All Quiet on the Western Front is the internationally famous novel that tells of the impact of the World War I experiences on the lives of the millions of soldiers involved.
In the novel, Remarque (the author) highlights the horror and uselessness of war, giving detailed descriptions of the negative physical and psychological damaging effects it has upon the soldier.
The main character represents the millions of other normal men who were caught up in the battle of the First World War. Through his first person narration, he expresses Remarques (the author) own opinion of the worthlessness of war and the vicious effects it had upon a person's physical and mental health.
The novel not only describes the horror that took place throughout the war, it also portrays the horror and despair that take place after the war has finished.
" A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up within me.
Remarque, Erich Maria: Im Westen nichts Neues. Rom...
Українська: Еріх Марія Рема...
Paul WalkerI cannot find my way back, " (Ch. 7 p. 149)
In this quote, Paul is on leave sitting in his room alone, he should be happy to be home, to see all his family again, but he cannot relate to the things in his past.
"Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come." (Ch. 12 p.248)
This proves that a soldier's mindset is altered; they have seen too many gruesome sights and cannot bear to live with it so much that dying doesn't seem so bad.
"....a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war"
Remarque stated in the prologue above and successfully positions the reader to recognise that the youth were victims in the war; he achieves this by...