Preview

Theme Of The Abyss In All Quiet On The Western Front

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
281 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of The Abyss In All Quiet On The Western Front
In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque, Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen, and Route March by Charles Sorley the notion of the abyss must be overcome in order to survive. The notion of the abyss takes over and threatens Paul's life. He discovers the abyss when he meets the Russian Prisoners. Paul states "A word of command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends" (Remarque 193-194). Paul can only survive the war by killing these men and that forms Paul's abyss. Another abyss is found in Route March creates the reality that you will die out at the front. There are men marching along and a man sings a chant part of it being "Wherefore men marching On the road to death,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The earth, as in the soil beneath our feet, is taken for granted every single day, but never by a soldier on the front lines. Erich Maria Remarque explains this through his character Paul Bäumer in the excerpt of his novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Paul is explaining the effects that war on the front can leave with a soldier, the hopelessness, instinct of an animal, and appreciation for things as simple as the earth that we walk on. While explaining these effects Remarque uses literary and rhetorical devices.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, war has been constantly evolving. Over time, it has taken a new less glorious form. World War One was one of the most devastating and transformative events in human history. In Erich Maria Remarque’s book, All Quiet on the Western Front, he depicts the horrors of “the great war” by showing the complete disregard for human life in modern warfare. This war modeled the way that any future war would be fought. It would shape human history by completely changing the game of warfare and people’s opinions of it. Remarque shows, from his point of view, the terrors that happen on a daily basis on the front lines, and away from it, of World War One. World War One changed the perception of war in a big way and opened the eyes of so many people to the horrors of modern warfare.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, the characters sacrificed their youth in the war and their innocence was lost. Paul Bäumer, the narrator, was forced to discover a harsh reality. Paul’s high school teacher, Kantorek, pressured Paul and his classmates to enlist in the army. Paul was optimistic and naïve. At first, he was convinced that it would be an honor to die for his country. He enlisted, unknowingly signing up for a terrible suffering. His patriotism vanished and his personality battled with the truth of war. This led him to feel great sorrow. Paul and his classmates later realized that there is another aspect in the world and things around them are not as simple and innocent. The battle influenced their minds and attitude throughout the novel. Paul and his group of friends changed their thoughts and outlooks on life by witnessing the horrors of war when they became soldiers. The many deaths became part of their lives, which they were forced to deal with. The innocence that they once knew slowly altered.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All Quiet on the Western Front and The Sufferings of Young Werther are books that have impacted literature in ways no one ever dreamed. All Quiet on the Western Front was one of the first popular books that were written from the perspective of a solider that was on the German side. This allowed for a whole new side of the war to be seen. It also showed how the soldiers struggled to cope with the world around them and how they reacted to it (Remarque). The Sorrows of Young Werther brought light to the storm and stress and later the romanticism movements. This showed the strain that the young people had with the old world. Both these books presented something new…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, there are many symbols. However the main symbol that ties everything together is the boots. The boots are a symbol for loss of identity, dehumanization, and cheapness of human life. During World War I, men were put in boot camp straight from high school. They never have a chance to grow up and develop lives of their own. Although they have lost their innocence due to hardships of the war, they are still young boys at heart. This shows how their boots are a symbol for dehumanization. As soon as they put on their boots, they become tough, experienced, soldiers that know nothing but methods of survival and how to follow orders. The army breeds men to be like machines and putting on their boots is like their instinctive queue to follow orders. This also shows how their boots are a symbol for loss of identity. Putting on the boots means they all have the same uniform and follow the same orders. They are trained to be like robots and their boots is what allows them to adapt to these expectations. Without them, they are nothing but young, innocent boys. Lastly, the boots are also a symbol for cheapness of human life. The army kept bringing in more and more soldiers as more and more soldiers kept dying. There seemed to be no end to the cycle. When one soldier died, his boots are given to another soldier, as if the first soldier never existed in the first place. There was more concern as to who was going to receive the boots than to the actual death of a friend. This shows how human life was taken for granted. The boots in All Quite on the Western Front symbolized loss of identity, cheapness of humanity and dehumanization.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer and his generation feel separated from the rest of the world. These boys’ lives were drastically changed by the war, and “even though they may have escaped its shells, they were destroyed by the war,” (Remarque Epigraph) describing that even though they survived the war physically,they were mentally destroyed by the dangers and chaos of war. Paul expresses that “he has been crushed without knowing it” and “does not belong anymore, it is a foreign world” (Remarque 168). The generation of men who fought in the war are “pushed aside,” (Remarque 249) as an unpleasant reminder of a war that society would like to disregard. After surviving such dreadful…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, a profoundly horrific image of war is formed in the eyes of the reader. In the past, War stories leaned toward themes of glory, adventure, and honor. In presenting his realistic version of a soldier 's experience, Remarque strips away the glory of war and reveals the physical and mental hardships of war. Throughout his book, a plethora of themes are emphasized and brought to light. Among those themes are deception, camaraderie, and propaganda, but the prevailing theme seems to be maintaining one 's humanity. The theme of humanity is readily prevalent throughout the novel, and can be tied in with the loss of innocence, fear, and ultimately the emergence of courage. During All Quiet on the Western Front, the main character Paul who is only nineteen, is faced with the atrocities of war which take a toll on his humanity.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the entire book, many themes can be discovered by the readers, including patriotism, identity, sacrifice, and many others. However, one theme that appears very oftenly throughout the course of the novel is liberty. In many book, the theme liberty is an advance indication of a plot where the characters fight for liberty. However, in this book, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the theme signifies the lack of liberty throughout the experiences of almost all of the characters. Paul first learned that it was important to show patriotism inside one’s heart. He was very brave to show loyalty toward his country by deciding to go fight in the war. Soon he realized that war was such a burden with no hope for the future. He had to go through continuous troubles, hide from constant threats. There was no freedom anywhere. His life was chained behind bars, being forced to train hard and sacrifice so much to continuously fight till the very end. This wasn’t just the case for him but all of the other soldiers. For example, when being…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The theme of a book could be described as what the reader or audience has learned throughout reading the story. One way the theme is portrayed in this novel is when the soldiers would go home on leave for a little while. Another way the theme is portrayed throughout the novel is when you lost your friends and fellow soldiers in battle. “Theme is the underlying message or big idea that is portrayed throughout the story” (What is Theme in Literature). In reading this book you can learn that being a soldier during any war can be a hard road to go down. In the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Remarque, the theme of the story is how the main character learns that the effects of war is hard for some soldiers to deal with. The novel shows this theme in at least instance; going home from war on leave, losing your friends in battle,…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Johann Gottfried von Herder and Ernest Renan both tried to give a definition to a notion of a nation, and the ways they used to do so were, seemingly, similar. First, they both incorporate the idea of nature and its barriers and unifications – mountains and rivers – in their works; however, each of them proves different points. Herder argues that “if otherwise mountains had arisen, rivers flowed, or coasts trended, then how very different would mankind have scattered over this tilting place of nations” meaning that he believes that nature and the planet surface is one of the main reasons so many distinguishable nations exist (Herder 2). Renan, on the other hand, believes that geography, although important, is not an absolute reason…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War One is known for its bloodshed. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” explains how the war changes people in their mental, emotional, and physical state featuring Paul, a young soldier. The book emphasizes heroism over glory, and how winning was a spirit booster. Although this is true, there were some un-favourited effects of the battles. Bullets and bombs weren't the only ways that had killed many of the men Combat is a common factor in suicides. Only two months after the war did suicides become an issue to the point where populations were dramatically dropping in the states.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the autumn of 1918, Paul Bäumer, a 20-year-old German soldier, contemplates his future: "Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing anymore. I am so alone and so without hope that I can confront them without fear" (Chapter 12). These final, melancholy thoughts occur just before his young and untimely death. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque creates Paul Bäumer to represent a whole generation of men who are known to history as the "lost generation." Eight million men died in battle, twenty-one million were injured, and over six and a half million noncombatants were killed in what is called "The Great War." When the smoke cleared and the bodies were finally buried, the world asked — like Paul and his friends — why? Remarque writes his story to explain their reason for asking this question and why they felt betrayed by their teachers, families, and government. He creates a tale of inhumanity and unspeakable horror and the only redeeming themes of his book are the recurring ideas of comradeship in the face of death and nature's beauty in the face of bleak hopelessness.…

    • 2655 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    War is often viewed as one of the most dangerous and brutal events ever created. It utterly destroys the humanity and mental state of soldiers fighting in the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, a world renowned war novel by Erich Maria Remarque, the epigraph states that this novel “will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” Staying true to this quote, Remarque tells of the horrors of World War I and fittingly describes the effects that war has on humans through the eyes of the protagonist, Paul Bäumer. In his epigraph Remarque says, “this book is to be neither an accusation, nor a confession, and least of all an adventure.” Except for a few notable exceptions,…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” ~~epigraph…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “All Quiet on the Western Front” written by Erich Maria Remarque explores the idea that men have escaped the shells of battle but were often destroyed by war. Remarque presents the changes in Paul and his friends and by displaying the sense of isolation the men feel after the war by using a range of techniques.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays