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The Horror Of War In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

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The Horror Of War In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front
Throughout history, war has been constantly evolving. Over time, it has taken a new less glorious form. World War One was one of the most devastating and transformative events in human history. In Erich Maria Remarque’s book, All Quiet on the Western Front, he depicts the horrors of “the great war” by showing the complete disregard for human life in modern warfare. This war modeled the way that any future war would be fought. It would shape human history by completely changing the game of warfare and people’s opinions of it. Remarque shows, from his point of view, the terrors that happen on a daily basis on the front lines, and away from it, of World War One. World War One changed the perception of war in a big way and opened the eyes of so many people to the horrors of modern warfare. …show more content…
The way war has been fought has drastically changed over time, the tools used to fight it even more so. World War One was the first “modern war” in regards to weapons. One reason is this is the first war in which many things we consider modern war instruments were used. Remarque displays one of the most deadly of these new tools of mass destruction when het states “But that interests us less than what we hear of the new flame-thrower.” (105) The flamethrower was a new weapon used in World War One, and possible one of the most deadly. This weapon was the cause of countless deaths in the war and did so very unforgivingly, ultimately decimating bodies. Another devastating weapon that changed warfare into what we know today was the use of “…mines, gas, tanks, machine-guns…” (132). These are all weapons used to kill solders in another uniform, the enemy. These brutal weapons caused some of the most devastating deaths. Land mines would blow people to pieces if stepped on and making them physically not recognizable. Gas was one of the most gruesome weapons created in world war one. Gas would burn the soldier’s insides till he died

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