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All Quiet on the Western Front

Decent Essays

The book All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, is about a group of 19 year old young men who are changed by the ways of war. There is paul: the main character; Tjaden: a tall, skinny locksmith, also the biggest eater; Albert Kropp: a lance-corporal and the clearest thinker; Muller: studious, intelligent, and likes school; Leer: has a preference for the girls from the prostitution houses and has a beard; Haie Westhus: a peat-digger, and big in size; Deterring: a peasant, he always thinks of his farm and his wife; Stanislaus Katczinsky: He is 40 years old, cunning and the leader of the group. Each of the boys experience a variety of struggle because of the war. Remarque uses the views of the characters to argue his opinion patriotism, honor, war and bravery.
All Quiet on the Western Front argues many thoughts on war, patriotism being one of them. From reading All Quiet on the Western Front, you can see that Remarque is not fond of war. He uses the experiences of his characters to let every reader know the consequences of patriotism. Patriotism is not necessarily a bad thing but it is thrown on young men as the sine qua non of life. Kantorek, the schoolteacher of the boys, persuaded Paul and his friends to join the war. In the book, Paul has bitter feelings toward Kantorek because he feels tricked and deceived into the war. In the book it says,
“The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more

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