In All Quiet on the Western Front there are a few themes. One is the malevolence at war of the war to end and other is the effect off the war on the soldier. The effect of the war on the soldier is very obvious when the new soldier come after all of the deaths. It I s sad that the new soldiers are very young and nave, but in reality they are the same age and they just do not have the experience of war like Paul and the other soldiers. The malevolence at war is shown because this novel tells you what war is really like unlike those that are bring in a romantic aspect to the story, this books just tells you how it really is to be at war.
The Characters in this book all had a special and different role. Paul Baumer is a young soldier who was changed drastically by the brutalities of war and may never be able to recover. He is also the narrator of the book. Paul's best friend Kat is a very resourceful man and can always find food. He is also older then Paul and most of the soldiers at war. Kropp, Muller, and Tjaden are all close friends of Paul and bring different things to the novel. Kantorek, Paul's previous schoolmaster, is essentially why they were at the war. He felt it was their duty to the country to enlist for the war and after the soldiers see the death of Joseph Behm they start to loose their confidence in the authority. Corporal Himmelstoss is a power hungry man who torments Paul and his fellow soldiers, but after his awful experience in the trench he tries to apologize. Kemmerich is the first to die in front of the reader and it shows you how death is not as big of a deal at war. Duval, a French soldier, is the first person that Paul kills in hand-to-hand combat.
In this book I think two of the biggest literary devices are simply metaphors and similies. They were used and it just showed you in greater detail the ugliness and wickedness of war and what it was like if you were actually there.
