ISU
1. All Quiet on the Western Front was written by Erich Maria Remarque, who fought for the Germans in World War One. Although he fought for the Germans, it was forces because like many Germans during the time, he was conscripted. After the war, Erich lived in Both Switzerland and the United States of America before finally returning to Switzerland to live the remainder of his life. During World War Two, his novels were banned in Nazi Germany and he was accused to being of Jewish descent. His sister was taken and trialed and her family died. The Nazi party stated “Your brother has unfortunately escaped us—you, however, will not escape us”. Erich wrote many books on both world wars, with his main focus on how the soldiers, although escaping death never truly escaped the horrors of the war even many years after. Another main focus on his body of works are the camaraderie between soldiers.
2. All quiet on the western front is set during World War One on the western side of the German-French Front. The main characters are all German soldiers, of different background and age who fight for survival together in the war. The Narrator is named Paul Bäumer, and he is the only survivor of the people in his original group of friends. Erich Maria Remarque shows how soldiers disconnect from society through the horrors of war, before the was Paul was sensitive and creative but after the war he was disconnected and hopeless. The issues raised in this novel apply to almost any person who has experienced war at all. Most soldiers can relate to Erich and the book can help civilians understand what soldiers have to go through.
3. The main characters are Paul Bäumer, Albert Kropp, Müller,and Kat,
6. The Central problem in the book, which is escaping the horrors of war, could be interpreted in two ways, Most of the group died as a direct result of the war, which could be both an escape and being eternally taken by the war. The war took the lives of all who were affected, whether dead or alive so i do not believe that the central problem is resolved. Although the war ends, Paul will be eternally affected by it he states:
“I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing more from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear. The life that has borne me through these years is still in my hands and eyes. Whether I have subdued it, I know not. But so long as it is there it will seek its own way out, heedless of the will that is within me.”
7. I can definitely imagine myself reading this book in ten years. I think this book should be read by all people in times of war because it explains the suffering of all soldiers. I think that if everyone in the world read this book, people would think more about the soldiers during times of war, and possibly war would be non existent.
Part B
3. Erich did not try to experiment with narration in the book All Quiet on the Western Front. This may have been because the novel was written in German before being translated into English and any sort of experimentation would be very hard to spot. All quiet on the Western Front was not good because the the writing style, although it is well written but because of the themes presented in the novel and the characterization.
4. This novel helped me to understand some of the horrors of war and how much people suffered back in World War One. The circumstances and the situations that soldiers on both sides had to go through were horrible. In the book, Paul had to kill another soldier in hand to hand combat to survive a scouting mission. The other soldier did not die right away and Paul had to sit in a crater with the other soldier for more then a day. I did not realise that war was this bad, i knew it wasn’t good but the day to day struggles these soldiers had to deal with were immense.
5. This novel irritated me. I cannot believe that humans treated each other this way during World War One. The wrong people were fighting in this war, the people had no grudges against each other but instead of the leaders fighting the innocent people did. Some people think that the German people were all horrible but in reality it was not the German people, but both sides leaders that committed these atrocities. This novel really showed me how bad war is.
6. I would not want to be any character in this book. They all suffered immensely in different ways, both physical and emotional. If I had to choose someone it would probably be Kat because he dies quickly and relatively painlessly. The character I would not like to be would be Kropp because he had to suffer both physical pain and emotional pain because of his amputation. Although it cannot be sure, it can be assumed that he survived the amputation and he is in the same situation as Paul but with an amputated leg.
7. This novel played with my emotions. I found myself trying to become detached with the characters because I knew they would all eventually die. I felt the worst for Paul because i found that I could not become detached from him and felt great sadness at the end of the book even though he did not die. The worst part of the novel that Canadian, or English novels could not compare to is the fact that you knew that they would lose and the lack of morale really killed the tone compared to other World War One books. I felt really sad for all the characters because I knew that they gave up their lives for nothing.
1. All Quiet on the Western Front was written by Erich Maria Remarque, who fought for the Germans in World War One. Although he fought for the Germans, it was forces because like many Germans during the time, he was conscripted. After the war, Erich lived in Both Switzerland and the United States of America before finally returning to Switzerland to live the remainder of his life. During World War Two, his novels were banned in Nazi Germany and he was accused to being of Jewish descent. His sister was taken and trialed and her family died. The Nazi party stated “Your brother has unfortunately escaped us—you, however, will not escape us”. Erich wrote many books on both world wars, with his main focus on how the soldiers, although escaping death never truly escaped the horrors of the war even many years after. Another main focus on his body of works are the camaraderie between soldiers.
2. All quiet on the western front is set during World War One on the western side of the German-French Front. The main characters are all German soldiers, of different background and age who fight for survival together in the war. The Narrator is named Paul Bäumer, and he is the only survivor of the people in his original group of friends. Erich Maria Remarque shows how soldiers disconnect from society through the horrors of war, before the was Paul was sensitive and creative but after the war he was disconnected and hopeless. The issues raised in this novel apply to almost any person who has experienced war at all. Most soldiers can relate to Erich and the book can help civilians understand what soldiers have to go through.
3. The main characters are Paul Bäumer, Albert Kropp, Müller,and Kat,
Paul Bäumer, who is the main character if the story is Erich’s main way of showing the disconnect of society of soldiers.
Albert Kropp showed how close soldiers get while suffering the horrors of war. Erich describes soldiers as being “Closer than lovers”. He is also Erich’s main way of showing the cruelty of war hospitals and the surgeons that run them. Both Paul and Kropp injure themselves and end up in a roman catholic hospital where they meet many injured soldiers like themselves. They learn how surgeons in time of war like to experiment with injured soldiers like trying to fix flat-footedness and amputate when not completely necessary. Kropp’s Leg was completely amputated and when Paul gets better he is called back to fight in his regiment again. Erich shows how disconnected soldiers become from their emotions by saying when they leave each other by saying leaving is “very hard, but it is something a soldier learns to deal with”
Müller is Erich’s way of showing disconnect of death between soldiers. When a minor character in the book, Kemmerich dies Müller only cares about getting his boots, although they were friends and classmates before the war. Soldiers cannot become attached to people, even their comrades because the emotional pain they would feel when they die would be too great.Stanislaus Katczinsky, or Kat for short is the oldest of the group of friends. While most of group are around 18 and had nothing before the war, Kat is 40 and has a family to return to. He is extremely resourceful and is able to get anything the group needs. Kat is Erich’s way of showing the many men that have to leave their families and professional lives behind during the war.
6. The Central problem in the book, which is escaping the horrors of war, could be interpreted in two ways, Most of the group died as a direct result of the war, which could be both an escape and being eternally taken by the war. The war took the lives of all who were affected, whether dead or alive so i do not believe that the central problem is resolved. Although the war ends, Paul will be eternally affected by it he states:
“I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing more from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear. The life that has borne me through these years is still in my hands and eyes. Whether I have subdued it, I know not. But so long as it is there it will seek its own way out, heedless of the will that is within me.”
7. I can definitely imagine myself reading this book in ten years. I think this book should be read by all people in times of war because it explains the suffering of all soldiers. I think that if everyone in the world read this book, people would think more about the soldiers during times of war, and possibly war would be non existent.
Part B
3. Erich did not try to experiment with narration in the book All Quiet on the Western Front. This may have been because the novel was written in German before being translated into English and any sort of experimentation would be very hard to spot. All quiet on the Western Front was not good because the the writing style, although it is well written but because of the themes presented in the novel and the characterization.
4. This novel helped me to understand some of the horrors of war and how much people suffered back in World War One. The circumstances and the situations that soldiers on both sides had to go through were horrible. In the book, Paul had to kill another soldier in hand to hand combat to survive a scouting mission. The other soldier did not die right away and Paul had to sit in a crater with the other soldier for more then a day. I did not realise that war was this bad, i knew it wasn’t good but the day to day struggles these soldiers had to deal with were immense.
5. This novel irritated me. I cannot believe that humans treated each other this way during World War One. The wrong people were fighting in this war, the people had no grudges against each other but instead of the leaders fighting the innocent people did. Some people think that the German people were all horrible but in reality it was not the German people, but both sides leaders that committed these atrocities. This novel really showed me how bad war is.
6. I would not want to be any character in this book. They all suffered immensely in different ways, both physical and emotional. If I had to choose someone it would probably be Kat because he dies quickly and relatively painlessly. The character I would not like to be would be Kropp because he had to suffer both physical pain and emotional pain because of his amputation. Although it cannot be sure, it can be assumed that he survived the amputation and he is in the same situation as Paul but with an amputated leg.
7. This novel played with my emotions. I found myself trying to become detached with the characters because I knew they would all eventually die. I felt the worst for Paul because i found that I could not become detached from him and felt great sadness at the end of the book even though he did not die. The worst part of the novel that Canadian, or English novels could not compare to is the fact that you knew that they would lose and the lack of morale really killed the tone compared to other World War One books. I felt really sad for all the characters because I knew that they gave up their lives for nothing.
