The character of youth is debatable. To some, youth is a state of carefree naivete. To others, youth is a state of savagery, the condition of humankind before they are tamed by civilization and order. In All Quiet in the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the protagonists are 20 year old young men with no life experience. They are characterized by a sense of cluelessness to the world’s cruelties and vigor for life. Tragically, the youths’ innocence is what causes them to be susceptible to the corruption of war and makes the bloodshed of war more tragic.
The inexperienced soldiers not extraordinary heroes, but instead normal adolescents who are victims of manipulation from the elders. Before the war, Paul was a typical teenager who was only …show more content…
The soldiers are so young that their worldview, outside of “parents, hobbies, and school” (20), is nothing but war. Paul and his friends are not the Iron Youth, but the Lost Generation, an age of young men whose youth, innocence, and energy are futilely sacrificed for a war that their nation eventually loses. Instead of studying and flirting with girls like regular youths, the soldiers are instead spending their days hunched in trenches, counting down the days until the enemy eventually kill them. To the soldiers, even the “memories of former times do not awaken desire so much as sorrow” (121). The nineteen years of life they had before the war are insignificant in comparison to the lethality of battle. Trenches and guns are their entire identity now and returning to an ordinary life, if they make it out of the war alive, is inconceivable. It is a deplorable misfortune that their lives are being wasted on butchery and gore.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, youth is portrayed as fragile and corruptible. It is a weakness used to destroy their strength and vivacity. The war corrupts their outview of the world and transforms them into cynical, bitter men. The soldiers end the story not as the Iron Youth, but as the Lost
The inexperienced soldiers not extraordinary heroes, but instead normal adolescents who are victims of manipulation from the elders. Before the war, Paul was a typical teenager who was only …show more content…
The soldiers are so young that their worldview, outside of “parents, hobbies, and school” (20), is nothing but war. Paul and his friends are not the Iron Youth, but the Lost Generation, an age of young men whose youth, innocence, and energy are futilely sacrificed for a war that their nation eventually loses. Instead of studying and flirting with girls like regular youths, the soldiers are instead spending their days hunched in trenches, counting down the days until the enemy eventually kill them. To the soldiers, even the “memories of former times do not awaken desire so much as sorrow” (121). The nineteen years of life they had before the war are insignificant in comparison to the lethality of battle. Trenches and guns are their entire identity now and returning to an ordinary life, if they make it out of the war alive, is inconceivable. It is a deplorable misfortune that their lives are being wasted on butchery and gore.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, youth is portrayed as fragile and corruptible. It is a weakness used to destroy their strength and vivacity. The war corrupts their outview of the world and transforms them into cynical, bitter men. The soldiers end the story not as the Iron Youth, but as the Lost