All Quiet On The Western Front
The remains of Paul Baumer's company had moved behind the German frontlines for a short rest at the beginning of the novel. After Behm becamePaul's first dead schoolmate, Paul viewed the older generation bitterly,particularly Kantorek, the teacher who convinced Paul and his classmates tojoin the military, feeling alone and betrayed in the world that they hadleft for him. Paul's generation felt empty and isolated from the rest ofthe world due to the fact that they had never truly established any part ofthemselves in civilian life. At boot camp, Himmelstoss abused Paul and hisfriends, yet the harassment only brought them closer together and developeda strong spirit amongst them. Katczinsky, or Kat, was soon shown to be amaster scavenger, being able to provide the group with food or virtuallyanything else; on this basis Paul and him grew quite close. Paul's unitwas assigned to lay barbed wire on the front line, and a sudden shellingresulted in the severe wounding of a recruit that Paul had comfortedearlier. Paul and Kat again strongly questioned the War. After Paul'scompany were returned to the huts behind the lines, Himmelstoss appeared
Their physical actions and mentalideals coincided very closely. The constant questioning of war and its valueswas presented very frequently and in fact may have included a few ofRemarque's own questions of society and biases against the immorality andmurder committed during war. During a bloody battle, 120 of the men in Paul's unit werekilled. Many conflicts of values were presented constantlythroughout the course of World War I. He left in agony knowingthat his youth was lost forever. With thereturn to his unit he again felt the presence of belonging. The physical aspects of death and wounds did not begin to portray themental anguish that the soldiers experienced during and after the war. Paul's unit was assigned to guard a supply depot of an abandonedvillage, but he and Kropp were soon wounded when trying to escape from thevillage. During anattack, Paul killed a French soldier. This book has simply given me new views of war. The depth of the emotions that soldiers experienced created avery believable example of the psychological impacts of war. I have gained a great deal of insight into World War I from this novel. The emotional state of characters developedvery genuinely throughout their endeavors; this realism forced me to lookat the purpose of war more closely and examine its results on the militia. After discovering that this soldierhad a family, Paul was deeply shattered and vowed to prevent other suchwars.
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