Tuesday, February 5, 2008
All Quiet on the Western Front Analysis
All Quiet on the Western Front is a story about a young man enlisted to serve in World War One. The setting, character and plot all attributed to the theme of the novel, by creating an emotional reaction from readers towards the theme; life on the battlefield stays and ends on the battlefield.Nineteen year old Paul was chosen among his students to go and serve in World War One. The main character’s inability to fit in with rest of society socially and being unable to find employment destined him to stay on the battlefield. He had to expect that not coming home was a possibility, and even if he was fortunate enough to be able to come home; he would lack the skill of surviving in society. Due to being chosen to serve in war at a young age, Paul was unable to receive education that would help him find employment. This destined that Paul’s only possible success would be on the battlefield.When he received a break from the war, and was allowed to visit home in Germany for several weeks, he found that he could not fit in. He thought different of people’s intention, and found that others were unable to understand him. Only people that fought with him in the war knew what he was thinking and feeling. His comrades were closer than family. Like any other soldier, Paul’s life ends on the battlefield. He died on the battlefield in Germany, along with many of his comrades. They all died in different ways and in different times, but all passed away because of the war. This was a common conclusion of a soldier’s life.The theme in All Quiet on the Western Front is based on the setting, which aroused thoughts and behavior that set the main character apart from the rest of society. The primary setting of the battlefield inspired the thoughts and insights of Paul. The secondary setting of home in Germany created a contrast of the two settings, and the life of a soldier and civilian. The setting of the battlefield was a time of trench warfare when trenches and hand-to-hand combat were the strategies to victory. The everyday life that included corpses and the sight of blood created an anxious and dangerous atmosphere. Deep realizations and thoughts about life were inspired through death of loved ones, daily irritations of war, and the unbreakable bond between soldiers. Furthermore, the death that occurred on the battlefield contrived emotional moments. The secondary setting of home proved that the experience of the main character alienated soldiers from the rest of the world. The empathy and new perspective that a reader gains over the couple of years in the two settings allowed the theme to be carried out successfully and emotionally.The protagonist that acted out the theme in the two settings is Paul Baumer. Due to a lack of rations the soldiers were given in the war, the figure of a skinny, but strong teenager can be conjured. The insights and perspective he gained from fighting in the war made him anything but naïve, despite his little education. Furthermore, surviving life threatening situations proved Paul to be a fast thinker. When he visited home in Germany, Paul’s tolerance is revealed when he tolerated foolish comments about fighting in war made by his father’s friends, who enjoyed the luxury of life during the time of war. Also, his consideration of other people can be seen when he assured a dead comrade’s mother that his friend died painlessly, sealing the promise with his very own life. Paul does not believe in God, and mentions no religion of any kind in his thoughts. He accepts events that occur in life without a complaint, showing his surrender to the nature of things. Paul’s ambition of surviving was seen when he ran miles looking for cover with his injured friend. His motivation to wake up every morning is the bond between him and his comrades.The antagonists Corporal Himmelstoss, war and death worked against the protagonist and his friends to make life hard. Corporal Himmelstoss was a hated figure at training, and was the target for practical jokes among the men. Himmelstoss often set harsh punishment on the men due to his own dislike towards Paul and his friends. The second antagonist war, fought over life with Paul and his comrades, and often won in taking it. As the men tried to live through desperate situations, death was the very thing they were running from. Death also separated the men, and broke the motivation Paul needed everyday when fighting in the war.The plot was the skeleton the novel, giving a script for the main character to act out. Paul’s daily routine at camp is interrupted by the death of a childhood friend, Kemmerich. Through night gatherings, the group of soldiers discuss the war and what their future when they return home to Germany. Paul later gets the opportunity to visit home, but his excitement was soon crushed from not being able to socially and mentally fit in with society. He returns to the battlefield, where he kills a French soldier, but realizes that he and the dead French soldier had a lot in common; they were both away from home and fighting for their country. Paul is emotionally impacted and calls the dead a soldier a comrade. He then fakes a fever to join a comrade, Albert Kropp, to the hospital but is later returned to the battlefield, where he discovers death of more of his comrades. The story ends with a peaceful death of Paul, who is the last to die in the group of soldiers.The book All Quiet on the Western Front describes a common soldier life, by bringing the reader to the scene of the character. The setting, plot and the main character of the book attributed to the success of the theme; life on the battlefield stays and ends on the battlefield. They all worked together to make this novel both successful and emotional.
All Quiet on the Western Front Comparison Essay
The movie All Quiet on the Western Front is quite similar to the original novel, in terms of the theme. However, the audience captures the theme differently than readers, due to the different perspective that readers and audience were put in to acknowledge the plot. Also, the changes added onto the movie made it, in many ways, more impactful than the novel itself.The movie allowed the audience to witness Paul’s change from a schoolboy to a soldier. Paul was introduced before he was enlisted and the audience was able to see the shift from innocence to harsh reality, making the movie more emotional than the novel. Perspective and insights that readers read from Paul’s thoughts are observed by the audience through visual events. Flashbacks that the narrator mentions in the book were made more significant and emotional in the movie.The movie differs from the novel by creating a connection between the ending and the beginning of the movie, using Paul’s death. Paul is first introduced sketching a bird in the classroom, and also dies on the battlefield drawing a bird. Instead of reading Paul’s insights, the audience acknowledges his pensive side through his love of sketching and poetry. The audience observes that innocence would not survive on the battlefield; a symbolic meaning the novel does not have. The novel created an impact on readers using a third person’s view to describe his death, a change from the usual narrating Paul. When he died doing something that his innocent self had done, the movie successfully created a different impact on the audience.The deaths of the soldiers were also made more significant in the movie than in the novel. Paul writes a letter to his comrade, Albert Kropp, in the end of the movie. The loss of friends becomes more shocking and heavy in the heart when Paul lists each classmate’s death. Furthermore, Paul tells Kropp in the letter that they are the only ones left from the class that was enlisted to go serve in war. This adds on to the irony of Paul’s death, because he dies after writing the letter. Alterations were made to the plot so that the movie would be possible and interesting to view on screen. The movie succeeded in capturing the hearts of the audience. However, many symbolic meanings extracted from the novel, making the movie not as thought provoking. The novel and movie are both great productions used to describe a soldier’s life.
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