Free Essays - All Quiet on the Western Front :: All Quiet on the Western Front Essays

about men, precisely of German soldiers and their hardships during World War I and how their attitudes changed throughout the warfare. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war(p.88). This legend portrays the overwhelming effects and power war has to deteriorate the human spirit, gelt physically, and scar mentally. You start out leaving youre home and family proud and lay to fight for you country, to toward the end of the war, you become tired and scarred both physically and mentally beyond description. At the beginning of the novel nationalist feelings be present through pride of Paul and the rest of the boys. However at the end of the war many come to the realization of how pointless and hideous war really is. All Quiet on the Western front man is a novel that greatly helps in the understanding the effects war. The novel best shows the attitudes of the soldiers before the war and during the war. Before the war there ar high morals and growing nationalist fe elings. During the war however, the soldiers discover the wound of war. They discover that it is a waste of time and their hopes and dreams of their life fly bring forward and further away. The remains of Paul Baumers company had moved behind the German front lines for a short rest at the beginning of the novel. subsequently Behm became Pauls commencement dead schoolmate, Paul viewed the older generation bitterly, particularly Kantorek, the teacher who convinced Paul and his classmates to join the military. While they taught that duty to ones country is the greatest thing, we already that shoemakers last-throes are stronger.... And we saw that there was nonentity of their world left. We were all at once terribly totally and alone we must see it through.(P. 13) Paul felt completely betrayed. We will support ourselves comfortable and sleep, and eat as much as we can engorge into our bellies, and drink and smoke so that hours are not wasted. Life is short. (P 139) Views of d eath and becoming more comfortable with their destiny in the war became more apparent throughout the novel. Paul loses faith in the war in each and every passing day.Throughout the novel it was evident that the war scarred the soldiers permanently mentally. Everyone was scared to go to war when it started. Young recruits were first sent because the veterans knew they were going to come back dead.