All Quiet On The Western Front the Novel :: Erich Maria Remarque

Kantorek would sayWe stood on the threshold of lifeAnd so it would seemWe had as yet taken no rootThe struggle swept us awayFor the differents, the older work force,It is but an interruption, they are able to think beyond itWe, however, have been gripped by itAnd do not know what the polish off may beWe know onlyThat in some strange and melancholy wayWe have become a wasteWhat does war do to a man? It destroys his inner being it crushes hope it kills him. Experiencing battle leaves only the flesh of a man, for he no longer has a personality it leaves a wasteland where a vast field of humanity once was. Through the main character, Paul Baumer, the reader experiences the hardships and consequences of war. During the course of the war, Paul reflects on how the young men involved in the war have no future left for them, theyve become a lost generation. Paul feels that his generation has become a wasteland because the war has made him into a thoughtless animal, because he knew not hing before the war, and because the war has shown the cheapness of human life.Throughout the novel, Paul must face unreliable tasks. For example, in chapter nine Paul crawls through No Mans Land to gather information about enemy forces. While in No Mans Land, the enemy begins to helicon the Germans. Paul, fearing death, hides in an old shell crater and pretends to be dead. While feigning death, an enemy soldier enters the crater. Paul quickly reacts and strike at the enemy with his dagger, fatally wounding the soldier.In a later chapter, Paul explains why he reacted so quickly. War has turned all the soldiers into unthinking animals in order to flag us the weapon of instinct. This primal instinct is one of survival it is the only thing that matters during war. It allows the soldiers to remain calm in battle, it allows them to escape solitude, and aids them in survival. As in a polar expedition, every expression of life must serve only the preservation of existence, and i s absolutely focused on that Paul and the other soldiers do only what is necessary to ensure their own survival. This affects each soldier when the war is finished. When a soldier returns back to his home after the war, he is unable(p) to escape his primitive feelings of survival.