All Quite On The Western Front essays

All Quite On The Western Front essays The novel, All Quiet on the Western Front depicts the lives of a group of German soldiers during the 1st World War. It is told from the perspective of a young German soldier called Paul Bamer whose very experience shows the changes brought about in his life and the world around him. During the course of the war, Paul develops broadly, changing from a young, innocent boy into a rather ironic veteran of war. The story compromises of three main themes that Paul portrays from his perspective. Brothers in Arms, the True Horror in War and the Lost Generation. The theme of Brothers in Arms is about the relationship of soldiers with one another. Their closeness to each other and being around for one another whenever one is in need. Early on in the novel, Paul describes as comradeship being the best thing to ever have aroused from the war and the novel portrays this theme pretty much in all the chapters right through to the end until Kat dies. When Paul kills Gerard Duval, he is shocked with what he has done and begins to lose himself in his thoughts. He empathizes towards him and says. Forgive me, comrade, how could you be my enemy? If we threw these uniforms and weapons away you could be just as much my brother as Kat and Albert." (Chapter 9). This shows Pauls feelings towards the enemy as Paul was even ready to call them brothers. When Paul and his comrades are sent to the artillery lines for the wiring fatigue, an incident occurs in which Paul writes, Beside us lies a fair-headed recruit in utter terror. He has buried his face in his hands, his helmet has fallen off. I fish hold of it and try to put it back on his head. He looks up, pushes the helmet off and like a child creeps under my arm, his head close to my breast. The little shoulders heave. Shoulders just like Kemmerichs. I let him be. So that the helmet should be of some use I sti...