Any Thematic Content (Horror of War)

Horror of War
The main theme in the All Quiet on the Western Front is the appalling cruelty of war that presents all the scenes in the book. Unlike previous books on war, All quite on the Western Front seemed to idealize characteristics of war highlighting on themes like honor, glory, patriotic responsibility and exploration, this book aims at demonstrating war as it was essentially experienced, restoring the idealistic depiction of glory as well as heroism with an absolutely unidealistic image, butchery and insignificance. In several approaches, the World War 1 (WW1) required this portrayal compared to any previous war- it totally changed the way human beings perceived military war with its catastrophic degrees of hostility and massacre, its skirmishes continued for many months and its dreadful technological development ( including trenches, machine guns and poison gas), which enhanced death toll. In addition, All Quite on the Western Front embellishes World War aspects and depicts insensitive fright and savagery of war with persistent focus on physical and emotional harm that it occasions. The book ends with death of almost all characters, portraying devastating effects of the war on young generation forced to fight.
Consequences of war on the soldiers
Since Remarque’s book is based on soldiers in the battle, it highlights on the devastating consequences of the war on the soldiers. Moreover, these soldiers are subjected to intense physical threats, because they could be reduced into ashes in spur of a moment. These constant physical threats also act as a continuous attack on the mental strain, forcing soldiers to deal with primitive, intuitive fear throughout each wake moment. Consequently, soldiers are forced to survive in terrible conditions; dirty, drenched ditches with rats, lice and corpses. In most cases, soldier lack basic needs (such as food, clothing, sleep and health care). They are also obligated to cope with regular and sudden deaths of their colleagues and friends, mostly in close proximity and in very brutal design. All Quite on the Western Front depicts all the impacts of these appalling conditions as a crippling burden of fear and misery. Although, this seems hard, soldiers can use disconnect as the only appropriate way to survive without necessarily suppressing their psychological and understanding conditions they lead. According to the author, this psychological disconnection has a substantial effect on soldiers, for example, Paul was not in position to accept a future devoid of and fails to memorize how he believed before joining the army. Additionally, he loses the ability to communicate with his family. Soldiers no longer have time to grief, for instance when Kemmerich was almost dying, his colleagues were contemplating on how will take over his boots. Other soldiers, nevertheless, the author depicts strong ties of allegiance as well as friendship due to shared experiences of the battle. These mind-sets are idealized aspects of the book and they are practically the only psychological aspects that keep fundamental humanity of soldiers.
Nationalism and Political Power
In numerous approaches, the impulsive origin of WW1 was the ethic of nationalism, the initiative that battling countries were a primary component of survival. Ethics of nationalism was not original; however it had reached new levels in the 19th century, generally this passion contributed to the WW1. In the book, this is clearly portrayed by a contemptuous account of nationalism, demonstrating it as an empty, hypocritical concept, a device used by influential individuals to direct population of a given country. Paul and his colleagues are inspired to join the army, by nationalist views, however the experience of fighting drives them in meaninglessness of nationalism during the war. Moreover, the relative irrelevance on the combat zones of the patriots highlights the unsuitability of old-fashioned principles of contemporary rivalry. Remarque demonstrates that soldiers on the battlefield not because of glory of their respective countries instead for their own individual survival; they murder to protect themselves. Subsequently, Paul and his colleagues fail to consider the opposite as their actual rivals, to hem their real rivals are those in power in their nations, who they consider have surrendered them to warfare merely to enhance their influential status as well as glory.
Motifs
Basically, these are recurring formations, contracts and mythical tools that assist in formulating and illustrating major themes of the book.
The Pressure of Patriotic Idealism
A number of the book’s harsh critiques of nationalism are portrayed by Kantorek, who emotional speeches motivated Paul and his colleagues to participate in the army at the beginning of WW1. Kontorek employs idealistic, nationalistic and poetic expressions to portray national allegiance and fame concepts. For instance, in Kontorek’s letter to young people, he refers to them as iron youth, in other words they are strong, energetic and flexible, a depiction that does not put in to consideration the devastating effects of the war. Based on Kantorek speeches, Paul and his colleagues became more and more appalled; their experience in the battlefield made them cynical with regards to patriotism and also nationalism. In fact at the beginning of the book they hold Kantorek responsible for their colleague’s (Joseph Behm) sudden demise, alleging that he (Kantorek) did not comprehend that no loft model can probably provide psychological or physical protection or comfort in the war front.

Bloodshed and Gore
The book’s core tool against patriotic romanticism is basically its relentless depiction of bloodshed and gore in the war. In almost all scenes, cruel hostility and bloody portrayal of demise and harm are highlighted. Health care scenes depict soldiers with horrific wounds that are not treated due to inadequate medical services. Paul carries Kat who is wounded to a safety place, only to realize that in the commotion Kat was hit by shrapnel. As a section of discovery of detachment from an individual psychological feeling, death is considered with unfriendly competence: the cook is left wondering as to whether guidelines allow him to provide surviving soldiers with dead soldiers ratio; upon the demise of Kemmerich, he is pulled away to create space for another soldier. In the midst of this violence as well as numbness, the emphasized concepts of nationalism lose their persuasive influence and adopt a loathsome quality of hypocrisy and ignorance.
Animal instincts
Throughout the entire book, the author shows that the only technique for soldiers to survive in the combat zone is to forget their families and use their instincts, more less like animals. Paul considers himself as an animal or human animal and other soldiers who endure several battles operate like him. The experience in the combat zone is quite animalistic in this manner, since soldiers believe in their senses rather than thoughts and sense safety whenever they can get it. This motif of animal senses results in the theme that war largely harms soldiers’ humanity, taking away their ability to feel and make them operate like beasts.

Kemmerich’s Boots
Symbolism refers to things, characters, facts and colors employed to depict abstract.
The book does not use many symbolisms; however one main symbol is Kimmerich’s boots. These are high profile supple boots are passed from one soldier to another in sequence. Kimmerich inherited them a corpse of an airman, when Kimmerich dies Muller immediately starts planning to receive the boots. However, Muller dies suddenly, and the boots are taken by Paul. In this case, the boots depict how cheap human life in the combat zone. A pair of boots is valuable and long lasting than humanity. The issue of who inherit them next overshadows their owners demise. An individual fails to yield to one’s psychological amid the devastating effects of the war; instead one has to a void grief and despair like a machine.
The realist tension in Georgian poetry reaches its peak in the purposely shocking and graphically aggressive poems of the soon after WW1 poets like Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon as well as Isaac Rosenberg whose shocking ordeals on the battlefront leaves them rather cynical and unenthusiastic in comparison with the likes of Brooke who, at the onset of the war hinted all idealism and national holiness with which the outburst of aggression was hailed by the general public. The characters in Owen et al literary works appears rather different from those values- the dedication to nature as well as the pleasing, the elega...