All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front

The end of innocence

All Quiet on the Western Front

The end of innocence

Those who do not believe that war changes a person 's character and growth should read Erich Maria Remarque 's novel All Quiet on the Western Front ' As the pages unfold the author , through use of the teenage character Paul Bdumer , takes us on a journey which shows how innocence disappears in a few short years of war

In the early days of World War 1 , the German propaganda machine was

br extolling the virtues of war . Thus , it was natural that young lads wanted to join up and Remarque , through his characters words , recalls how innocent they were at that point . Paul recounts how embarrassed we all were as recruits when we had to use the general latrine (page 7-8 . It not long into his service that the young boys views on life change when he suddenly accepts that he has left youth behind . Paul declares on page 122 "We could never regain the old intimacy with those senses [of youth] . Perhaps we recognized no limits and saw nowhere an end " The final admission that war had changed what should have been years of innocence into something completely different , comes on page 263 , where Paul comments , I am twenty years old yet I know nothing of life but despair , death , fear , and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow In one of the most graphic and moving portraits of war through the eyes of a young German , Remarque dramatically portrays how the innocence and excitement of youth can be so savagely torn away by the reality and brutality of war . The author , by revealing and sharing the emotional change occurring within the mind of his main character , provide a convincing and effective picture of the impact that war has . By the reading of this novel I was left with a clear picture of how war affects those who we ask to fight them how it steals their youth and how it changes their outlook on life for good . I also came to understand how pointless war is when even the youth that are fighting it has no real understanding of why they have been put in this position References

Remarque , Erich Maria , Murdoch , Brian O (Translator (1996 . All Quiet on the Western Front . Vintage , UK

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