Theme Of Pride In All Quiet On The Western Front

Upon the outbreak of World War I, excitement ran rampant throughout every country in Europe. It was enthralling, this idea of war, to young people who were bored with their day to day lives. As the war began to drag on the European collective began to truly understand the tragedies that came with it. The toll on European consciousness was immense due to the divide the war caused between civilians and the men who protected them. Europe was filled with feelings of excitement as war was announced. Celebrations broke out in every participating country and the feelings of nationalist pride were shared by all those involved. In France, Roland Dorgelès was a witness to the eagerness of the people in, which he writes about in That Fabulous Day. “Young and old, civilians and military men burned with the same excitement. It was like a Brotherhood Day.”1[1] Everyone was willing to do their part and fight for their country. However, on another side of things, in the book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the brutal realities of war and mental damage caused by such deplorable conditions.
“We have become wild beasts… [w]e
“…I must acknowledge there was a majestic, raptors, and even seductive something in this first outbreak… [a]nd in all of my hatred and aversion for war, I should not like to have missed the memory of those first days.”3[1] He mentions the breaking down of various social barriers, “All differences of class, rank, and language were flooded… by the rushing feeling of fraternity.”4[2] as a city exploded into joyous elation. Little did they know they were sending men into what would become one of the worst tragedies to occur in the twentieth