Summary:
The novel All Quiet on the Western Front central struggle is the survival of Paul. The struggle is significant to the novel because without it there would not be a written novel by Remarque. Here Paul is trying to survive while various obstacles try to impede this from happening for example the French soldiers who try to kill Paul.
Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front
Characters: Paul Baumer, the main character and narrator of the novel All Quiet On the Western Front, first introduces himself as a retrospective, innocent, and thoughtful nineteen-year-old man who at school had the idea of nationalism imposed on him by his teacher. Paul soon realizes his great mistake and the fact that he can and will not survive if he is concerned about the others. Many of the boys took on to this idea of individualism but Paul had been a caring man who enjoyed writing poetry before enlisting into the army. Events that change Paul's way of thinking about others were the death of Kemmeich and the many deaths in his platoon during chapter three tweaked Paul's eyesight to be more self concerned. By this moment Paul is starting to realize the great impact war has on everyone for example the men who survive will return home traumatized and the ones that don't will leave their whole family behind. After a while Paul becomes very connected with his surroundings and starts leaving behind little by little this concept of individualism for example when Paul returns from training camp he is very compassionate towards Russians. Motivation to continue life but Paul shows that he is not scared to die that he talks about losing his life and how he has no fear to confront death with. In the end this dynamic character gives up and perishes into the abyss of death.
Setting: All Quiet on the Western Front takes place in Germany during World War I at the period of time at which Germany was at war the French an the Americans. Most of the book takes place at the front, or the border at which the French and German considered the "enemy lines." Throughout the setting there is destruction, and chaos due to the battles. The setting supports the message of the novel that is trying to tell the reader why war is an evil thing.
Point of View: This novels point of view is in first person. Without the point of view being in first person the message the author is beaconing to us would not have been as significant. Being in first person shows the reader the true struggles a soldier like Paul must face. These challenges are both physical and mental as they were in Paul.
Conflicts: The novel All Quiet on the Western Front central struggle is the survival of Paul. The struggle is significant to the novel because without it there would not be a written novel by Remarque. Here Paul is trying to survive while various obstacles try to impede this from happening for example the French soldiers who try to kill Paul.
Structure: The story is compiled of twelve chapters without any titles. The author also allows Pal to flashback from time to time at the beginning of the book. The central inciting incident occurs in chapter four when the crew is assigned to their first mission, laying barbed wire at the front. After this is the climax located in chapter six when the crew first has the experience with ammunition and yet another way for Paul to die by. The resolution occurs at the end with the death of Paul. The structure was chosen to show the reader the before and after view of Paul to show the effects of war.
Symbols: The object that goes beyond its literary meaning is the boots of Paul's comrades Kemmerich. What the boots symbolize is the value the soldiers had on life. The soldiers would rather have new boots then mourn over their dead comrades.
Mood: The feeling created by this literary work is a mixture of anger, sadness, and confusion. Basically Remarque does not use mood shifts but instead uses a mood of discontent towards the issue of war that by previous research done on Remarque is because he had to live through almost the same things as Paul did.
Themes: The theme of this novel is that war leads to nothing but death and degrading of humans. It is true that war only cause evil and no good is produced no matter how right the war might seem. At this time Bush could most likely need to read this book to learn something about it.
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