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Erich Maria Remarque wrote "All Quiet On The western Front." The book focuses on the hardships of soldiers fighting on the Western Front in France in World War One in order to show the furtiveness of war. The book is written in first person and it is written from a German's point of view because the author, Remarque, was a German. It is a story of comradeship, of young soldiers fresh from school enrolling in the German army. I thought the book was excellent as a portrayal of how hard it was to be a soldier in World War One, how Baumer, the narrator of this book, and his friends had to grow up so quickly. It was very sad when his friends died one by one and he finally died as well at the end of the book. In this study I am going to look at the relationships between the characters, the main character him-self, and the themes present in this novel.
The main character in this book is the narrator, Paul Baumer. Paul Baumer comes from a small town in Germany. After school his classmates and he signed up for the War. They did not have much choice; they would have been conscripted anyway. Baumer has become resigned to the war. Although at the start he probably thought the war glamorous he soon realises that the only thing keeping him sane was thinking about the end of the war.
Paul shows great courage in the face of death; in a very short time he has grown up a lot and does things he would not have done before the war. He is always ready to help new recruits, to give them tips on how to survive on the front. For instance, "Close by us there is a recruit, a blonde lad, and he is terrified. He has pressed his face into his hands. His helmet has rolled off. I reach for it and try to put it on his head.
He looks up, pushes the helmet away and huddles in under my arm like a child, his head against my chest. His narrow shoulders are shaking, shoulders just like Kemmerich had. I let him stay there. But to get some use out of his helmet I shove it over his backside, not as some kind of a joke, but deliberately, because it's the most exposed area.
Even though the flesh is solid, a wound there can be bloody painful, and besides, you have to lie on your stomach for months in a military hospital, and afterwards you are pretty certain to have a limp. " It is obvious that Baumer has grown up a lot since he joined. Although he is not more than two years older than the new recruit, he acts like a veteran. Also there is significance in what he says about the new recruits shoulders. Baumer had a friend who died called Kemmerich and he can see a likeness to Kemmerich in the recruit.
This is used by the author to show that although it may seem as if they do not really care who dies, they just carry on, in reality he cared very much for Kemmerich and his way of showing it was to be kind to the new recruit who looked like his dead friend. Baumer definitely enhances the reader's enjoyment of the book. His loyalty and kindness throughout the hardships he has experienced really warms the reader's heart and makes the book more enjoyable. There are strong relationships between the main characters in "All Quiet On The Western Front." Having grown up together the boys have grown very close so when they go off to the war they keep their friendships and do not mingle with other soldiers much. There is a special relationship between Kat and the narrator, Paul Baumer. They do almost everything together.
At one point they decide they are going to go and steal a goose or two off the locals. They do not tell anyone else. Kat helps Paul over the fence and then keeps watch. Paul gets the geese but just then the watchdog comes out and starts barking and tries to attack Paul so he has to shoot the dog.
He then gets away with Kat. They go to a deserted shed near the barracks and roast the geese. You would expect them to eat it all while they are out there because they are always hungry but instead the author has made it so that some is kept for Kat and Paul's group of friends. This also helps you understand and realise the friendship the war has produced. Before the war they were already good friends but the author wants to make the point that war is a great way to make friends, because you grow to depend on the absolutely, for help, comfort and to keep you sane.
The main theme in this novel is war. It focuses on a group of boys, all from the same class at school in a small German village, who enrol in the German army. The entire book depicts how awful fighting in a war is, how they lose their friends one by one. Many books portray war as a glamorous affair an event that makes, and kills, heroes, but "all Quiet on the Western Front" does not do this at all. It shows war for what it really is, a bloody massacre in which millions of innocent people are killed. "Bertinck has been hit in the chest.
A short while later a piece of shrapnel smashes away the lower part of his face. That same piece of shrapnel has enough force lest to rip open Leer's side. Leer groans and props himself on his arms, but he bleeds to death very quickly and no one can help him. After a few minutes he sinks down like a rubber tyre when the air escapes. What use is it to him now that he was so good at mathematics at school?" The author is being so graphic in order to show how pointless it all is, that Leer should not have had to die for Germany, he should be a mathematician in some city, not a bloody piece of meat lest for the rats in no mans land.
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