All Quiet on The Western Front Quotes Flashcards
“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.”
Remarque himself tells of how this novel is one where the theme of the destruction of a generation is crucial to the events which unfold within the novel
“That is Franz Kemmerich, nineteen and a half years old, he doesn’t want to die.Let him not die!”
Paul’s desperation highlights that his callous exterior has been broken down. He is helpless like so many others on the front as he knows that he will not be able to stop his best friend’s death
“The eyes are half open and yellow like horn buttons”
Shows physical destruction caused by the war as Kemmerich deteriorates where he lies, inching ever closer to death
“The skeleton is working itself through. The eyes are already sunken in. In a few hours it will be over.”
Shows physical destruction caused by the war as Kemmerich deteriorates where he lies, inching ever closer to death
“I do not think at all, I make no decision-I strike madly home, and feel only how the body suddenly convulses, then becomes limp and collapses.”
Highlights the animalistic nature imposed on Paul by the malign influence of war and the physical space where intimate fighting is common place. Remarque uses Paul to expose the savagery within us that can be brought out by certain settings in time and location
“I want to stop his mouth, stuff it with earth, stab him again, he must be quiet, he is betraying me.”
Paul’s brutality and survivalist mindset imposed on him by the war as he cares not about the man, as he does not value him as an equal. He sees the man as the uniform he wears, not the person inside the uniform. In this moment, he cares only of the inconvenience the Frenchman is causing him by being loud. We appreciate that Paul’s actions are born not of his own evil, but by the evil of the war as we know that Paul is not an architect of his own fate but rather a pawn in the game played by the leaders of the countries who seek war without thought of the repercussions of their bloodlust.
“Stab him clean through the throat so he cannot call out.”
Paul’s brutality and survivalist mindset imposed on him by the war as he cares not about the man, as he does not value him as an equal. He sees the man as the uniform he wears, not the person inside the uniform. In this moment, he cares only of the inconvenience the Frenchman is causing him by being loud. We appreciate that Paul’s actions are born not of his own evil, but by the evil of the war as we know that Paul is not an architect of his own fate but rather a pawn in the game played by the leaders of the countries who seek war without thought of the repercussions of their bloodlust.
“I must show him I want to help him, I stroke his forehead.”
Paul’s nurturing, caring side is brought out here as he feels remorse for his rash actions and for the suffering that came for the Frenchman as a result of his actions. We appreciate the Paul has lost his equilibrium as his callous exterior is broken down.
“I would give much if he would but stay alive. It is hard to lie here and have to see and hear him.”
Paul’s nurturing, caring side is brought out here as he feels remorse for his rash actions and for the suffering that came for the Frenchman as a result of his actions. We appreciate the Paul has lost his equilibrium as his callous exterior is broken down.
“The war will be forgotten- and the generation that has grown up after us will be strange to us and push us aside.”
Highlights the separation created by the war that isolated an entire generation of men, who even if they made it home would be alienated for years to come as the people who had not been on the front would never be able to truly understand the horrors of war.
“Now, if we go back we will be weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope. We will not be able to find our way anymore.”
The soldiers returning from the front would be forever changed by the war, broken and fragile. Remarque explains the vulnerability of those who returned home as they attempted to return to a sense of normality upheld by their pre-war selves.
“He gropes for the fork, seizes it then drives it with all his force against his heart, then he snatches up a shoe and strikes with it against the handle as hard as he can.”
The musician is blinded, unable to carry out his passion and vocation. He is aware that he will never recover and is without the hope that life may improve for him back home. If he were to return home, he would be returning home as a shell of his former self and this is a fate worse than death for the man as he tries to kill himself in a feeble attempt to relieve suffering and pain.
“Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come.”
In the end, Paul found peace in his death as he is now able to rest, without fear or suffering.
“He fell in October 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: All quiet on the Western Front.”
His death came so suddenly and was so insignificant that the report explained how it was just an ordinary day that had no great meaning.
“Mother, what should I answer to that! You would not understand, you could never realise it. And you shall never realise it.”
Paul has been scarred and changed by the war so greatly as he is aware that he could never put into words the horrors of the war. As a result of the malign influence of the war, a distance has been created between him and his mother as even she wouldn’t be able to comprehend the brutality and harshness of the front. We appreciate that Paul would never be able to return to the role his pre-war self once played
