The Impact of War in All Quiet on the Western Front.
             The major theme of the novel dwells on the waste and emptiness of war. Thousands of lives are lost just because a few men in authority want more land and more power. Ordinary people, with valuable aspirations and dreams, are being pulled into the battle and fight valiantly, only to have a grave as a reward. War does not only destroy lives and property, but also destroys the human spirit. Soldiers are subjects to physical torment; eyes being blinded, limbs are blown off, blood flows everywhere, and innocent men die in agony.
             War is destructive and brings no positive attitude toward life. People fight for their country in hopes of returning home, but it does not always work in that way. During World War I, people are being drafted and sent to fight for their country as young as sixteen. They are being sent to the Front without any knowledge of what is to come and die from not knowing what to do. The destructive power is so great that even the fundamental differences between life and death become blurred. The impact of war on the spirit is subtle. Paul and his classmates find themselves less able to return to civilian life.
             Albert Kropp is known as a thinker. He proposes that a declaration of war should be a kind of popular festival with entrance-tickets and bands, like a bull fight. Then in the arena, the ministers and generals of the two countries, dressed in bathing-drawers and armed with clubs, can have it out among themselves. Who ever survives, his country wins.
             Paul's generation grew up too fast, its perceptions of life grossly distorted by the horror or war. The youthful idealism that might someday have blossomed into constructive maturity is taken away. The war has shattered their illusions. Their innocence is gone, and only in aimless skepticism is left to fill the void.
             The constant presence of fear, death, violence, and destruction during war...