All Angels

If you were to ask "what is an American?", the most common reply you'd get is having freedom. Some people would say something about opportunities or pride in their country, as they are also important. Of course freedom is part of the American culture. Langston Hughes felt this way when slavery was abolished, "Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare say to me, 'Eat in the kitchen,' Then."(Hughes, lines 8-14). Being a slave meant that you had no freedom whatsoever. Since…

when he was particularly selected by a committee to compose the first draft of the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson Biography). The words of Thomas Jefferson that were the most valued were “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To the American colonists this meant natural human rights, freedom, and equality for…

Paul Baumer is the main character and narrator of All Quiet on the Western Front. He joins the war, partly because of his teacher Kantorek, who stressed the importance of joining the war, and partly because of the propaganda of the war, telling him to join. He becomes friends with the members of his squad. At the end of the book, all of Paul’s friends die and Paul is last surviving members of his squad. After realizing the effects the war has on his humanity and his future, Paul soon dies.…

In his World War One novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque describes the horrors of life on the front line. The novel focuses on the lives of several twenty year old German boys. Under the false promise of honor and glory, they were persuaded by their schoolmaster Kantorek to join the army. Through the perspective of Paul, one of the boys, readers learn that he believes his generation’s future is hopeless because of the war. Paul and his friends, Albert, Muller, and Leer,…

The novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, depicts how chance contributes to the fate of German soldiers throughout the war. Essentially, the rare occurrence of chance aids the gruesome lives of soldiers. Likewise, chance has the power of destructing or deteriorating the German Infantry Platoon. After all, a single chance can determine the fate of life or death. It is apparent that chance plays an important role in war. The element of chance accompanies the soldiers throughout the war in the…

forced a soldier to become detached, as he must always stay neutral in order to get through the battle. As the soldier observes innocent creatures being destroyed and watches death occur, he must not let this affect him as he has to block it out. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque uses horses and butterflies to represent how war forces soldiers to conceal their emotions, which protects him from the brutal experiences of war. The Horses represent the soldiers and their…

All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque and translated by A. W. Wheen, is coined as “The Greatest War Novel of All Time”. It sold almost 1,500,000 copies in the first year it was published, was translated into 12 different languages, and was very famous for it’s anti-war influence. This novel has 4 key themes that are prevalent throughout the book. Firstly is the comparison of the recruits to Remarque himself, then the dehumanization of soldiers, the usage and purpose…

All Quiet on the Western Front as an Antiwar Novel Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that dispels beliefs about the glory of the soldier. Remarque vividly describes the dehumanization of trench warfare and war in general. He exposes the incredible toll that combat takes on soldiers—all for the purpose of fighting other people’s battles, against other soldiers who have nothing personally against each other. The novel went past the obvious physical damage that…

self-identity. The horrifying experiences Remarque endured shattered his life; and because he went straight into the war after graduating high school, he had no past life to return back home to (Yearley 2136). Remarque felt as if though writing All Quiet would soothe away all they pain World War I left on him. The purpose of Remarque witting this novel was to help pay tribute to a generation of men who were mentally and physically destroyed by the war (Luckert 1227-1228). The main character,…

The book All Quiet on the Western Front tells the story about a group of young German men that volunteered their duty to the war. The main character Paul entered the war with his lifelong friends. The young comrades were in their twenties and didn’t have a lot of life experiences. The story shows what the young men go through while in the war. You learn just how close Paul is to his friends. The book also shows what Paul goes through as each one of his friends are taken down by the war. This…