Homework: Wk4

 "All Quiet on the Western Front" Response

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Quiet_on_the_
Western_Front > October 2011

     In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque has several meanings he wants the reader to pick up on.  The one that stood out the most to me was the permanent psychological effect war leaves on young men.  Erich Maria Remarque begins his story emphasizing this effect when Paul's friend Kemmerich has his leg amputated and their friend Muller begins asking for his boots.  When Muller does ask his other friends, including Paul, their reaction seems anything but sympathetic for Kemmerich, but it the war these boys are exposed to so much they start to work off of instincts.  These soldiers become detached and numb, and that is the only mechanism they have to handle the constant daily mental, emotional, and physical stress they're exposed to in war.  

     The author stresses the permanent  psychological effect on soldiers by example through Paul.  Throughout the book Paul thinks more and more about life back home and the fact that he will not know what to do when he returns.  He thinks that he will know nothing more than the war and doesn't know how to move on and continue with his life.  War becomes soldiers lives, their existence.  When an individual has been conditioned to have animalistic instincts to survive and has been dehumanized by their living conditions it is very hard for them to return to a regular life or mental stability alone.  Giving such graphic details in the story the author helps the reader place themselves closer to the main characters shoes because the reader has to detach themselves from the reality of the visuals in their mind to move forward in the story without feeling sickened or emotionally distraught.  I believe the author did a fantastic job of illustrating what soldiers psychologically go through without romanticizing it with honor and nationalism as many other novels do.  There are many other very important points Erich Maria Remarque makes in this novel, but this is the one I believe had the largest impact on me.