All Quiet on the Western Front Review

In All Quiet on the Western Front, the theme of the Lost Generation was the most apparent. This book’s characters are ripped apart by the fighting on the Front in the war. They hadn’t even finished ‘high school’ and they were being trained to fight and kill. This reality was propagated by the very people who are instrumental in their learning, the Teacher, Kantorek. He spoke of honor and patriotism that would come to the boys who would become men fighting for their country. That honor and patriotism would only come about for those men who didn’t die to begin with. People who survived such as Paul, the narrator would have to live in agony from the horrors of war. He would come to see his friends he served with die. Along the way their innocents was lost. The men would frequently joke of death and be dehumanized by the experience. Muller for example desired Kemmerich’s boots even before he died. He was almost immune to the fact his longtime friend was going to die; he was understandingly, worried for himself in that instance. The horrors of war for this Lost Generation are also illustrated when Paul returns home on leave. Despite the praise given to him, he feels disturbed. He receives numerous gifts from curious citizens who haven’t experienced the war like he has. The most significant part of the innocents of Paul being robbed can be seen when he speaks to Kemmerich’s mother. She pleads to hear how her son died. The story plagues Paul by picturing Kemmerich’s final death throes. Paul cannot bring himself to tell Kemmerich’s mother the truth. It is something he cannot bare to do. Paul knows Kemmerich’s mother cannot possibly imagine how her son died. He saves the burden of truth from her to protect her, he pities her deeply. Throughout his interactions with citizens on leave Paul hides the horrors of war, as to not distress those around him who still retain their innocence.