All Quiet on the Western Front

The novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" is one of the greatest works of fiction written by Erich Maria Remarque. The author illustrates the challenges and the agony faced by the soldiers, particularly the young soldiers who fought the battle in World War I. Remarque himself was in the war and had experienced the horrors and the difficult situations of the war. In this novel, he points out the influence and the encouragement that the parents, tutors, and the societies provide for the youths to join the war and fight for their father's nation, thereby adopting the concept of nationalism. This concept of nationalism inherits in the peoples mind and as a result all youths step forward to go to the war, where the parents and the societies develop pride and appreciation for these nation fighters. However, neither the youth nor the parents and the societies realize the situations and the consequences of the war. Reaching upon the front, the soldiers start facing the real situation of the war, like the horrors of the war, loss generations, and the nostalgias, and these state of war veils the innocence of those young soldiers and crafting them to mature.

The young soldiers are the main victims of the war where they are innocently encouraged by their parents, educator s, and the societies. People tend to think that fighting for their nation is an honor and pride, but they are not aware of the consequences, the young soldiers have to face during and after the war. The quote "My father would rather I kept my uniform on so that he could take me to visit his acquaintances."(Remarque, 164), from the text shows the pride and the honor of a father whose son has been in the war. Even though the son takes off the uniform when he comes home on leave, the father not only desires to see him wearing the uniform but also visit his acquaintances to show that his son is a nation fighter. The father can only see the uniform on his son who makes him proud, but he does not realize the sufferings that his son is going through.

Suffering is one of the key elements of war. The most dreadful thing about the war is the horrors of the war. The soldiers become conscious about it only after reaching and front and experiencing it practically. Besides the food, seeing people die and even killing them is the hardest time, a soldier has to face. The author portrays "Beside me a lance-corporal has his head torn off. He runs a few steps more while the blood spouts from his neck like a fountain."(Remarque, 115) in his work to depict the situation of those soldiers who dies, and those who witnesses the death. A lance corporal dies a dreadful death where his heads are torn off and the bloods oozed out like a fountain from his neck. Upon witnessing various deaths, the soldiers realize how terrible and frightful the situation of the war is. In addition, the soldiers has to be alert all the time, one even don't get a proper sleep in