Erich Maria Remarque's The Glorification Of War

Many harmful ideologies plague our society, distorting our perception of reality and fostering intense hate. These mindsets, like racism, extremism, or sexism, often lead to destructive, disturbing actions, like hate crimes. These concepts attempt to distinguish the “other,” to create sense of superiority by degrading fellow humans. They create enemies where there should be unity in our common humanity, similar to how the true essence of patriotism disrupts the common effort for peace by functioning as a vessel for human pride, forging mortal enemies out of foreigners, and using idealized concepts to galvanize innocent people to atrocious acts. Outwardly, nationalism, pride for one’s fatherland, seems harmless, but a deeper analysis verifies that it can harm society’s well-being as profoundly as any of the aforementioned mindsets when it is used to vindicate and augment the progression of
In Paul’s own life, he finds that “The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief” (Remarque 12) Paul and his friends enter the war because of the impassioned glorifications of battle by their teacher Kantorek. However, the actuality of war negates all preconceptions, but leaves them trapped in a cycle of self-destructiveness. Furthermore, the soldiers discover that, “While they taught that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger” (13). In the act of seeking a romanticized notion of joy from serving his country, Paul loses his youth, his friends, his hope, and his life. He claims to “know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow” (263). This cost can only be justified in extreme