The horror of war exposed in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is one of the most great war novels of all time. It is the story not of Germans, but of men who, even if they escaped the bombings, were destroyed by the war. The purpose of this novel is to illustrate the vivid horror and raw nature of war and to change the popular belief that war has an idealistic and romantic character. The story centers on Paul Baümer, who joins the German army with great enthusiasm. Over the course of the war, however, he is consumed by it and is ultimately "tired, broken, burned, rootless and hopeless" (Remarque page #). Through Baümer, Remarque examines how war makes man inhuman. Use excellent words and phrases to describe the crucial details of this essay. "The first bomb, the first explosion, exploded in our hearts" (page #). Baümer and his classmates drafted into the army see the true reality of war. They enter the war straight out of school, know nothing but the environment of a hopeful youth, and come to premature maturity with war, their only home. "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to tear it apart. We are no longer young" (p. #). They have lost their innocence. Everything they are taught, the world of work, duty, culture, progress, is of no use to them at all because the only thing they need to know is how to survive. They must know how to escape the bombing and the emotional and psychological torment of war. War takes a heavy toll on the soldiers who fight in it. The terror of death will haunt the minds of the soldiers... middle of paper... as they fear injury and death. They have nothing to look forward to but years of anger. They experienced the horrors of war but did not experience the pleasures of life. They will be cast aside and forgotten and the years will pass, and eventually they will fall into disrepair. All Quiet on the Western Front tries to explain the purpose of the war and its futility. It is the story of an almost erased generation that fought only for the principle of hatred. Change the names and it could have been the story of a Frenchman, an Englishman or an American. It is perhaps the most tragic generation that our human documents speak of. It carries the overwhelming accent of simple truth that makes you wonder why war still exists. Work cited Remarque, Erich Maria. All quiet on the Western Front. Trans. AW When. New York: Ballantine, 1982.