Title

Author : Erich Maria Remarque

The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.

Published in 1929 as Im Westen nichts Neues and in the United States as All Quiet on the Western Front.

An antiwar novel set during World War I, it relies on Remarque’s personal experience in the war to depict the era’s broader disillusionment.

The book is an account of Paul Baumer’s experiences in battle and his short career as a soldier, and it is primarily concerned with the effect of war on young men.

Its title, which is in the language of routine communiqués, is typical of its nonchalant terse style, which graphically records the daily horrors of war in laconic understatement.

Its refusal to take an explicit stance on war was in shocking contrast to the patriotic rhetoric typical of the time, especially in Germany.

The book was an immediate international success, though it had many critics.

One of the major themes of the novel is the difficulty of soldiers to revert to civilian life after having experienced extreme combat situations.

All Quiet on the Western Front tells the story of a group of young Germans who enlist in World War I after being captivated by slogans of patriotism and honour.

It is narrated by the protagonist, Paul Bäumer, who is 20 years old. The young men soon learn that the romanticized version of war that was described to them is nothing like the battlefields they encounter.

The novel opens with the group having just been relieved from their position on the front lines. Kemmerich, one of Paul’s classmates, has suffered a wound in his thigh that resulted in amputation, and some of the soldiers go to visit him in St. Joseph’s hospital.

They quickly realize that Kemmerich will die there, and Müller, another of the soldiers, asks Kemmerich for his boots, a moment that is discomforting but irreproachably logical.

Paul visits Kemmerich again, alone, and during this visit Kemmerich dies; Paul calls out for help, and a doctor refers him to an orderly. No one, however, provides any aid, because the staff is more concerned with preparing the soon-to-be-empty bed for a new patient.

Kemmerich becomes the 17th soldier to die that day, and his body is quickly removed.

Paul and his friends, hungry and tired, are delighted when their friend Katczinsky (“Kat”) returns after a search for food with two loaves of bread and a bag of raw horsemeat.

Kat, Paul explains, has always been uncannily resourceful. Paul also introduces the cruel drill sergeant Himmelstoss, a former postman with whom Paul and his friends are frequently in conflict. After spending some time relieved from the front line, their regiment is called up once again.

When night comes, they fall asleep to the sound of exploding shells. When they awake, they hear sounds of an impending attack. Wails of wounded horses pierce the silence between explosions, and the gory sight of their injuries unsettles everybody deeply. Soon after, an attack is launched, and chaos ensues.

Poison gas and shells infiltrate the group. When the fighting finally stops, the carnage is gruesome. The trenches are bombarded a number of times as the novel continues, until finally the soldiers are sent off-duty to take a break while they await reinforcements.

Himmelstoss, who had recently made his first appearance in the trenches, makes efforts to get along better with the group. While bathing in a canal, Paul and some of his friends encounter three French girls, who they sneak out at night to meet. Paul then learns that he has been granted 17 days of leave.

When he gets home, he learns that his mother has cancer. He feels disconnected from people he once felt close to, and he cannot understand the things that occupy their minds. He visits Kemmerich’s mother, who questions him about her son’s death.

After a difficult conversation with his own mother, Paul wishes he had never come on leave, believing that he has changed far too much to live as he once did.

Paul next spends four weeks at a training camp before heading back to the front. Across from the base is a camp for Russian prisoners; Paul witnesses and ruminates on how similar his enemies look to his neighbours. He eventually returns to his regiment.

He and his friends are given new clothing in preparation for a visit from someone implied to be the German emperor William II, referred to in the novel as the Kaiser, who will be doing an inspection.

After the Kaiser leaves, Paul becomes lost at night during battle and, while hiding in a shell hole during a bombardment, stabs a French soldier who falls in. He watches as the man dies, desperately trying to help him by giving him water and dressing the wound he inflicted.

When the man dies, Paul is delusional with shame. He finds a picture of the man’s wife and child in his breast pocket along with letters. He waits in the hole with the dead man for hours upon hours, until he feels it is safe enough to return to his regiment’s trench.

When Paul returns, he, Kat, and six others are sent to guard a village, where they find lots of food to eat. They are later sent to another village to help evacuate civilians.

During the evacuation, however, the French bombard the town, and Paul and his friend Albert Kropp are injured. Albert’s leg is amputated. Paul undergoes surgery and is sent back to the front lines. Paul’s friends begin to die one by one.

Kat is hit while searching for food, and, afraid that he doesn’t have time to wait, Paul carries him to the dressing station. When they arrive, however, Kat has already died. Paul becomes the last of his seven classmates.

The novel then shifts away from Paul’s first-person perspective and ends with an announcement that Paul has died. The army report issued on the day of his death stated only this: All quiet on the Western Front.

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Secondary characters