All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front Essay

Plato once said, “only the dead see the end of the war.” This quote expresses the outcome of World War I. There were many dead and wounded soldiers and a lot of families lost their loved ones. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, a character named Paul Baumer was influenced greatly by the wars gruesome effects. Ironically, like many other World War I soldiers, Paul died right before the war ended. He was the last one to die out of his close group of friends. During the course of the war, Paul witnessed and experienced many disturbing scenes and incidences. These had a huge impact on his thought and intellect. Paul changes mentally, in the sense that he puts himself before others; emotionally, because war begins to make him scare death; and philosophically, because of his outlook on the prisoner and the enemy.

Paul changes mentally throughout the novel as his priority for himself gets higher. He becomes more and more involved with caring for himself and not so much others. At the beginning of the novel Paul seizes the opportunity to get a pair of his friend’s boots. Though Paul truly does care about the welfare of Kemmerich, he puts himself and his necessities first. “We have lost all sense of other considerations, because they are artificial. Only the facts are real and important for us. And good boots are scarce” (21). Paul realizes that he can’t always look out for his fellow soldiers and needs to look out for himself as well. Before Paul came to the war, he probably would have done anything for his friends. When he understands that this isn’t the case in battle, Paul changes dramatically. War caused many of the severe changes Paul encounters.

Paul changes emotionally as the war gradually makes him fear dying. Everyone is scared of dying at some point, but war speeds up the process. Paul has to constantly worry about being killed or injured. There is no way of knowing of when he’s going to die and it builds apprehension that Paul never experienced. It ruins the innocence of being able to live life as a person. If Paul would have lived on after the war, his emotions would wreck the normal life that a person should lead.

“The air becomes acrid with the smoke of the guns and the fog. The fumes of powder taste bitter on the tongue. The roar of the guns makes our lorry stagger, the reverberation rolls raging away to the rear, everything quakes. Our faces change imperceptibly. We are not, indeed, in the front-line, but only in the reserves, yet in every face can be read: This is the front, now we are within its embrace” (53).

This quote demonstrates the intense battle experiences Paul had to deal with constantly. He also has to deal with the threat of losing his friends. He has to witness thousands of horrific scenes that burn themselves into his memory. In fighting, Paul sees a side of himself that he never has seen before. The animalistic instincts that come out change Paul dramatically as well.

“At the sound of the first droning of the shells we rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years. By the animal instinct that is awakened in us we are led and protected. It is not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure, less fallible, than consciousness” (54).

This changes Paul as he is not able to bring himself to be normal again. When out fighting, he becomes an