All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on The Western Front is a phrase synonymous with an uneventful day on the frontlines of a battlefield. however, it is a actually a crude translation of a line from this gripping, intense story of a group of young comrades trapped in the bleak, unforgiving trenches of the First World War, refreshingly, told from the perspective of a German soldier. Being British, this is an angle all too rarely explored with the German's usually portrayed as nameless, faceless, soulless, broken-german spouting targets in uniforms. However this book does the unusual task of humanising all of the unfortunate souls who fought and in many cases, perished in such a tragic conflict, regardless of birthplace.

The book is written by Erich Maria Remarque, a young man conscripted into the German forces in 1917, who fought in the war until being wounded and seeing out the final months in a field hospital. Remarque was a German soldier, which explains the book's perspective, however, he still manages to portray each soldier, whether British, French or German as one and the same. The book was written in german in 1928 and initially published by a German Newspaper but it has since been translated into over 70 languages and is one of the most acclaimed novels ever written. Remarque wrote many other books and screenplays, but none of them had quite as much impact as this timeless classic.

Remarque was actually persecuted by the Nazi's, they claimed he was jewish and never fought in the war and destroyed all evidence they could, banned his work and burnt all prints of his books they could find. they executed his sister in 1943 for crimes against the state, which some suspect may also have been an indirect attack on Remarque.

All Quiet On The Western Front has inspired two films of the same name, one made in 1930 starring 'Louis Wolheim' which recieved oscar nominations and critical acclaim and a 1979 TV movie version which failed to live up the original's expectations.

The Book

The book concerns a group of young German recruits who join the war effort early on after being persuaded to do so by their schoolmaster 'Kantorek' who does not actually join the war voluntarily himslef. The book's main character and narrator is Paul Baumer, a 19 year old man with a flair for poetry and a very pensive streak. he is a thoughtful character and is believed to represent Remarque's experiences and, therefore is the closest to Remarque in terms of his nature and the book's story. Baumer is joined on the frontline by Albert Kropp, Muller Joseph Behm and Franz Kemmerich, who were all his classmates. Kropp is Baumer's closest friend at the start of the war and the two share some poignant times together whilst wounded in a Church hospital towards the end of the book. kropp is faced with the prospect of his legs being amputated and he and Paul talk candidly and openly about Albert's wish to take his own life should this happen. It is a very dark moment amongst, numerous tragic stories. Joseph Behm is the first casualty from the group and is out in no man's land when he is blinded and then killed gruesomely by a hail of Allied gunfire. Ironically, he is the character who is originally, least enamoured and enthusiastic about the prospect of fighting for his country and he is the first to fall by the wayside in the futile brutality.

The other two of the main classmates, Kemmerich and Muller have their own roles. Muller is the main academic of the group and Kemmerich is the gang's close friend who spends much of his part of the novel in hospital with a severe wound to his leg, putting his escape from death down to his 'lucky boots.' The other characters visit Kemmerich in hospital a few times in what is a very awkward section of the book and one of the soldier's first dealing with casualties close within their own ranks. kemmerich has his leg amputated and passes on his lucky boots to Muller.

The book begins with the group being schooled in the arts of military skill by 'Himmelstoss' the contemptuous drill sergeant who has special malign for Paul baumer and his cohorts. This chapter is very similar to a boot camp and soon leads to the deployment of the youngsters to the war's frontline. The rest of the platoon is made up of;

'Tjaden' who incurs an extra special wrath from Himmelstoss and has a massive penchant for eating on the job,
'Leer' who is something of a womaniser and is one of three recruits who make a break from the frontline to spend the night with three young French women,
'Haie Westus' who despite bing paul's age was a grave-digger before the war,
'Detering' who is a young farmhand who ends up devastated when many horses are killed in the shellfire of the war
'Stanislaus Katczinsky' 'Kat' for short, who becomes very close friends with Baumer and is somewhat of a leader and a scavenger who always manages to acquire feasts for the under-fed recruits... and...
'Lt. Bertinck' who is a caring and respected commander of baumer's platoon.

Now, that's the characters dealt with I suppose some hint as to why the story is so good might help...

The book deals with a lot of the harsh realities of war, especially the difficulty facing men trying to integrate themselves back into their home towns. Many of the characters in the book are killed, some tragically, others brutally and some of them are both tragic and brutal. With each main character that falls, the sense of disbelief and realisation of the narrator, baumer becomes more and more evident. The first few chapters are fairly jovial, the soldiers content with pranks and squabbles but once the truth about the war becomes clearer, they develop more compassion and their childish streaks retreat within. the book is filled with action, but not in a conventional way, it isn't high-octane, more tense and energetic, tinged with a sense of panic. These harrowing engagements with the enemy are punctured by brief reprieves when the men get together to share some pilfered food and cigarettes but this calm is inevitably temporary.

One of the main points of the book demonstrates the way in which the recruits were persuaded to join the fight. Their schoolmaster, Kantorek talks of bravery, valour and duty to his students to encourage them to fight. He does not join the war himself but is ironically called up as a conscript later on in the war, where he is tormented by the once young boys who had condemned to death or a fate as good as death. Kantorek hates being in the army and his character illustrates a glaring difference in what soldiers are told as motivation and what the actual reality of the situation was. Before Kantorek is called up, Baumer is granted leave back to Germany and it is here that he witnesses Kantorek recounting the exact same words he had done to Baumer's class some year's before.

The chapter of the book where Baumer goes on leave to germany is probably the most critical of the whole story. By this time several of his friends have already perished needlessly and have been replaced by nameless youngsters, ready to die in just such a way as his friends had. Baumer cannot identify with the patriotic people back home who know nothing of the war's real horrors, nothing of the senseless massacre and instead their opinions are dictated by the trickles of propaganda sent their way. baumer finds it impossible to talk about his life on the front, unable to talk when people ask and unable to speak to his own family of it. He feels a sense of guilt and there is an overwhelming feeling of not belonging to the society which he had left. This return home changes Baumer and curtails a lot of the emotional side of his character. I think this feeling can be said of anybody who serves in an intense combat for a long period, everyday life must seem futile when the true and innate harshness of life has been thrust upon them for so long.

The book uses Katczinsky as the 'older' soldier. he is experienced and has lived his life whereas Baumer and the other teenagers have really only finished adolescence and had many years ahead of them. This demonstrates the way in which so many young men were robbed of their lives by this and all other wars. there are many solemn moments between Baumer and Kat and they become great friends as the war progresses. Kat is seen as the leader of the regular troops due to his experience and age and frequently keeps up their spirits, as does the very playful Tjaden, the only recruit who manages to remain jovial throughout the book.

The story also shows how people could be brought together unexpectedly through the war, shown best by the story of Himmelstoss, the easily detestable and blatantly unpopular Sergeant from the boot camp. Although a clear coward he is forced to join the war effort as a cook and after initially invoking the venom of the men, he wins them over by risking his life to bring the body of one of their comrades back after he is killed. He also secures lots of sugar and butter for Tjaden and Baumer, a very big gift considering the circumstances.

One of the book's most poignant lessons is that of humanity. At one point, Baumer is hiding in a sodden trench to escape a massive enemy advance and artillery attack going on overhead. He hides in complete paralysis by fear with his face in the mud. A french soldier jumps into the trench and Baumer instinctively and quickly stabs himm three times with his bayonet as his survival instinct kicks in. The attack continues for some time and Baumer is forced to stay in the trench with this man, and as time progresses, he feels an affinity with him, talking to the man, even after he is completely dead. He examines the man and finds he is 'Gérard Duvál' a printer by trade at home in France and also finds a picture of his wife and child. A profound, remorseful guilt overcomes Baumer as Gérard slowly dies and the gravity of what he has actually done hits home. Aside from the battlefield context, he has stabbed a man to death. This part of the book is very atmospheric and is where Baumer looks most vulnerable. It emphasises the normality of everybody involved and the craziness of the entire situation. Baumer has no option but to kill the man and he vows to repress this grief into the same place where all the other horrors he has seen have been banished to.

Overall

All Quiet On The Western Front is a literary work of art. The book is very harsh and pulls zero punches in its quest to portray the full terror of the war. there are many lessons intricately stitched into the events of the story and there is an underlying social commentary highlighting the futility and needless barbary of such conflicts, which ultimately achieve very little for the price paid by the millions who fall in the name of their own cause. the atmosphere is described perfectly and the poverty of the men is felt with every line you read. As well as tragic and critical, this is a very 'sad' story where nobody wins. Whether the soldiers make it through the war or not, it will enitably take their life. Dead or Alive nobody is the same at the end, they have undergone an irreversible change and death may even be a welcome end to the torture of spending everyday in the closest thing to hell on earth. there are very few warm moments in the book, the camaraderie being the main focal point for these positives exchanges but there pale into a grand insignificance compared with the attrocious conditions and demises which the poor soldiers bear witness to.

It always surprised me how few people have actually read this book, it is not very long, just over 300 pages and is guarunteed to alter anybody's outlook on war. It is a well-known story but is not given enough credit. This should be read by GCSE History students to maybe instill some humility and understanding of what war really is. A fantastic book which i cannot recommend highly enough.