Andrew Beck

Per.7 11/17/98

Mr.Luizzi

"But by far the most important result [of becoming a soldier] was that it awakened in us a strong, practical sense of esprit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war-comradeship"(26,27). The novel All Quiet on the Western Front has been heralded by critics throughout the world as the greatest war novel of all time. It helped capture every thought that went through a soldiers mind who belonged to the "lost generation". The novel tracks the experiences of a young German recruit named Paul Baumer and how the war cost him everything. Through the ravages of time, the soldiers lose their youth and sense of guidance and have only their comrades for support. This was demonstrated when each soldier felt abandoned and alone. The troops are thrown together and moved from barracks to front in a minimal amount of time, never allowing for acclimation or adjustment. Each soldier becomes uncomfortable when separated from the closely knit group of comrades and must work alone in trying to find an inner peace. They become dependent upon one another and feel an immediate connection from the very first days that they are brought together. They are guided by an unofficial leader, the oldest in the group, bringing the troops into a family like association while there is a slow degeneration and breakdown of morals, assimilating them into the realm of drones where every other lost soldier resides.

In All Quiet on the Western Front , Remarque shows how members of the troop form complex relationships with one another in order to achieve a family-like relationship. One example is Stan Katczinsky (Kat) who is the oldest and unofficial leader of the group. "... the comrades have lost all sense of belonging to that hierarchy of roles that sustained them as they grew up: father, mother, school master and the rest have forfeited their validity; and a new hierarchy has come to be established within the confines of the closed group of comrades. In All Quiet on the Western Front it is Kat, twice the age of the others, who acts out the role of the father."(Barker;Last 174) With the loss of family direction the soldiers must look to themselves for support.

The troops are lost, alone, abandoned and insecure and Kat gives the soldiers a sense of security and comfort that they had lacked before. It is Kat's guidance and support that enables the soldiers to even perform daily routines! He is admired by his peers for his ability to survive in such crude conditions and to care for the needs of his comrades. This is shown best when he demonstrates his skill at conjuring food and other supplies of life, out of thin air.(Barker;Last 174). "We are just dozing off when the door opens and Kat appears. I think I must be dreaming; he has two loaves of bread under his arm and a blood-stained sandbag full of horse-flesh in his hand. Kat gives no explanation. He has the bread, the rest doesn't matter. I'm sure that if he were planted down in the middle of the desert, in half an hour he would have gathered together a supper of roast meat, dates, and wine"(39). This is further exemplified when Kat and Paul Baumer steal a goose and eat it in a deserted lean-to(93) . Kat takes Baumer under his arm and directs him on how to kill a goose properly. The scene portrays how Kat goes out of his way to assure the troops are fed and safe, just like a parent would. This father-son relationship between Kat and the troops translates into a social relationship similar to that of a family's.

The relationship that develops is shown in the sense of home and family that is forged at the barracks. The barracks are "home" for Kat and the nostalgic memories of the group are directed not back on the school days while a child but to their experiences at the training barracks. The barracks were the only place of security for the soldier. Out in the trenches life was miserable. The smell of lingering dead bodies was constantly in the air and rats were always a nuisance. During times other than a bombardment boredom set in and having only a 6-8 foot trench did not make things any better. Soldiers were usually pinned to the trenches because of heavy artillery and rapid machine gun fire(World Encyclopedia 459). One such remembered event was when the group sits and discusses giving their old superior officer, Himmelstoss, a lesson.

"It was a wonderful picture: Himmelstoss on the ground; Haie bending over him with a fiendish grin and his mouth open with bloodlust, Himmelsoss's head on his knees; then the convulsed striped drawers, the knock knees, executing at every blow most original movements in the lowered breeches, and towering over them like a woodcutter the indefatigable Tjaden. In the end we had to drag him away to get our turn."(117) These types of memories are a soldier's attempt at happiness and what he uses in his struggle for inner peace. Only when the soldier achieves inner peace will he be one with himself.(Klein 87)

Even when on leave, Paul Baumer has much pain and difficulty trying to adjust to the life of a civilian. No one at home could help Paul, only his fellow soldiers can connect. He has trouble remembering nostalgia of the past. The soldiers have difficulty associating with the past due to the long days of isolation and thought. A deterioration of morals leads the soldiers to begin to lose their minds, one of the few ways the escape the horrors of war. "The past is an alien realm, to which they could only return as strangers"(Barker;Last 174). "Since we have been here our earlier life has been excluded from us without having done anything to bring about that(210)." The time has slowly slipped away and only when the soldiers return to the "real world" do they notice that everything has changed. The world has moved on without them, rendering them useless to the rest of the community.

After getting serious wounds while carrying another hurt comrade, the author, Erich Remarque, was able to write while in the hospital. The fact that the author risked his own life to save a fellow soldier only furthers the fact that Paul Baumer would do the same. Remarque's experience in war enabled him to capture the realism and authenticity needed to exemplify the feelings of a soldier. He was able to capture the feeling of seclusion and loneliness that is often accompanied when in a WW1 hospital(Hoffman 222). The author later added in more personal information when the character returns home.

The novel Johnny Got His Gun also deals with a wounded soldier coping with the effects of the brutality of war and the lack of communication with other humans, specifically the familiar faces of comrades. The protagonist, Joe Bonham, is cut off from the outside world because of being blind, deaf, and having had his arms, legs and lower face blown off. The novel is extremely powerful with gruesome physical details(Gruntan 444). The entire novel takes place inside the hospital room where the patient must come to an inner peace of whether he is really alive or dead. Joe has only his mind to communicate with and mainly "plays catch" with ideas like what time of day it is. . The most touching part is when Bonham reaches back to his memories such as when his mother used to read "The Night Before Christmas" even though she already had it memorized. It is through these ideas that Joe is able to keep himself feeling secure and comforted. Bonham is seeking comfort because he lost the support of his fellow soldiers through the war. Joe is now completely cut off. Though the setting between All Quiet on the Western Front and Johnny Got His Gun are different, they still both deal with a common theme of inner peace and a need for support.

When fictitious character Baumer finally does arrive at home on leave, it is noticed that Remarque has subtly added in the superficial attributes of his own childhood home and town. The location of his birth, Osnabruck, is placed in his novel as the hometown of soldier Paul Baumer. "Recognizing such real life references increases one's enjoyment of the works and perhaps, one's sense of their authenticity"(Hoffman 222). It can also be noted that the view from the window in his house is described vividly in his book and is almost identical.

It is only with the group that any soldier feels comfortable being at the front line or at home. Each soldier fights his own internal battle, vying for an internal peace.(Beetz 104) "The backs of the books stand in rows. I know them all still, I remember arranging them in order. I implore them with my eyes: speak to me- take me up- take me, Life of my Youth- you who are care-free, beautiful- receive me again- I wait, I wait. Images float through my mind, but they do not grip me, they are mere shadows and memories. Nothing- nothing- My disquietude grows. A terrible feeling of foreignness suddenly rises up in me. I cannot find my way back, I am shut out though I entreat earnestly and put forth all my strength"(172). This "foreignness" is also shown when Baumer is confronted by civilians in his own town.

Lack of understanding prompts the war controllers to produce unthinkable horrors which only effect the soldiers who are experiencing it down in the trenches. Many think that they know more about war then a soldier who has just comeback from the front. Only his mother did not ask questions about the front because of her belief that if a soldier talked about the terror of such things he would not be able to master them. "I reply in our opinion a break-through may not be possible. The enemy may have too many reserves. Besides, the war may be rather different than what people think. He dismisses the idea loftily and informs me I know nothing about it."(167) The civilian who dismisses Baumer's idea of the war exemplifies how the people controlling the war had no idea of the horrors they were creating. This is shown again when someone of governing position is forced to fight. The officer, Himmelstoss, runs like a frightened kitten until Paul Baumer forces him to fight and shows that good lives are lost when a coward runs.

All Quiet on the Western Front expresses how innocent young boys lost their lives at the hands of men who controlled the war and had no understanding of the horrors and devastation that they were creating. The soldiers were lost and alone for they had not even finished school, how they would be able to handle a job after living in trenches for months. How would they start a family and get married? These were a few of the thoughts that went through Remarques mind, which made him less enthusiastic to signing up(Hoffman 222). It is hard to conclude to what became of the lost generation. The whole of "All Quiet on the Western Front" is facts based on a series of antithesis's which reflect various levels of alienation in the minds of the small but dwindling band of comrades.(Barker;Last 174)