Essay: All Quiet on the Western Front:To Be a Soldier Means

What does it mean to be a soldier? How did the experience of fighting on the front lines change Paul Bäumer and his friends? What does the narrator suggest might be the cost of this transformation to society at large after the war ends?

In All Quiet On The Western Front, Remarque shows what it means to be a German soldier in WWI, the changes war does to the a young human mind, and the high cost to society that is left after war through these young men.

A soldier, defined by Dictionary.com is "a person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military service" (www.dictionay.com). Through the writings of Erich Maria Remarque in All Quiet On The Western Front, we learn that from the experiences they face in battle that a soldier is no longer able to function as a normal piece of society. The soldiers on the front line underwent a transformation from a human citizen to a destroyed shell of a person. The soldiers from All Quiet On The Western Front through constant gunfire, harsh conditions, and continual terror transform from a human being to a being of war. A soldier is an empty shell of a human being who is no longer able to function efficiently in society due to the changes experienced through the extremes of war.

The epigraph to the book ends with Remarque's view of the men who had been changed by war. In regards to his writings in the book, Remarque let's the reader know what the book will tell them about the soldier in the early 20^th century; "It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by war." This chilling and true statement outlines how the book will be written and how it should be read. Remarque does not want the reader to think that all is well if one survives the war. Remarque instills in the reader that although the soldiers may live, they are dead inside and nothing like their former self.

The changes seen in a soldier through fighting on the front line can be seen through Paul Baumer and his friends. Through intense battles and starvation the soldiers grew closer together with one another while growing farther apart from society. Paul Baumer and his comrades have a bind unlike anything found on earth. Baumer explains "It is as though formerly we were coins of different provinces; and now we are melted down, and all bear the same stamp. To rediscover the old distinctions, the metal itself must be tested. First we are soldiers and afterwards, in a strange and shamefaced fashion, individual man as well." (pg. 272) The "coins of different provinces" can be related to being a part of society. Everyone has their own personality, feelings, and stance on life. Those feelings and ideologies are forgotten through the harshness of war.

Remarque infers that one is changed almost immediately from the war and that it is not a steady and slow process through months on the front line. "The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in war."(pg. 88) This instant lifestyle change is much more than simply a mindset. This new harsh way of life that the soldiers experience happens immediately and never goes away.

The soldiers attempt to contemplate about what they will do in "peacetime", and they are not able to see themselves outside of their current state on the front line. This feeling may come from the realization that they might not live through the war, or the realization that they are a changed person and will never be who they once were. When talking about going back to school and becoming a student Kropp says "how can a man take all that stuff seriously when he's once been out here" (pg 86.) What Kropp is feeling is a significant detachment from the world outside of war. Kropp and the others, although only a year removed from school, are mentally in a whole separate world that they will never return from.

The cost to society as a result of war is devastating. Society has been ravaged by war both by loss of population, monetarily, and mentally. The soldiers are not able to deal with life after being in such extreme and gruesome circumstances. Not only are the soldiers devastated by the effects of war, the families of these soldiers experience a loss as well. The wives and mothers of soldiers have lost sons and valuable members to their families.

Remarque's feelings about soldiers in society is seen clearly when Paul Baumer returns home on leave. Baumer's mind continually goes back to the front line and the terror of war without being able to truly enjoy his time off and become a member of society for his two week leave. "I find I do not belong here any more, it is a foreign world".(pg. 168) Baumer attempts to read his old books, and visit with friends and family, but his experience is severely tainted by his experience of war. He ends up sitting in his room and wishing for only silence and peace.

The cost to society is not only a loss of young human life and contribution to society from those former citizens, but the loss of life and contribution from the ruined soldiers who now must try and adapt to a world they are far apart from mentally. The soldiers who survived the war are depleted and feel as though they do not belong just as Baumer had stated. A soldier is an empty shell of a human being who is no longer able to function efficiently in society due to the changes experienced through the extremes of war.

Source:
Remarque, Erich M. All Quiet on the Western Front. Little, Brown, and Company. 1929