ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Haitham Aldafari

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International Politics

July 23rd, 2019

All quiet on the western front- Blog questions

All quiet on the Western front shed light on the brutalities of war. Erich Remarque has artistically illustrated the ferocity of the war throughout the novel. Remarque has denounced the previous conceptions about war. Different to many authors, he believes that war brings no glory. He condemns the ideas of glory, patriotism, and romanticism, which are largely associated with war. ‘All quiet on the Western front’ depict war form the eyes of forces, who were part of the battle. I believe that the major theme of this novel revolves around fear which the author has presented as a synonym to war. Unlike the previous novel about war experiences, Remarque has detached romanticism (in all its manifestation) from war.

The WWI which was ignited on the ideas of nationalism and patriotism, Remarque present a devastating critique. Like many other readers, I also believe that such ideas are hollow from inside. There is no use of such ideas of patriotism and nationalism other than protecting the interests of the ruling elite. In protecting those interests, they use forces as a tool and nothing else. It is the reason that for Remarque, these ideologies are hypocritical. For all such reasons, he criticizes the ruling elite by referring toward the presentation of false images of nationalism and patriotism. Since the WWI was based on such notions, therefore it was the practical manifestation of these ideas. For his readers, he has exemplified this idea when two of his characters Paul and his friends are forced into joining the battalion, but soon they realize that this was a loose deal.

The title of this book illustrates that what appears abnormal is quite different from inside. This can be guessed many times in the book and in the movie too. For example, the author argues that soldiers fight not for the defense of their country and nor for any glory; rather, they fight for their survival. People have started associating this expression of ‘All quiet on the Western Front' with the situation where everything appears very tricky and dismantled, but the inside situation is very calm and quiet. I also share this idea, which I believe is that each soldier remains calm unless there is a dire threat to his survival.

As like many other viewers of the movie, based on the theme of this novel, my favorite scene is when one of the main characters of the movie, Kat dies. It abruptly makes the viewer remember how it is losing a person whom one has spent a great time with. It makes me remember many such incidences of my life as well. The time when Paul carries Kat and tries to bring him at ease, it makes many people sympathetic and sad. It is like losing many things at a single time. It is my favorite scene just because it teaches each viewer a lesson which is not to believe in ideas which are different from one's personal prestige and value.

I have related this book to what is happening today at the international level. War today is much destructive compared to how it was fought decades ago. Still, there is no charm in igniting the war. This book is quite relevant to the world of today. Patriotism, nationalism, war glory, and many other terms like these might have taken a different illustration, but they still play a dominant role in international affairs. ‘All quiet on the Western front’ leaves a hollow impression about such aspects. This book helps in making clear the false perceptions attached with all such ideas.