The novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, By Erich Maria Remarque is the gripping saga of the war-time experiences of a twenty year-old man named Paul Baumer. Paul is a German soldier during World War One. He is stationed on the Western front, battling against the English and French forces. Paul dislikes the war. He feels that the war has ruined his generation. At a time when they are trying to find their place in the world, young German men are called to fight what Paul feels is a pointless war.
He sees little difference between himself and the opposing soldiers. As the war rages on Paul and the other members of his squad are assigned to various tasks by their superiors, including fighting in the trenches on the front. The men are continuously dodging explosive shells fired by the enemy. Many times though they are not successful. Many of Paul's friends die after being hit by shrapnel. In the trenches task of evading enemy fire is no where near as hard as remaining sane and hopeful.
Many of the horrors of war are revealed throughout this book; hunger, sleep deprivation, physical fatigue, and death are just a few of them. In many of the battle scenes detailed descriptions of the death men around him are described by Paul. In the end all seven members of his squad, including himself are killed.
I enjoy the style of writing used by the author in this book. The story is told in first person except for a short paragraph at the very end of the story. This paragraph reveals to the reader the death of Paul.
Paul continually refers back past events. These flashbacks add enlightening details and perspectives to the story.
I also liked the detailed physical descriptions, such as those of the battlefields. These depictions made you feel as though you are in the scene that is being described. In addition to these physical descriptions, I thought that Paul's descriptions of his feelings and ideas were excellent. These explanations portray many of the concerns and thoughts that go through the minds of people in war.
One thing that I did not like about the authors writing style was the overuse of exclamation points. They were hardly ever used in dialogue, the one place they should be used.
In the passage I chose for discussion Paul refers back to what his former teacher said of the war for the young men of Germany: “ Kantorek would say that we stood on the threshold of life. And so it would seem. We had as yet taken no root. The war swept us away” (16).
This brief passage reveals one of the main ideas of the book, the fact that many young men were taken away from their homes, at a time when they were trying to establish their lives, and forced to fight a gruesome war. The main characters of the story are forced to endure ,at young age, something that is difficult for even the toughest and most enduring grown men to bear: hunger, extreme fatigue, mental and physical stress, injury, and the death of their friends or possibly themselves. When the war ends what can the young survivors do? They are probably to old to continue their educations, they have no job to return to, they have not yet learned the ways of the world, not to mention countless other problems. Above all problems though is the dilemma of: What is the importance of regular tasks as a civilian after a life and death struggle? Certainly many things in life must seem pointless after fighting in the trenches (If one can even survive.)
Another passage that I found particularly interesting was one in which Paul describes his desire to survive: “I think no more of the dead man. He is of no consequence to me now. With one bound the lust to live flares up again and everything that has filled my thoughts goes down before it” (138-139).
In this passage the goal of all the soldiers in this book is described, the want to survive. This goal consumes all of the soldiers. They want to live through and return home again. This goal drives them to do all manner of things, be they bad, as in killing another man or good in helping one of their comrades to help them achieve their same objective. In the book, when a soldiers hope or sight of survival is gone, he usually meets a quick end. In order to escape the horrors of war one must face them.
I really enjoyed reading All Quiet on the Western Front. It was a very well written book that conveyed to me the horrors of war. Its descriptions of occurrences in the war made me realize how terrible war can be. This book made me look at war in a new way.
The reason I chose to read this book was the fact that both my brothers, my father, and some of my friends suggested it.
I give this book a ten out of ten. It was excellent. I would recommend it to anyone who has never read it.
