All Quiet on the Western Front and Theme of Death of the Other
Erich Maria Remarque lets us know exactly what theme he intends for All Quiet on the Western Front in the short note that comes just before Chapter 1. He attests that the novel tries to simply tell the story of a generation of young men whom World War I destroyed- even if they survived the shelling. The text of the book supposedly neither accuses, confesses, nor least of all makes an adventure out of death, "for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it." While this may be Remarque's main theme on the surface of the text, Remarque weaves an underlining and parallel yet contradictory theme to it throughout the novel. The subtextual theme of All Quiet on the Western Front accuses human nature's survival instinct for its crudeness. It confesses to allowing its characters to be affected pleasurably to the death of others. And it makes an adventure for those trying to evade death. In so doing, the subtext supports Freud's thoughts on how the death-!of-the-other strains us with the ambiguity of mournfulness and pleasure. Paul Baumer experiences this ambiguity when faced with the death-of-a-stranger and with the death-of-a-loved-one, namely Gerard Duval and Franz Kemmerich, respect
asure that arises from perpetuating the life of the individual and being able to evade death, as delicately weaved into Paul Baumer's experiences in All Quiet on the Western Front. Baumer's responses to the death-of-the-other result from the way that the ego struggles to keep the individual alive and happy as it deals with obstacles in the world. As the individual faces these impediments to happiness, he keeps a record of these obstacles and aides and rewards and punishments. For example, when Baumer thought about his school days with Kemmerich, he unconsciously analyzed the help Kemmerich has given Baumer (e.g., essays) and the obstacles Kemmerich caused for Baumer (e.g., having to deal with Kemmerich's mother who begged Baumer to look after her son at the front). In responding to the death-of-the-stranger, we may feel sympathy and maybe guilt for living, but more intensely, we feel the need for self-preservation and for maintaining the immortality of the ego. We respond likewise to the death-of-a-loved-one. Although the loved ones are parts of us, they are partly our strangers as well. No matter who dies, there will always be the feeling of ple! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ing up from the earth into his body. He is alive and he is glad. "The night lives, I live." By the afternoon of the next day, however, Baumer's innate tendency for self-preservation resurfaces. Baumer does not feel remorse for ending Duval's life anymore; he feels "guilt" because by killing Duval he put himself in danger of being killed himself by the French if they found him: "I must [bandage him], so that if the fellows over there capture me, they will see that I wanted to help him, and so will not shoot me." Baumer becomes consumed by this guilt only until the night has passed and at about three in the next afternoon. Immediately after killing Duval, Baumer does not feel regret; he instead tends to his "sticky and wet hands" and rinses the blood off with mud. This can be seen as an attempt to purge away his guilt and so rid himself of his fear of death. His fear of dying after stabbing Duval becomes more evident when he tests the area by lifting his helmet only to have it shot down to pieces. The guilt that he feels threatens what, Freud would call, his inn! This love/hate ambiguity for the death-of-a-loved-one becomes more
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Approximate Word count = 1609
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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