All Quite on the Western Front

A detailed Summary of All Quite on the Western Front

World War I undoubtedly changed the political boundaries and economic system of Europe (as seen in Chapter 3 of Findley's Twentieth Century World textbook). However, in the midst of all the political and economic changes, the human toll is sometimes overlooked. With the declaration of World War I, an entire generation was set up to be lost. It is this "lost generation" that is presented in Erich Remarque's novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. The loss of an entire generation in World War I did not happen overnight. It happened slowly as the generation set out on a journey in which it was manipulated using nationalism and pride, socially rearranged, desensitized, and ultimately "lost".

This lost generation is presented in the novel through the example of a young German boy, Paul Baumer, and his army comrades. Shortly after the start of World War I, Paul and his school mates were persuaded to enlist in the army by their schoolmaster, Kantorek. The boys entered the war with ideas of heroism and glory established by a strong sense of nationalism in their home country. However, it was not long before, the 19-year-olds discovered that war is no glorious thing. Over time Paul and his comrades befriended other soldiers of all

ages who eventually became their surrogate family. Paul and his comrades go through many battles and watch the destruction of human life over and over again. They begin to become disillusioned in regards to militarism, traditional class divisions, nationalism and the war itself. The soldiers realize that they are fighting someone else's war. One by one they fall to the enemy, until finally, in an ironic twist, Paul dies on the quietest day of his military career. And this, in summary, is how Remarque presents the phenomena of how an entire generation was lost in one war.

Along with the social change brought about by the destruction of the traditional family unit, the soldiers also faced a total alteration concerning social class structure. One way Remarque demonstrates this alteration is through Corporal Himmelstoss. Being a corporal in the army gave Himmelstoss, a simple postman during peace time, a taste of power that he otherwise wouldn't have. This sudden power inflates Himmelstoss' ego to the point where he can no longer be a decent human being. He drills the soldiers unmercifully and finds pleasure in humiliating them. The soldiers, likewise, come to a similar point when Kantorek, their old schoolmaster joins the army and is ranked below them. They use that opportunity to seek revenge (for his "persuasion") through degrading him publicly. It would be almost impossible for the soldiers to return as boys to Kantorek's classroom after seeing the horrors of war, and seeing Kantorek reduced to an underling. And yet they are not adults.

The boys volunteered for the war because of the persuasion of Kantorek, their nationalistic schoolmaster. This is only one example of how the feeling of nationalism, which had been developed in Germany, was used to manipulate the overall population. Kantorek used dramatic lectures of pride for one's country to derive an emotional response from his students. In addition, any boys who hesitated to join the army were berated with chastisements and the word "coward" (p.11). This misuse of nationalism and chastisements appealed to the boys' egos in a way which made it almost impossibl

Some common words found in the essay are:
Corporal Himmelstoss, War Paul, Stanislaus Katczinsky, World War, Front Paul, Century World, Paul Baumer, Western Front, world war, lost generation, entire generation, Erich Remarque's, war women, real families, soldiers fought, Quiet Western, lost lost generation, able kill, social rearrangement, lost lost, generation set, soldiers fought war, quiet western front,

Approximate Word count = 1448
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels