Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

1600 Words7 Pages
Introduction Imagine being told that you’re needed at the front lines during World War1 that and when you and your company arrive there you see countless of bodies and coffins being assembled, deliberate that some of these coffins being created may end up existing for you. Or when you are in combat at the front and bombs are being set off around you and the enemy is targeting at you with their sniper and that the only when to keep in touch with family and friends is through sending letters. To the readers of this novel all of these are all just fictional scenario. This however, is the reality for these soldiers and were some of the many examples that happened in this novel. “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque is a war…show more content…
War soldiers are poor and even if they had money there are no stores and everything was given to them on the front so money is useless. However, having these boots made these soldiers feel like they have value. The fact that these soldiers are valuing these boots show that life itself does not have much value in it. These boots were a prized possession amongst the soldiers. They also symbolized death because whoever wears them in the novel ending up dying from injuries on the front. First Kemmerich was wounded in his thin and he had to get his leg amputated and died from it. Later on Muller got possession of the boots and died in battle form a fatal shot in his stomach and undergoes terrifying pain. Lastly Paul Baumer takes the boots and is killed in battle. These boots also foreshadowed that the user will end up dying when they have these boots. This is shown when Muller wants to take Kemmerich's boots when he was hospitalized. Muller valued the boots and Paul to convince him to take the boots from Muller when he dies. Another symbol in the novel was the wounded horses that the men encountered on the front. “The cries continued. It is not men, they could not cry so terribly. Wounded horses,” says Kat. It’s is the moaning of the creation of the world, wild with anguish, filled with terror, and groaning. We are pale. Detering stands up. God! For God’s sake! Shoot them.” (Remarque,
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