All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front has an overriding theme of the intense brutality of World War 1. The novel depicts the harsh reality of the war, focusing on the cruel deaths and senseless suffering of those who were caught up in it. The novel illustrates an anti-war mindset as it showcases the issues about the brutality of war, the change of attitude of the narrator, Paul Bäumer, and erraticness of the war and death of comrades. The anti-war theme is seen in everything from the descriptions of the battles to the frightful deaths and injuries of those in the military hospitals, and the empty patriotic promises of the older generation. "The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds
