Loss Of Innocence In Erich Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

Words: 438
Pages: 2
Open Document
The Loss of Innocence in All Quiet on the Western Front

As a teenager who just graduated, going out into the world can be a scary thing. You may just barely be an adult, or maybe not even one yet, which means that you are young and probably still innocent to the world. In the time of World War I, a lot of young men fresh out of high school, were driven to join the army. In Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer and some classmates along with other young men enlisted to the German army. Through their short journey, Paul, as well as many others, lose their innocence because of the horrors of war, which they were not exposed to as children. Paul struggled with the reality of what war was and how bad the factors actually were, and this led him to what I believe to be his own suicide.

Paul’s story is a dreadful one. Ten strenuous weeks of training had opened his eyes extremely wide to what war actually was. While in school, his teacher had glorified the war and made it seem as if it was something exciting. Paul and his company of 150 men were sent to the front lines to fight, and this is where they got their first glimpse of …show more content…
He and his comrades sneak across a river to meet with French women in which they exchange food with for sexual intercourse. “Nor do I fully understand her eyes; they seem to say more than we anticipated when we came here.” (70) This part of the book is important because it shows that the innocence was lost in more than one way. The war was strenuous on these men, so they went to blow off steam and have some fun, which resulted in a loss of innocence. After these events, Paul receives a leave of absence, so he goes home to visit his family. While at home, Paul found out that his mother had become sick with cancer and was dying. It was hard for him to discuss what had gone on in the war even though his father wanted to talk about it. Paul kept quiet about most of the
Show More

Related Documents: Loss Of Innocence In Erich Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

Horror Of War

Sara Hawken German: 50:470:262 10 Feb. 15 The Horror of War All is Quiet on the Western Front is considered to be arguably the greatest anti-war novel of all time due to its overriding theme of the terrible brutality and horror of war. While most novels romanticize the glory and honor that war evokes, Erich Maria Remarque portrays the events as they are actually experienced by military soldiers during World War I. In contrast to common ideals of patriotic duty and heroism, he instead describes…

Words 1125 - Pages 5

All Quiet On The Western Front War Analysis

War and violence can alter one's innocence and future, which is seen in Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. This novel expresses the true terrors of war, and how war can ruin a young man’s life. Paul Baumer, the narrator, has had his life war-torn because of the emotional grief carried with being a soldier. War and violence have caused Paul and his comrades to have their innocence and youth killed, along with their hope for a life in the future. Most people consider their youth…

Words 792 - Pages 4

Essay All Quiet

hardship and conflict of war destroy an individual? War often has profound and drastic effects on an individual. It deeply wounds the soul and deprives the body. Erich Maria Remarque investigates these damaging effects on an individual’s fragile identity in his novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. Paul Bäumer, the protagonist of Remarque’s novel, is a soldier in World War I, but more importantly, a victim of the spiritually and mentally depriving conditions of war. Paul, a young, artistic boy before…

Words 2128 - Pages 9