All Quiet On The Western Front Depicts Real War
War has the power to destroy many things. In All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, the war shows its destructive power, both to a nation, and to the individual people involved in the war. During the time of the war, nationalism and patriotism led the soldiers to get themselves into a situation that would change them forever. Once they joined the cause, there was no going back, both physically and mentally.
In All Quiet, Paul and his friends are easily fooled into joining the cause of the war by nationalistic views held by their teacher, and many others close to them. Paul even states that, “… at that time even one’s parents were ready with the word ‘coward’; no one had the vaguest idea of what we were in for” (Remarque 11). This shows that everyone thought that the young men needed to go into war and fight for their own nation and show their patriotism, even those closest to them, who would end up missing them the most. Because a major war had never been fought before, the older generation did not understand the true horrors that this war would bring. This also brought conflict eventually, because the young soldiers of WWI experienced much more than they thought they were in for, and eventually realized they were fighting a losing battle. The older generation did not understand this because they only heard what the propaganda had to say, which was the good news. This lead to a major conflict between generations.
Aside from conflict between generations, the soldiers experienced a conflict within themselves. While the soldiers watched many men die, they also died inside. The soldiers eventually became unable to feel, and essentially lost their innocence to the war. The only way they would be able to survive without going absolutely insane was to disconnect their emotions and feelings, and just do what they were there to do. For example, soldiers no longer mourn the death of their fellow soldiers and friends, and objects such as new...