Satire In All Quiet On The Western Front

After selling over 50 million copies and enjoying translation into 55 languages, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front has been a very successful novel. Upon the book's publication in 1929 the book was an instant success in the war boom era, and is considered by many to be the greatest war novel of all time. The main character, Paul, accompanied by fellow comrades, demonstrates the difficulties faced on the front line of World War I and the hardships of returning home to a broken country. The immense struggles displayed throughout the novel convey a protest theme, which is exemplified through the use of satire. This satire is used to illustrate the senselessness of war and the distress it can bring to a country.

Once the young men of a country get pushed off to war many hardships follow in the homeland. Everyone in this novel was affected by war in the same way. All of the young man that went to
A famous quote from his international bestseller that demonstrates a protest theme throughout says that ‘ We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces’ ( Remarque 88). World War l was controlled by the government in assistance with the wealthy people of the country and was fought by the lower class people (Remarque 205). Leaders of the country had very good living conditions and had more than enough to eat while soldiers on the front had little to eat along with their families back home. On top of having little to eat, the soldiers also had little knowledge of the objective of which they were risking their lives everyday fighting for." The private soldier knows little of the geopolitical aims for which he is supposedly fighting" (Mosely), as well as "The officers, at least above about the rank of lieutenant, were out of touch" (Mosely) demonstrates the lack of knowledge the soldiers lower in rank had of the intention of the