Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. It is a story, not of Germans, but of men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. The entire purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war is an idealistic and romantic character.

The story centers on Paul Baumer, who enlists in the German army with glowing enthusiasm. But in the course of war, he is consumed by it and in the end is "weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope." Through Baumer, Remarque examines how war makes man inhuman. He uses ... Showed first 120 words of 1017 Size (words) ...

... Continuing with another 115 out of 1017 Size (words) ...the war. They are disillusioned by the war because they have not experienced it. "And of that you are not able to judge. You see only your little sector and so cannot have any general survey." They believe they can command the war without personal fighting in it. Baumer and all soldiers are different, changed from when they entered the war. "We will not be able to find our way any more." They are the lost generation; they dread the end of the war almost as they dread wound and death. They have nothing to forward to but years of rage. They have experienced the horrors of war but not experienced enjoys of life. ...Essay still continues 100 more words...