Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that gives.
many accounts of dehumanization and changes the popular belief that war.
is an idealistic and romantic character. It is a story, not of Germans, but of.
men, who even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by.
the war. Each character in this novel shows the dehumanization process.
rather clearly. Dehumanization also played a roll in the difficulties.
European societies faced between the world wars. Remarque's purpose.
for writing this novel was to illustrate the horror and raw nature of war and.
to give people an idea of what these men went through. Paul Baumer is.
the main character of the story. When he first enters the story Paul is very.
enthusiastic about going to the war. Paul's schoolmaster, Kantorek, was.
the main influence on Paul joining the German army. Although Kantorek.
himself would never enlist. With such enthusiasm at first, Paul becomes.
weary, broken, and burnt out throughout the course of the war; he.
becomes consumed by it at the end. Through Paul Baumer, Remarque.
shows how war makes man inhuman. He uses excellent words and.
phrases to describe crucial details to this theme. "The first bomb, the first.
explosion, burst in our hearts."1 Paul and his classmates who enlisted into.
the army see the true reality of the war. They enter the war fresh from.
school, knowing nothing except their own environment and they become.
dehumanized with the war. "We were eighteen and had begun to love life.
and the world: and we had to shoot it to .
pieces. We are not young any longer."2 They have lost their innocents. .
Everything they where taught, such as the world of work, duty, and culture,.
is now of no use to them. The only thing they need to know now is how to.
survive. The dehumanized minds of the soldiers will bring about horrible.
images of death and destruction until they break down and go to pieces. .
Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is a story of the.