essay on all quiet in western front

Essay by arielkilpatrickHigh School, 11th gradeA-, January 2014

download word file, 4 pages 0.0

In his book All Quiet on the Western FrontErich Maria Remarque shows how emotionally damaged the soldiers are. The first sentence in the book is, "This book is neither an accusation, nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure for those who stand face to face with it. It will simply try to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped the shells, were destroyed by the war." This express to the audience very early how truly damaged these soldiers are. In the time period the medicine was not as advanced as today. Many people died merely from infection because there was no antibiotics. Also the medical centers according to the book were run by corrupt doctors who we understaffed and exhausted. They did their experiments on the patients and sent almost everyone back to the battlefield even after being wounded.

They experienced many deaths and it is obvious that it affected them hugely. The main character experiences many dramatic and traumatizing events in his life including dehumanization, failure to have aspirations, and estrangement of former life. This was a brutal war and these soldiers should be highly gratified and respected.

This war caused many soldiers to become dehumanized. Dehumanization is when the emotions and morals of a person are repressed due to a horrific or appalling occurrence. It made the men lose empathy for other people and they become animalistic. Kemerich, a fellow soldier, had an accident on the battlefield which caused him to have a leg amputated. Due to the poor conditions of the hospital, the wound was infected and he was unlikely to make it. Paul describes the feelings of Kemmerich's friends, especially Muller, "Only the facts are real and important for us.