Behind German front lines in 1916, only eighty of the original one hundred fifty soldiers of the Second Company remain fit for duty. Paul (the main character in my opinion) and his comrades have acquired a bit of battle experience, including the loss of Joseph Behm, the first of their group to die. A letter from Kantorek calling them "Iron Youth" stirs Kropp's anger.
They evolve a strong comradeship, which bolsters and protects them far better than the now useless information they learned in school. Franz Kemmerich, Paul's friend, dies after the amputation of his leg. Müller inherits Kemmerich's boots.
I feel that the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” has revealed the horrifying and devastating effects of war on humanity. Instead of presenting, like many other novels did before, the glorifying and heroic aspects of war, Remarque showed how innocent and young soldiers became victims of a terror. In addition, Remarque comments on the negative position of power, loyalty that placed pressure on the youngster’s decision about enlisting during the World War I. Through main characters, Paul Bummer, narration the reader is introduced to the effect of war on individuals as they gather the experiences of war. These experiences transformed soldiers into some sort of animals by destroying their human values possessed before the war.
During the novel, soldiers are exposed to the constant danger of death and unbearable conditions which provoke the instinctive characteristics of survival to take place. Remarque describes the very harsh state in which soldiers have to live during war.
(I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO POST ON THE MAIN PAGE SO AM POSTING MY BLOG AS A COMMENT TO JOSHUAS)
ReplyDeleteThe main theme of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ is that of the brutality of war which, in this book unlike ‘Birdsong’, is present in every chapter. Similar to ‘Bridsong’, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ goes out of its way to destroy the common romanticized heroic perception of war and change it to that of the stark, bleak and horrific reality of the first world war. The book it’s self is degrading to man and such unnatural circumstances force some of the characters in the book to lose their sense of humanity. Soldiers no longer pause to mourn their dead friends as death now becomes the norm. Paul becomes unable to picture a life without war and this impact him directly making him unable to communicate with his family. Social skills are lost as soldiers gradually become more unable to comprehend their lives outside of war, especially as they as sitting waiting for death. Despite this, Remarque does focus on the rare and very special bonds and friendships that are formed among the living. This too is romanticized in ‘Birdsong’ especially when Stephen is found by the Germans and there is the very cliché scene of the two enemies sobbing into each other’s arms’. This theme of special bonds is a theme amongst a lot of war literature and it is also prevalent in much of Sassoon’s poetry including ‘The Dug-out’. Such bonds of friendship and love are presented by Remarque as being vital to maintaining a fundamental humanity. Furthermore, ‘All quiet on the Western Front’ employs a lot of symbolism, most prevalent, that of Kemmerich’s boots who are passed to soldier to soldier as each owner dies in sequence. This represents the low value of human life and that a good pair of boots is more valuable than human life. The boots also foreshadow who is going to die as after Kemmerich dies, Paul brings them to Muller who then dies and the boots go to him in the end.
thought I would attempt to kill two birds with one stone and comment on both these posts, so here are my TWO COMMENTS:
ReplyDeleteJosh: I agree with the interesting fact that the war is shown badly with death and destruction as a couple of the main themes and find it interesting that the author has chosen this path. I also think it makes a nice twist that this is writen from the veiw point of a german soldier rather than the usual british one.
Freya: I also agree 100% with your blog as you tell of the true light of WW1 where all sence of decency and honer leave the picture. I really like the way you phrased "Soldiers no longer pause to mourn their dead friends" as this sends the message that the men are so used to death and chaos that they no longer are affected. I think this is a very powerful message.