier 's experience, Remarque strips away the glory of war and reveals the physical and mental hardships of war. Throughout his book, a plethora of themes are emphasized and brought to light. Among those themes are deception, camaraderie, and propaganda, but the prevailing theme seems to be maintaining one 's humanity. The theme of humanity is readily prevalent throughout the novel, and can be tied in with the loss of innocence, fear, and ultimately the emergence of courage. During All Quiet on the Western Front, the main character Paul who is only nineteen, is faced with the atrocities of war which take a toll on his humanity.…
Contrary to other literary history works, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Remarque Erich Maria is so unique because of the way it displays such a realistic view of war and the associated loss of humanity, innocence, and emotion that accompany it. Throughout this novel, Remarque proves his point that war is unnecessary, and dishonorable. The novel really emphasizes on the accumulating body count everyday, showing every aspect of how war is absolutely gruesome and such a waste of pure lives. Also, “All Quiet on the Western Front” shows how the position of being in war can change a person dramatically preventing them from returning to their previous lives, and scarring them permanently.…
Through out the appalling novel, All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Remarque, many themes were prevalent in the reading. The one theme that stood out most to me was the horrors and dehumanizing effects of war. Remarque, who fought in World War I himself, gives great details on how the solders live and the gruesome encounters.…
A lost generation, emotional destruction, the reality of war, these are all ideas displayed in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front that prove the validity of the statement in the preface. These ideas and more expressed by the author, Erich Maria Remarque, present the reader with the war novel of a lifetime. A war novel that is different from any other because of these ideas and the way Remarque presents them.…
One of the main themes in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is Futility of War. The novel takes place during the Great War and takes place in France. Paul Baumer is the main character in the book along with many of his friends. In the book the theme of futility of war appears in the beginning, middle and end of the novel and Baumer slowly becomes more aware of what war is really like.…
All Quiet on the Western Front Summer reading study guide Instructions: Please type or write your answers to the following questions in one or more complete sentences. 1. In the opening scene, why does Paul’s company have extra food to eat? Why is Franz Kemmerich dying? How are Müller’s feelings about Kemmerich’s dying different from Paul’s feelings? 2. How does the schoolmaster Kantorek refer to his former students? Why do Paul and Kropp scoff at the term Kantorek uses? How do the young men feel about Corporal Himmelstoss? Why? 3. What mission at the front is Paul’s group sent to perform? What do the men rely on to survive? 4. What scene provides a contrast to the tension and horror that the men experience at the front? 5. What does Kropp mean when he says of himself and his classmates, “The war has ruined us for everything”? 6. Why are Paul and his company moving back to the front? How does the battle progress over the two weeks the company spends at the front? 7. When Paul tells Kemmerich’s mother about her son’s death, why is he surprised at her grief? 8. At the training camp, what sights seem to soothe Paul’s mind? What thoughts does Paul have as he observes the Russian prisoners of war? 9. Were you surprised that the three young French women were willing to spend the evening with Paul, Kropp, and Leer? Why or why not? 10. How does Paul’s classmate Mittelstaedt taunt and humiliate Kantorek? Do you think this treatment of Kantorek is justified? Explain. 11. Why doesn’t Paul flee from his foxhole after he stabs the French soldier? How does the incident affect Paul? How do you interpret his comment afterward: “After all, war is war”?…
World War 1 is a war that shaped the history of many countries. From the German’s point of view, World War 1 was full of numerous surprises. Coming from attacks, personality changing, and friendships leaving have the characters extending their full potential. The novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque was inspired by World War 1’s hardships from the point of view of the Germans. One static character that really had an effect on others was Stanislaus Katczinsky. Katczinsky was a strong willed 40 year old who becomes close friends with Paul Baumer. Katczinsky is the character in the book that would help others find solutions for big or small problems. Stanislaus Katczinsky in All Quiet on the Western Front was a…