Analysis Of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

The Book All Quiet on the Western Front is written by Erich Maria Remarque. The story takes place in late World War I in German and French front line. The Author has written the book combining his own experiences from war. He also tried to educate his readers about brutality, destruction and soldiers' point of views of war.

The protagonist in the book is a young soldier called Paul Baumer. There is no specific character as antagonist but I think the antagonist is the war itself. Even though Paul was excited to join the army at beginning, in the war Paul learns the true meaning of war and oppose it. War only brings destruction and death to many lives. It shatters soldiers' dreams and ruins their lives, especially the youngsters' who haven't
One of the common symbols is soft airman's boots, which pass from man to man after each wearer concedes to a violent death. First it's worn by Kemmerich before his injury, then its pass on to his friend Muller, then again when Muller is on his way to deathbed its pass on to Paul. In all, four men possess the boots; none survives the war. Russian prisoners exchange their boots for crusts of bread. All these show the war made things more valuable than one's life. The horses of Chapter Four highlight the change of combat from earlier dependence on beasts to mechanical devices, such as grenades, cannons, flamethrowers, machine guns, balloons, and aerial shells. Death of horses also symbolizes how innocent people and things are forced into war, and forced to face the horrors of warfare, like death. Example of a simile the terrible cries of these wounded beasts are "like the moaning of the world martyred creation, wild with anguish, filled with terror and groaning." We can also foreshadow death of Paul's friends from all the bombardments in the beginning of the book. Women in the novel represent peace, gentleness, and nurturing, as well as sexual release. The poster represents what life used to be like: happy, wonderful and beautiful. Paul's fondness for potato-cakes, symbolize the love and affection for his mother and family. I think it is ironic that Baumer dies only one month before the armistice. Although tragic, his physical death isn't really very exciting because he died in his mind much earlier after witnessing so much violence, especially the deaths of his classmates. The death of Katczingsky is ironic too. It's ironic how he survived all the huge attacks and bombs, and then a small splinter killed him. I think Paul's death also symbolize the end of