The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front"
For it is no easy undertaking, I say, to describe the bottom of the Universe; nor is it for tongues that only babble child's play.
(The Inferno, XXXII, 7-9.)
Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons—parents, elders, school, religion—that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does......
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Approximate Word Count: 3261
Approximate Pages: 13 (260 words per double-spaced page) |