All Quiet on the Western Front

Hey all, I have a...ehem.....project on this book due Monday, and I was hoping I could get some help. Well, basically, we have to find at least one quote or sectionin each chapter that exemplifies one of the 3 main themes in the novel.

The themes are the devestation, horror, and brutality of war, the value of comradeship and universal brotherhood, and the corruption of power the social aspect of living in a war zone.

Well, the plan is that I'm going to post what I have written so far, and whoever wants critiques it, and sees what can be made better.

What I have so far, through Chapter 5
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All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque is considered one of the greatest war novels ever written. It captures all aspects of war, the brutality, the destruction, the hope to survive, and countless others. But the main three themes of this novel are the devestation, horror, and brutality of war, the value of comradeship and universal brotherhood, and the corruption of power the social aspect of living in a war zone. All of these add a great deal to the actual book, each being exemplified in the actions and thoughts of the main character, Paul.


In Chapter One of All Quiet on the Western Front, the first seed of dissension was sowed. This “rebellion” was not against the enemy, but against the older generation. As Paul said, “For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity …in our hearts we trusted them... But the first death we saw shattered this belief. We had to recognize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs…” (Pg. 12) Paul and his comrades each knew that this war theirs, not the war of the elder generation. They took no part in it, just filled the minds of children with patriotic garbage, so they would go off to war and get themselves killed. The soldiers at first all believed that the war was for the betterment of the nation, but once they first shots were fired, they dispelled this belief. The war was for nothing. It had no purpose, except one, to kill the youth of a nation. This belief was reaffirmed by a letter sent by their former schoolmaster, Kantorek, who calls them the “Iron Youth”. Who was Kantorek? What did he know about war? Had he ever experienced the death, the horror, the utter fear that each day could be the last? No, he had not, and would not.

Chapter Two introduced a new theme, a new message, if you will, to the novel, that of comradeship. “…by far the most important result was that it awakened in us a strong , practical sense of esprit de corps, which…developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war- comradeship.”(Pg 26-27) This thing, abstract as it was, was what kept Paul alive for so long. Throughout the novel, Paul was able to live, thanks only to his wits, and thanks to his comrades. They stuck through the war as long as they could. They helped each other, both morally and physically.

In Chapter 3, “Kropp….proposes….war should be a kind of festival….in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries…can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be…more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting.”(pg 41) This quote exemplifies the fact that no soldier likes war. War is ghastly business, and the fact that you must either kill or be killed makes it no better. Robert E. Lee once said that “It is well that war is so terrible, for we should start to like it”. War is the annihilator of men, it swallows them whole, it destroys nations, smashing them with a sledgehammer. These young men fought for something they did not believe in. True, they did fight for the Fatherland, but they did not fight for the glory of it, just the preservation.

On page 56 in Chapter Four, Paul states that “At the sound of the first droning of the shells we rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years...We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers—we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animals.” This prehistoric instinct that has been with humans since their creation, this single instinct is more important than any weapon, any strategic tactic, in the world. This instinct gives soldiers the ability to kill, to kill mercilessly, without the slightest worry that what they do is wrong. On the battlefield, it is necessary to follow Darwin’s philosophy, survival of the fittest. If one is weak, he would die with a bullet in your body, or a bayonet wound in your stomach. If one is strong, he will be the one delivering the blow. This instinct reaffirms Darwin’s theories. For in truth, what are humans, if not animals?

In Chapter 5, Kat and Paul steal geese and eat them. While eating, Paul says that “We don’t talk much, but we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have” (Pg 94). Paul and Kat are comrades of the highest degree. They could do anything together. The War brought them together, and they became brothers, ready to sacrifice themselves just so the other survived. They formed a union, one which was damaged only by death, but still it would not break, even after life had ended. Their shared suffering makes peacetime concerns and concepts of friendship pale by comparison to their brotherhood. It is likely that Paul and Kat would never have known one another in peacetime, and never would have become friend, but the war has brought their lives together

Chapter Six is a very important section of the novel. A large battle takes place, and it further shows the brutality of war. During shelling, Paul says that "We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling our bombs...now, for the first time in three days we can see his face, now for the first time in 3 days, we can oppose him; we fell a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves...and be revenged.” This quote brings to light how truly horrifying war is. Men are no longer classified as men. They become simply one word; enemy. In warfare, there are no nationalities, no English, no French, no Germans, only ally, and enemy. Paul also goes on to say that “If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him”. This is truly disgusting. War turns men into savages, who would even kill their own kin just to stay alive, and to have revenge, revenge for being at the Front, revenge for the war, revenge for having to starve, to be shot at, for having to be a lowly pawn in a war that had nothing to do with them.

“…Who knows what is waiting for us? We will make ourselves comfortable and sleep, and eat as much as we can stuff into our bellies, and drink and smoke so that hours are not wasted. Life is short” Chapter seven takes place after the retreat from the battle in the previous battle. Paul contemplated the war, and what it means. Death was all around him. Kemmerich was dead, Haie Westhus was dying, Hans Kramer was dead, along with Meyer, Max, Beyer, Hammerling, and several hundred others were also either dead or dying. Though this quote does not really tie into one of the main three themes, it is still noteworthy. It ties into a major theme of The Epic of Gilgamesh, which is Carpe Dieum, or “Seize the day”. Literally, this means that one must live life to its fullest extent, and that one never knows when he or she will leave this world. This is especially important on the battlefield, where one is under the pressure of death every single second, every single millisecond. Yet Chance, that invisible protector, helps soldiers survive. Chance is a large factor in life or death in war.
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Thanks in advance for those who help! :original:

It all sounds good so far, if you finish it and want to post the rest I would be interested in reading it, this is one of my favorite books.

“Kropp….proposes….war should be a kind of festival….in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries…can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be…more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting.”(pg 41)...................I need some help here

You could talk about how this exmplefies the fact that only a few people in society want this and benefit from this war. You could talk about the theme of horror and brutailty in a mental way in the fact that these young boys are forced to fight for something they dont want or beleive in. Hope that helps, that was just off the top of my head, Ill go back and read chapter three and see if I can come up with anything else to help, I know how crappy these things can be.

I actually had to do this last year in school, you wouldnt happen to be in a 10th grade North Carolina school would you?

Here's the one I wrote ... the day before yesterday.

All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on the Western Front was written as the world still reeled from World War I. The memory of lost brothers and fathers was fresh and bitter: more then fifteen million men, civilian and military, lost their lives in the four years of bloody fighting in Europe. Twenty two million more were maimed by the horrific new weapons of the modern man: exploding shells, machine-guns, poison gas, tanks, flamethrowers, and airplanes. In France alone, 5,681,800 were killed or wounded — over 14% of the entire population of 40 million.
It was written to keep the story of those fifteen million alive; it was not meant to be a historical account of World War I, but a memoir of the soldier’s experience and a denunciation of the politician’s war. It is a narrative. As such it is hard to judge its factual accuracy; specific names for guns and weapons, trenches and battles are not given. These facts are not important to the narrative, so they are left out. All we know about the location of Paul’s regiment is that it is “between Langemark and Bixschoote”.
With that in mind, the realism of the narrative is incredible. It is not a fictitious tale — it is the story of the millions who fought in the First World War. The horrors and sheer brutality of the war are shown starkly, with no attempt to mask the facts behind vague notions of patriotism. From the beginning of the book — when Paul Baumer’s platoon is caught by an artillery barrage in a graveyard, where old bodies are blown out of coffins — to the end, when all innocence is lost and all the men have died, the book symbolizes the brutality and dehumanization of the first great war of the twentieth century.
Weapons and fighting are portrayed realistically in the book’s frequent battle scenes. Machine-guns, flares, artillery, bayonets, spades, grenades and the Mauser rifles in use by the German military are described in detail. Even rations are discussed: the German soldiers eat bread and beans. The Allies eat corned beef.
The strategy and economics of the war are also shown in passing. World War I was a war fought with outdated tactics; no charge can survive shelling, gassing and most importantly, machine gun nests. The entire Western Front was compromised of one side trying to break down another by charging strongly fortified positions. The German high command even decided that inflicting massive amounts of casualties should be their primary concern, leading to the battle of Verdun..
The overarching “strategy” of World War I — throwing large amounts of meat at something until it capitulates — is shown clearly in the book. Thousands of Allies advance on Paul’s position, and they are cut down by grenades and machine gun fire. Then the Germans counterattack and die in the same numbers.
On the home front, the people have no idea that they are losing. When soldiers attempt to tell them the truth, it is ignored; one civilian says to Paul:

“You see only your little sector and so cannot have a general survey. You do your duty, you risk your lives, that deserves the highest honor — every man of you ought to have the Iron Cross — but first of all the enemy line must be broken through in Flanders and then rolled up from the top.”

The civilian seems to think he knows what he is talking about — so much so that he completely ignores Paul’s statement to the contrary. The government has done an excellent job of making the civilians think they know how the war is going. No civilian thinks that they are going to lose. The Armistice must have come as a terrible shock to them.
Even as the civilians believed the war was being won, the economic power of Germany was crumbling. The government had so little money that they could not replace worn out artillery barrels. Because of the state of the barrels, the crews could not even aim properly or launch shots far enough; friendly shells started falling on the German positions. Even proper rations were not available. The German soldiers were constantly hungry and envious of the Allies’ rations:

“The fellows over there are well looked after; it seems a luxury to us with our hunger pangs, our turnip jam, and meat so scarce that we simply grab at it.”

It seemed that everything was stacked up against an entire generation of young men. They have died, one by one, since they volunteered. They have been mistreated by their own officers. They have been alienated by their own families. In the brutal fighting every day, they have lost more then their nerves: they have lost their innocence, their youth, their humanity and their will to live. As Paul says in the hospital, after men have died and his friend’s leg has been amputated:

“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another. I see that the keenest brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring. And all the men of my age, here and over there, throughout the whole world, see these things; all my generation is experiencing these things with me.”

The story of those millions who fought and died in World War I is captured in a single paragraph. It was the worst war in the history of humanity; yet twenty years later, in the true fashion of mankind, men followed their fathers’ examples and placidly annihilated one another on an even grander scale, ignoring the warning of veterans like Remarque. Fearing that All Quiet on the Western Front would open up the eyes of Germany, the Nazis banned the book and stripped Remarque of his German citizenship.
But despite banning and the passage of time, Remarque’s story, and the story of all the soldiers in all the wars in history, lives on.

Maybe it'll help you a bit?

Hehe, I would actually.... What other books did you read in 10th grade?

Anyway, thanks for the imput, I'll most likely add another hefty chunk either later today or tomorrow.

Edit: Justinian, great essay. You wouldn't happen...ehem....to know the pages of those quotes, would you? Or at least the Chapters?


Edit: Hm, I maybe I'll put something towards the end, for the conclusion about how the title was a paradox. Yes?

In Chapter 3, “Kropp….proposes….war should be a kind of festival….in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries…can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be…more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting.”(pg 41) This quote exemplifies the fact that no soldier likes war. War is ghastly business, and the fact that you must either kill or be killed makes it no better. Robert E. Lee once said that “It is well that war is so terrible, for we should start to like it”. War is the annihilator of men, it swallows them whole, it destroys nations, smashing them with a sledgehammer. These young men fought for something they did not believe in. True, they did fight for the Fatherland, but they did not fight for the glory of it, just the preservation.

Good, ja?

Originally Posted by therussian

Hehe, I would actually.... What other books did you read in 10th grade?

Anyway, thanks for the imput, I'll most likely add another hefty chunk either later today or tomorrow.

Lets see I think we read Les Miserables, lord of the flies, Beowulf, Grendel, ehh... thats all I can think of at the moment. I hated all those books except Les Miserables but my teacher ruined that by making us go volunteer.

I guess we do the same stuff, last year wasnt near as bad compared to this year we had to read Pride and Prejudice and Jane Erye. I absolutley despise those books. We did read Heart Of darkness though, a very good book, and since Apocolypse Now is loosley based on it we got to watch that wonderful classic in school.

In Chapter 3, “Kropp….proposes….war should be a kind of festival….in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries…can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be…more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting.”(pg 41) This quote exemplifies the fact that no soldier likes war. War is ghastly business, and the fact that you must either kill or be killed makes it no better. Robert E. Lee once said that “It is well that war is so terrible, for we should start to like it”. War is the annihilator of men, it swallows them whole, it destroys nations, smashing them with a sledgehammer. These young men fought for something they did not believe in. True, they did fight for the Fatherland, but they did not fight for the glory of it, just the preservation.

Sounds good, nice job using the quote from Lee. Ive found that if you bring in outside knowledge it helps your grade.

Edit: Justinian, great essay. You wouldn't happen...ehem....to know the pages of those quotes, would you? Or at least the Chapters?

I can't give you page numbers, my version is probably different from yours (I have the original printing!). Chapters though:

First quote: Chapter 7, when he's on leave
Shells falling on the Germans from their own arty: Chapter 6, at the beginning
Second quote: still Chapter 6, near the end
Third quote: Chapter 10

Edit: Hm, I maybe I'll put something towards the end, for the conclusion about how the title was a paradox. Yes?

Also note that the German title can also be translated to Nothing New on the Western Front, which would be deliciously ironic.

Originally Posted by Justinian

I can't give you page numbers, my version is probably different from yours (I have the original printing!). Chapters though:

First quote: Chapter 7, when he's on leave
Shells falling on the Germans from their own arty: Chapter 6, at the beginning
Second quote: still Chapter 6, near the end
Third quote: Chapter 10





Also note that the German title can also be translated to Nothing New on the Western Front, which would be deliciously ironic.

You may want to edit out your name in your essay.

Ah, see, I read Lord of the Flies LAST year. And we didn't read Les Miserables, we watched the movie. The others, we didn't read.

We read The Phantom of the Opera, Things Fall Apart, Hunchback of Notre Dame, this, and Night.

Originally Posted by therussian

Ah, see, I read Lord of the Flies LAST year. And we didn't read Les Miserables, we watched the movie. The others, we didn't read.

We read The Phantom of the Opera, Things Fall Apart, Hunchback of Notre Dame, this, and Night.

Things fall apart ahh we read that one, I had to write a 5 page essay on why Okonkwo committed suicide. Ive read night before on my own the others ive never read. You should read Les Miserables if you get a chance, its long but still a classic.

We read alot of short stories as well last year like A dolls house, sections of Oedipus Rex and Dantes Inferno, we also read Juluis Ceaser and Romeo and Juliet.

Farnan:That's the authors name.

Ah, ya Quacky. We didn't read Oedipus, we did read Antigone though.

Ignore me...

I got that mixed up with Hemingway's book, so I thought that was Justinians name...

I see, did you happen to read Gilgamesh thats another one we read.

If you dont mind me asking what high school do you go to we might play you guys in sports or something?

Originally Posted by QuackyNC

I see, did you happen to read Gilgamesh thats another one we read.

If you dont mind me asking what high school do you go to we might play you guys in sports or something?

Ah, yes, totally forgot about that one. I go to Providence Senior High School, Charlotte NC.

Anyway, I found another beast-of-a-quote

"We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we flig our bombs...now, for the first time in three days we can see his face, now for the first time in 3 days, we can oppose him; we fell a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves...and be revenged

Originally Posted by therussian

Ah, yes, totally forgot about that one. I go to Providence Senior High School, Charlotte NC.

Anyway, I found another beast-of-a-quote

"We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we flig our bombs...now, for the first time in three days we can see his face, now for the first time in 3 days, we can oppose him; we fell a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves...and be revenged

I go to Freedom High School in Morganton not to far from Charlotte.

Thats a good quote shows how the war is affecting the boys look on life and how its consuming who they are "we fell a mad anger."

Originally Posted by QuackyNC

I go to Freedom High School in Morganton not to far from Charlotte.

Thats a good quote shows how the war is affecting the boys look on life and how its consuming who they are "we fell a mad anger."

Ah ya ya. Morganton, where exactly is that? Anyway,

Chapter Six is a very important section of the novel. A large battle takes place, and it further shows the brutality of war. During shelling, Paul says that "We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling our bombs...now, for the first time in three days we can see his face, now for the first time in 3 days, we can oppose him; we fell a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves...and be revenged.” This quote brings to light how truly horrifying war is. Men are no longer classified as men. They become simply one word; enemy. In warfare, there are no nationalities, no English, no French, no Germans, only ally, and enemy. Paul also goes on to say that “If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him”. This is truly disgusting. War turns men into savages, who would even kill their own kin just to stay alive, and to have revenge, revenge for being at the Front, revenge for the war, revenge for having to starve, to be shot at, for having to be a lowly pawn in a war that had nothing to do with them.

Originally Posted by therussian

Ah ya ya. Morganton, where exactly is that? Anyway,

Chapter Six is a very important section of the novel. A large battle takes place, and it further shows the brutality of war. During shelling, Paul says that "We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation. It is not against men that we fling our bombs...now, for the first time in three days we can see his face, now for the first time in 3 days, we can oppose him; we fell a mad anger. No longer do we lie helpless, waiting on the scaffold, we can destroy and kill, to save ourselves...and be revenged.” This quote brings to light how truly horrifying war is. Men are no longer classified as men. They become simply one word; enemy. In warfare, there are no nationalities, no English, no French, no Germans, only ally, and enemy. Paul also goes on to say that “If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him”. This is truly disgusting. War turns men into savages, who would even kill their own kin just to stay alive, and to have revenge, revenge for being at the Front, revenge for the war, revenge for having to starve, to be shot at, for having to be a lowly pawn in a war that had nothing to do with them.

The great work continues good job.

Morganton... lets see, its in burke county which is about an hour to 45 minute drive northwest of charlotte. Morganton is roughly about the midpoint on Interstate 40 between Hickory and Asheville if you know where thats at. Its farily good sized not to small but defintley not near as big as Charlotte though. Senator Sam Irvin is from here and this is where Frankie Silvers was from(if you know who that is) other than that though there isnt much else important about it.

Haha. It would be weird if my name was Erich Maria Remarque.

Northwest eh? Hm. Nope, still not ringing a bell :laughing: But that doesn't matter. Who is Frankie Silvers, by the way?

Originally Posted by therussian

Northwest eh? Hm. Nope, still not ringing a bell :laughing: But that doesn't matter. Who is Frankie Silvers, by the way?

Yeah I didnt expect you to know it pretty small place. Frankie Silvers was a woman who in the 1830's killed her husband, chopped him into little pieces, and buried him in her backyard. She was latter convicted of the murder and was the first woman hanged in NC. Theres several books about her and a play. We done a bunch of crap about her in 8th grade in NC history class not really important just some local knowledge I guess.