Lost Generation
             In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque shows how the soldiers in World War I are disillusioned and surrounded by human suffering. Surrounded by death and suffering, the boys lose interest in everything but war. The war slowly shapes the attitudes and thoughts of the soldiers toward going home. The lost generation was formed by the constant isolation, violence and disillusionment of the German soldiers of World War I.
             All Quiet on the Western front illustrates the isolation the men must endure in battle causing them to lose their ambition for a good life, resulting in a lost generation. When the Paul Baumer and his classmates had no idea about the world, they joined the Army and were sent off to fight. No one back home knows what the war is like; and the soldiers do not seem to remember what home is like either. Even when Paul returns home on leave, he feels isolated from the world. He is uncomfortable about being away from his friends and uncomfortable talking to the people in his hometown because he feels like an outsider. Paul remembers his life at home when he had goals and when he strived for doing good in school to get a job. His high hopes and dreams were destroyed by the war."We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war." (88) Paul and the rest of the soldiers have lost interest in civilian life. The noises of men crying for help when wounded and the calm silence of the dead. Mixed with the sounds of shelling and gun fire causes the men to realize that war is their life. All Paul knows is war and there now is no way does he feels he can return and live the normal life he had planned.He thinks to himself,"I am young, I am...