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

"A wounded soldier? I shout to him-no answer- must be dead." The dead body has fallen out the coffin and the coffin has been unearthed because of the shelling. Even the dead and buried cannot rest in peace during this war. This just adds to the horror of the situation Paul is in.

When a soldier begins his first training camp or when he kills his first man, his boots are there warming his feet. Soldiers might not realize it but their boots are with them through their change of heart. In All Quiet boots resemble ageing, façade, and change in heart. In the beginning of the book Paul and Muller are bedside with their dieing

     “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another (263).” Powerful changes result from horrifying experiences. Paul Baumer, the protagonists of Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front utters these words signifying the loss of his humanity and the reduction to a numbed creature, devoid of emotion. Paul’s character originates in the novel as a young adult, out for an adventure, and eager to serve his country. He never realizes the terrible pressures that war

He uses death, tragedies, and brutal events to show the reader the stomach-turning way of life in war. Remarque makes Paul very ostentatious so to speak. He uses all these graphic images to get a point across. Paul explains during a bombardment, horses are hit as well as the men. “Those are the wounded horses. But not all of them. Some gallop away in the distance, fall down, and then run farther. The belly of one is ripped open, the guts trail out. He becomes tangled in them and falls, then he stands up again” (28). The screams of the horses become implanted in the men’s heads, even though they cannot see them. Another gruesome image is that the soldiers go to take cover in a nearby cemetery. Paul illustrates the scene, “With a crash something bears down on us. It lands close beside us; a coffin thrown up” (31). Even the dead are being disturbed by the war. Paul wants it to seem as if the once dead are coming back to life. The last major imagery scene would be in the hospitals. The hospitals are a symbol of war. “It must be all lies and o no account when the culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood being poured out, these torture-chambers in their hundreds of thousands. A hospital alone shows what war is” (117). War is about killing another living thing. Once you are hit, you go to these “torture-chambers”. You go there

It’s no surprise that soldiers will more-than-likely never come home the same. Those who have not served do not often think of the torment and negative consequences that the soldiers who make it out of war face. Erich Remarque was someone who was able to take the torment that he faced after his experience in World War I and shed light on the brutality of war. Remarque was able to illustrate the psychological problems that was experienced by men in battle with his best-selling novel All Quiet on the Western Front (Hunt). The symbolism used in the classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front is significant not only for showing citizens the negative attributes of war, but also the mental, physical, and emotional impact that the vicious war had on the soldiers.

Dehumanization not only affects the soldier physically but internally as well, both on and off the front. Being affected internally by dehumanization means that these soldiers are stripped of their emotions, have a changed their point of view on war, or are given a different mindset. When Paul and others go to visit Kemmerich, a former classmate whose leg was recently amputated, they can tell he is on the brink of death. Instead of being concerned, Paul’s classmate Muller is insensitive and is only concerned about his boots. Muller has been so dehumanized that all he can bring himself to think about is Kemmerich’s boots, and receiving them after his death. Later in the novel, Kat points out

In the incredible book, All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, the reader follows Paul Baumer, a young man who enlisted in the war. The reader goes on a journey and watches Paul and his comrades face the sheer brutality of war. In this novel, the author tries to convey the fact that war should not be glorified. Through bombardment, gunfire, and the gruesome images painted by the author, one can really understand what it would have been like to serve on the front lines in the Great War. The sheer brutality of the war can be portrayed through literary devices such as personification, similes, and metaphors.

The French soldier dies an agonizingly painful and prolonged death; his gurgling and whimpering haunting Paul, but when the soldier finally dies, the resulting silence is even more haunting and debilitating. “Paul describes the trenches, the shelling, the screams of wounded horses and men, the poison gas attack, and the rain that drenches everything. [He] describes the tension and the horror of a major battle, with the confusion, the noise, and death turning the soldiers into numbed, unthinking machines.” (All). Paul recognizes how war forces people to think and act in ways that differ from their values and beliefs, as they are desperate to survive. Remarque uses imagery and sensory details to skillfully formulate a raw and grisly atmosphere that leaves no aspect hidden. Towards the end of the novel, many of Paul’s comrades have died, and he is the only person left in his class who is alive. He expresses the desolation and misery he feels, “I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear.” (Remarque 295). Paul has nothing left to lose at this point, so he faces his enemies free of fear and obligation to return back to his friends and his home. His sorrowful tone conveys his indifference towards death and his desire

When Paul returns home, he sees his books and says, “The backs of the books stand in rows. I know them all still, I remember arranging them in order... Speak to me— take me up— take me, Life of my Youth— you who are care-free, beautiful— receive me again—... Images float through my mind, but they do not grip me, they are mere shadows and memories... Words, Words, Words— they do not reach me. Slowly I place the books back in the shelves. Nevermore. Quietly, I go out the room”(Remarque 172-173). Paul is depressed when he looks at the books and reads the words because he can not remember anything about the books anymore. Paul has lost all recollection about the books because war has taken over his life. In addition, when he is sitting by Paul’s mother’s bed looking at the chestnut tree and he states, “You are at home, you are at home.” But a sense of strangeness will not leave me, I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano— but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a veil between us”(Remarque 160). When Paul is home he does not have the connections to his family as he used to. He has not seen them in forever so all the feelings that he had before are gone; all he can think about is war because he has gotten used to it. Remarque uses lost generation to convey the theme that because war changes the way they think, soldiers lose connections to family and

While on leave, Paul also visits his father and some of his father's friends, but does not wish to speak to them about the war. The men are "curious [about the war] in a way that [Paul finds] stupid and distressing." They try to imagine what war is like but they have never experienced it for themselves, so they cannot see the reality of it. When Paul tries to state his opinion, the men argue that "[he] sees only [his] general sector so [he is] not able to judge." These men believe they know more about the war and this makes Paul feel lost. He realizes that "they are different men here, men [he] can not understand..." and Paul wants to be back with those he can relate to, his fellow soldiers. Paul wishes he had never gone on leave because out there "[he] was a soldier, but [at home] he is nothing but an agony to himself." When Paul returns to the battlefield, he is excited to be with his comrades. When he sees his company, "[Paul] jumps up, pushes in amongst them, [his] eyes searching," until he finds his friends. It is then

Yet another example of the brutalization and dehumanization of the soldiers caused by the war occurs during Paul’s leave. On leave, Paul decides to visit his hometown. While there, he finds it difficult to discuss the war and his experiences with anyone. Furthermore, Paul struggles to fit in at home: “I breathe deeply and say over to myself:– ‘You are at home, you are at home.’ But a sense of strangeness will not leave me; I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a

Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war has an idealistic and romantic character.  The story centers on Paul Baümer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm.  In the course of war, though, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope"  (Remarque page #).

As Paul gains more time in the army, he also gains more wisdom. He starts to understand how to survive in the trenches. Later on in the book, more recruits come to join the company. Paul sees these new soldiers and sees how unwise they are in how they fight. While being attacked, Paul notices a recruit with out his helmet on. He tries to place the helmet back on the the draftee, but he draftee decides to tuck under paul's arm. Paul lets him be and “...[sticks his helmet] on his behind- not for a jest,but out of consideration, since that [was] his highest part” (Page 61). Since Paul has been in the army longer that the recruit, he knows how to adapt to the situation. Also, Remarque uses this passage to contrast the youth and old age. Youth is represented by the recruit who does not know how to survive in the war; he hid under Paul and relies on Paul to protect him. Then in contrast, old age is represented by Paul. Paul not only understand how to survive, he also knows how to adapt to the situation- which is shown by when he puts the helmet on the recruit’s behind. Remarque develops this theme of with age come wisdom by literally showing pual mature and become more

As mentioned previously, the story is told from Paul's point of view. This view of his is parallel to that of Remarque's. Remarque's characterization of paul and the other soldiers is intended to convey information and instruction to the reader. For example the way these characters are described instructs the reader in the needless suffering and loss brought on by war. The author makes a point about military leaders through one of the characters. Kropp notes about rise in rank, "As sure as they get a stripe or a star they become different men, just as though they'd swallowed concrete" (43). Kat mentions that military life brings out the worst in men, particularly the abuse of power over lesser men. This is a significant part that the author adds into the book because it illustrates a metaphor of the greater powers wanting to attack the weaker countries to gain more power; imperialism, which is one of the main causes of the war. In chapter 4, one of the most dramatic in the book,

All Quiet on the Western Front recalls the story of a German soldier on the front lines during World War I. Throughout the book Paul Baumer expresses his thoughts on the horrors of war, as well as, his new found brotherhood and sense of family with his fellow soldiers. The author has written this story as an adventure, but meticulously added the harsh truth of the battlefields. Remarque’s narrative was so effective because his narrative techniques, such as point of view, mood, and conflict, bring the story to life. Remarque’s narrative techniques make the readers feel like they are right there with the characters.