All Quiet on the Western Front
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 is an idealistic and romantic character. The story centers on Paul Baumer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm. But in the course of war, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope." Through Baumer, Remarque examines how war makes man inhuman. He uses excellent words and phrases to describe crucial details to this theme. "The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts." Baumer and his classmates who enlisted into the army see the true reality of the war. They enter the war fresh from school, knowing nothing except the environment of hopeful youth and they come to a premature maturity with the war, their only home. "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. We are not youth any longer." They have lost their in
All Quiet on the Western Front tries to explain the purpose of war and its uselessness. It is a story of an almost obliterated generation that fought for nothing but the principle of hate. Change the names, and it could have been the tale of a Frenchman, an Englishman, or an American. It is perhaps the most tragic generation our human records tell of. It bears the overwhelming accent of simple truth that makes you wonder why war still exists. "We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers-we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant animals." The fate of Baumer and the fate of all soldiers depends on their faith in their primal instincts. "The menace of death has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct..." His instinct protects him from the madness and the horror of mutilation. He says "...We have become wild beasts. We do not fight... we defend ourselves against annihilation." It is survival of the fittest; killed or be killed. Baumer not only believes this but also reinforces this idea with every shot he that fires and every man he that kills. "They are different men here, men I cannot properly understand, whom I envy and despise." This is how Baumer feels, he cannot relate with men who have not fought the war. They are disillusioned by the war because they have not experienced it. "And of that you are not able to judge. You see only your little sector and so cannot have any general survey." They believe they can command the war without personal fighting in it. Baumer and all soldiers are different, changed from wh
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Approximate Word count = 1084
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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