All Quiet on the Western Front

A detailed Summary of All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front illustrates the destruction of an entire generation of men. Erich Maria Remarque shows using the experiences of Paul Baumer and his comrades that during the Great War, life ends even if you can escape death. Those soldiers who lived through wartime, felt alienated from their former societies. This is result of a new sense of values amongst the men at war. Those at home were concerned with the outcome of the war, while the men in the trenches only wanted to see another day. These men did everything possible to stay alive, even if it meant betraying their morals and values. They did these things in hopes of one day going home, even though going home could never reinstall the youth that was pulled from them. The betrayal and alienation felt by the young soldiers would never receive reparation.

When Paul goes home on leave, he experiences a feeling of separation from the town's people. "There is a distance, a veil between us." (page.160). Many of the older people at home have their own idea of what's going on at the front. "They all come back to the same thing, how badly it goes; and how well it goes; one thinks it's this way, and another that; and yet they are all absorbed in the things that make up t

Paul understands the enemy is no different than he is, after he stabs a Frenchman in a shell hole. It is now he realizes that his government has betrayed him, and that there is no point to the war. He is only killing to bring glory to his Kaiser, just as his enemy is killing in the name of their country. After Paul stabs the Frenchman he try's to reason with the dying man. "You were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth it's appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed." (page.223). For the first time Paul realizes his country was forcing him to fight against real men. "Why do they never tell us you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony - Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform we could be brothers." (page.223). After the Frenchman has died Paul realizes he has been deceived, in order to get him to kill. Through propaganda his country has created an image, in order to justify the bloodshed. He pledges to the dead man to stand up against the war. "I will fight against this, that has struck us both down; from you, taken life and from me? Life also" (page.226). A part of Paul lies dead with the Frenchman.

All Quiet on the Western Front effectively show the implications of the Great War, on the young generation that fought in the trenches. It does so without neither bias nor prejudice, and clearly illustrates the pain and sorrow felt amongst all combatants on both sides of no mans land. Betrayal and alienation are running themes of the novel, and are expressed through the story of Paul Baumer. The novel was written to tell the story of an entire generation of men, who fought and died needlessly, in the name of their country.

All people in the town have their own views and perspectives on the war, and how to win the war. Paul feels very alienated from these people, because none of them have actually experienced the horrors of the front.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1394
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History