All Quiet on the Western Front
“I am no longer a shuddering speck of existence, alone in the darkness;-I belong to them and they to me” (182). This is a thought that Paul Baumer has while he is across enemy lines and is separated from the rest of the group. He hears what he thinks are the voices of a few of the soldiers from his group. This gives him the strength to continue with his mission. Throughout the book Remarque uses a theme of comradeship to solidify the fact that for some time the soldiers were able to survive many extreme situations. Many of the close relationships began before the war even started. Paul attended school with Muller, Albert Kropp, Leer, Franz Kemmerich, and Josef Behm where they were persuaded to join the army by their teacher Kantorek. They formed a tight bond at the beginning which lasted until the last of them died. Through the course of the war Paul also meets Stanislaus Katczinsky, or Kat, and they become best friends. Even when on leave Paul feels alone even amongst his family. He misses his fellow soldiers and feels that no one at home understands him. Remarque illustrates the tight bond developed throughout the course of the war as a major theme.
Remarque is reporting about a generation of men who were destroyed by the war even though they escaped its shells. Students youth was cut short and ruin by war at age 20. They never had a chance for marriage, a wife, children, a career and nothing to come back into society He implies that he does not want to tell us about the war experiences of young people but wishes to justify the inability if young people to successfully cope life after war. No doubt that there is a generation that is ruined by war.
Remarque uses this running theme of comradeship to illustrate the fact that the battles do not only happen of/at the front. Many of the major battles happen within the men themselves. They rely on each other for help in overcoming these...