All Quiet on the Western FrontErich Maria Remarque's literary breakthrough, All Quiet on the Western Front, describes two stories. It meticulously recounts the thoughts of a soldier during the First World War and at the same time describes in detail the horrors of all wars; each tale is not only a separate experience for the soldier, but is also a new depiction of combat. The war is seen through the eyes of Paul Baumer, whose mentality is much more developed than that of his companions. His true purpose in the novel is not to serve as a representation of the common soldier, but to take on a divine and omniscient role so that he can serve as a link between World War I and all past and future melees of the genre. Baumer becomes the representation of all men and, through him, the reader comes to see the true essence of such a human struggle. Although the novel introduces the reader to an experienced soldier in the German army, his war narrative begins even before he enlists. . The “soldier's bellies are full of beef and white beans”; their hearts are full of happiness. “The cook”, or the parents, “spoons… a good spoonful”, or provides for their needs (1). Before conscription, the future of men was good and certain; “each had a full table for the evening” (1). Although protected, the men were “satisfied and at peace” (1). Shortly after these introductory passages, Baumer expresses his disdain for this previous life, suggesting that the soldiers' current paradigms are the only reliable views; “our generation is more trustworthy than [the older generation]” (12). However, although these men have been warned of the ways of the world, these revelations visibly corrupt them because in their souls (“under their fingernails”) lies the... middle of paper......alarmist ar- patriots, sympathizes with humanity. The story never deviates from this anti-war thesis, ingeniously allowing the common person to understand the stupidity of the bloodshed that pervades world history. There is no real group designated as the enemy since the real culprit of wartime horror is war itself. Although this pacifist statement is made rather epigrammatically, it takes the reader until the end of the novel to understand the true power of such an idea. In the last lines, the internal battle that is fought in a war is linked to the internal battle that we fight with life itself. No matter how hard we try, “as long as it exists, [life] will seek its own way out, regardless of the will that is within” (295). The human condition is to unconsciously fight for survival. All Quiet on the Western Front suggests that there are cases where surviving is another form of death.