Everyday Life of a Typical Soldier in World War I as Portrayed in “All Quiet on the Western Front”

“All Quiet on the Western Front” is an anti war movie, written by Erich Maria Remarque, a German soldier who fought in World War I. In 1914 when the Great War started in Europe, people rejoiced with pride and honor for their respective countries, but they didn’t know how harsh a war is for a typical soldier. The war was to be fought for pride, but it turned out to be devastating and harsh for an ordinary soldier. *thesis* World War I was influential to a typical soldier as it brought, tougher situations in the trenches, different feelings for other soldiers, and harsh environmental experiences. *thesis*

At the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to a group of young boys, who will set an example of how they are influenced by the war. Every young boy is taught to fight against the enemy and make their country proud. These lessons are given almost everyday by their teachers and elders, who have never experienced a war in their lives. The young boys have various aims in their life and think that war is useless and waste of time. Although these boys have different ambitions, they are forced to join the army to serve their country and make their elders feel proud.

Then these boys are shifted to the training camp. Training is described to be very harsh and difficult for these inexperienced young boys and teachers give harsh punishments for little mistakes. This training is not the actual preparation for the war, because the people who are giving the training have never experienced a war at front. The tutors are seen as strict, cruel and strong, although some of them are really scared of war. The training has to be given very quickly because there are more people waiting to be trained. Every soldier has to go through this harsh training and make himself tougher for the war. After the training is finished these boys are moved to the front to help other soldiers in fighting the war.

When it is time to leave, these boys realize that war is not a game; it is real life with real people. They see millions of people coming back from the front. Some are injured and some are dead, which gives them the idea of how destructive a war is. When they arrive at the front they start to understand what the war is all about. Some minor mistakes from these inexperienced young boys can even result in a quick death. There are dead people everywhere, on the battlefields and in the trenches, and there are rats feeding on them. This scene really gives the feeling of how worthless a war is.

Time passes on and Paul, the main character of the story, is on a night watch. He goes in to one of the trenches to save himself from a group of French soldiers coming towards him. He hides there for some while. Then one of the French soldiers slips into the trench, and Paul has to kill him or be killed. This is of the major anti-war scenes, when Paul shares his feelings with the wounded French soldier. Paul feels guilty for what he has done and comes up with a speech. He thinks that fighting is useless when they all know it cannot give anything but dead people. If everyone would throw these weapons away, then peace could be maintained. There is no reason for these piles of soldiers getting killed for nothing. Paul feels guilty for what he has done and expresses his idea of the harsh war.

Hospitals are more like factories. When someone dies they are moved and the next person gets the bed right away. Doctors and nurses decline to recognize patients, as they are too many to be remembered. They don’t have time to show their emotions and feelings for the people who are dead, because they have a job to do and millions of soldiers keep coming in. Some people are thrown in to the death room to die although the patients want to get well as soon as possible. Food and other accessories are often taken secretly and the patient wouldn’t even realize. The atmosphere is just terrible that everyone wants to get out of there.

Then the movie shows the atmosphere back from the front when Paul gets injured and goes back home. He doesn’t tell anyone that he is injured, as he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Back there, what people talk about is war, when the soldier wants to get out of that atmosphere and wants to be a normal person. Everyone presents their comments and suggestions, when they don’t even know what it is like at the front. Old people encourage young soldiers to fight and make them feel proud. The soldier gets annoyed from all these talks about war, and finds his way back to the front.

When the war comes to an end and everyone is tired then, we can notice the changes in Paul. From a simple young boy, he turns to be a strong and tough soldier. He has lost many of his friends in this period of war, some are dead, some are injured, and some are missing. Life is just dull and boring for these soldiers and they are all tired of war. All the bad points of the war are showed precisely to explain that the movie is anti war. The only thing that turns out to be good in the war is the eagerness to help and save others, even if one had to sacrifice his life.

The war has definitely influenced the lives of so many soldiers. The author has conveyed his message that, nobody understands the war in the trenches and how much people had to suffer, achieving nothing. In fact, the war is meaningless, people are dying all the time and no one really cares. Many parents lost their young boys for nothing. To be a good soldier means to die. There are much better ways to find a solution rather than going to war.