Jenna Wang September 13, 2011 Period 3 All Quiet on the Western Front Essay on Chapters 1 & 2 In 1908,

Erich Maria Remarque wrote the book, All Quiet on the Western Front to share his experience in being a WWI German soldier. Remarque was born in Osnabrck, Germany in 1898. At the age of 18, he was drafted into the German army to fight in World War I. Ten years after the war ended, he published All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel about the experiences of German soldiers during the war. The book is narrated by Paul Baumer, a young man of nineteen who fights in the German army on the French front in WWI. Paul and several of his friends join the army, after listening to the patriotic speeches of their teacher, Kantorek. But after experiencing brutal training and the unimaginable brutality of life on the front, Paul and his friends realize that their performance of nationalism costs their lives and no longer believe that war is honorable. This story revolves around Paul Baumer and his friends, including, Katczinsky, Kropp, Mller, Tjaden, and Kemmerich, Pauls schoolmaster Kantorek, and the petty, power-hungry Corporal Himmelstoss. The historical context of the book is the concept of nationalism, the idea that one owed ones first loyalty to ones nation. Paul and his friends are persuaded to join the army by nationalist ideas, but from their experience in fighting, they realize that it is not their nation that they are fighting for but rather for their own survival. All Quiet on the Western Front, a war novel from the perspective of a German soldier in WWI, was a significant novel that was written by Erich Maria Remarque, based on his experience in WWI. The first two chapters of All Quiet on the Western Front introduce the characters to the reader, develop imagery, show critical symbols, and reveal important themes in the novel. The first two chapters of the book describe each of the characters: Paul Baumer, the narrator and the protagonist of the novel; his friends Katczinsky, Kropp, Mller, Leer, Tjaden, Haie, and Detering, Corporal Himmelstoss, and the dying Kemmerich. The chapters are about the realization that the soldiers had about the empty ideals of nationalism and Franz Kemmerichs death. The imagery of Kemmerichs dying body was very vivid. Kemmerichs lips had fallen away, his flesh was melted, and the skeleton was working itself through. Kemmerichs boots and watch are important symbols in these chapters. His boots are passed from soldier to soldier as each owner dies in sequence. Kemmerich took them from the corpse of a dead airman, and as he lies on his own deathbed, Mller receives the boots. Paul inherits them when Mller is shot to death later in the novel. In this way, the boots represent the cheapness of human life in the war. The themes in the novel that relate to these chapters are the ideal of nationalism and political power.

Kantorek had persuaded Paul and his friends to volunteer as soldiers to complete their patriotic duty. Himmelstoss had changed from a nonviolent postman to a power-hungry non-commissioned officer, showing that the war had changed peoples goals in life to focusing on getting more political power. Therefore, the first two chapters in the novel show the theme of patriotism, gaining political power, and the horror of war.