West European Studies

All Quiet on the Western Front was written by Erich Maria Remarque. Initially it was a featured story in a newspaper, printed in two parts in November and December 1928. A year after, in 1929, it was finally published as a book. Remarques work became a bestseller around Europe until the Nazi Government banned its distribution. Remarque was subsequently forced to exile first to Switzerland then to the United States.

The books protagonist is Paul Baumer. His characterization is based on the real life experiences of Remarque. Remarque is a veteran of World War I. So many of the events that went on in Baumers life were paralleled to the authors. Through Baumer, Remarque was able to express his true feelings about the war and he had to go through as part of it.

Just like Remarque, Baumer was urged to join the army by his high school teacher. He and his friends were barely out of their teens when they were forced into the frontline. The changes that they had to deal with were massive and overwhelming. It was very difficult and Remarque made sure that his words articulated that.

All Quiet on the Western Front is essentially anti-war. Its slant was influenced by Remarques personal detestation towards the war and its haunting after-effects. In the beginning volunteering in the war seemed very noble and patriotic. The country was in peril and people needed to step up. However as the war continued, all reason was lost. It became a series of unending battles. So much damage and very little gained. Through his characters, Remarque pointed out the senselessness of war. In one instance Baumer exclaimed, I see how people are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another (Remarque, 1929).

He argued that war takes away a persons humanity. In the fierceness of battle one forgets that on the other is another human being probably fighting for the very same reasons. Most of the time the realization comes too late. The character Baumer killed a French soldier and in death he remembered that the soldier was a man. He began questioning why they became enemies in the first place. Remarque clearly showed in this instance that war could temporarily blind a person. War creates an atmosphere of competition consequently turning it into a numbers game. Very little regard is given to the fatal losses it produces.

War can drastically alter a persons identity. In the heat of battle values are lost and it becomes purely a fight for survival. Remarques characters were only in high school when they joined the Army. They were convinced to volunteer after their teacher assured them it was their patriotic duty to do so. All were young, idealistic and full of life. However, after months of fighting, they became hardened and jaded.

One of the strongest passages in the book says Youth We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young That is long ago. We are old folk (Remarque, 1929). War forces the young to grow up too fast. In war there is no room for childish mistakes. The saddest part is that most of them have to give up their dreams and desires.

Remarque went through the very same experience. Through the eyes of his characters, he painted a heartbreaking picture of how war takes away the youthfulness of life. At one point it was said, We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world and we had to shoot it to pieces (Remarque, 1229). In exchange those who participate in it become old and weary rapidly.

Another unfortunate effect of the war on its partakers is that it distances them from what is real. It shatters relationships between families and friends. Baumer, the protagonist, spoke of this ordeal when he visited home. He had a very difficult time assimilating with his family and his community. He no longer felt attached to what used to be the most important parts of his life.

Most of the time veterans of war come back withdrawn and lonely. Feelings of isolation are common. Remarque was very successful sharing this challenge with his readers. He wrote, There is distance, a veil between us (1929). While it is painful to accept, veterans of war are turned into someone different. There is no way to look back. The joys of the past remain in the past.

The truth is participants of war are forced to build new and stronger relationships with their troop mates. Comradeship becomes their most important source of understanding. They shared the gravest of difficulties. They go through life and death situations together. There is no one else who could appreciate their feelings except for those who were there with them.

Participants of war build a gap between them and the people they left behind. In the frontline, lives are at stake. They fight for survival. This is their only motivation. As a result anything apart from preserving life is thought of as trivial and insignificant.

The effects of war stay with those who were there for the rest of their lives. The horrors they suffer through are too much to handle. When in battle they need to take emotion out of the equation, leaving them suppressed and restrained. After the war it is different. All the pent up feeling come rushing back and it stays with them forever.

One of the most difficult things to go through is when one survives while others die. They suffer the guilt of being alive. The randomness of death in battle produces confusion.
Those who are spared begin to question their fate and their comrades.

When Baumer was killed at the end of the book he was described as looking calm. Remarque made this so to illustrate that sometimes people who were part of the war welcome death more. Sometimes it is only in death that they can truly escape the agonies they went through. It is also in death that they become truly equal with comrades who shared these agonies with them.

The First World War, also know as the Great War, was the bloodiest in history. So many lives were lost. So much damage was inflicted by the war. Remarque questioned All for what

Remarque served during World War I in Germany. After the war only came depression. The war totally destroyed the country and the rest of Europe. In his book, Remarque wrote of the endless destruction that war brings with it. Remarque reminded readers that in the end no matter the reason for war, it pails in comparison to the sacrifices that were made for it.

The book All Quiet on the Western Front provided readers a first-hand look of what war can do to a country and its people. If there is one word that Remarque associated with war it is devastation. World War I devastated his nation, his friends, and himself. In his eyes war does not do anybody good.

The strength of the book lies in Remarques vivid portrayal of events. He allowed readers to experience what the characters were experiencing. His point of view was based on reality. He did not just imagine it he lived it and so eloquently expressed it.

Remarque clearly narrated what war did to him and why he so strongly opposed it. For a country, it only brings forth much ruin. For a people, it only brings forth much despair. In the end, no one wins in a war, not the country, not the people, and more so not those who fought in it.