War brings despair to innocent people by making them witness terrible experiences. This is unavoidable since wars cause massive amounts of physical and mental destruction. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, when the protagonist, Paul Baumer, comes home on leave from the army, he realizes that he does not feel the same way in his old room as he does before he left for war. He then recognizes the issue and says to himself “At that time I still knew nothing of war”(Remarque 168). The war that Baumer is fighting in has been subconsciously changing the way he thinks, which is why he feels detached from his neighbours and his former belongings. It also makes him feel incapable of fitting in with others if the war were to end, and this can be seen as he says “[They are] men I cannot properly understand, whom I envy and despise”(Remarque 169). Paul’s thinking demonstrates to readers that he has a remarkably deep hatred for his naive acquaintances. Paul envies them for having a more amicable life than him, but he despises them for blindly agreeing with the government and for not