Angelo Padilla
Dawn Ross
Per 5
Eng 2A

All Quiet on the Western Front

War, war never changes. Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of a rock and bone, blood has been shed. Spilled in the name of God, the belief of justice, and in simple rage. One wrong move, and an all out war begins, with both sides believing they are doing the world a favor. As both sides quarrel, the lives of countless men are lost for their views. As the war goes on, the reasons become clouded, and the importance of life is lost only leaving survival. Animalistic behaviors take over leaving only a murky shadow of the men they once were. The men in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque face the same experiences ultimately leading to their death. At first, the men started the war off by thinking they would do their country good by volunteering to fight. They are young and don’t know what to expect, but soon became veterans. “I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another” Pg 263. The innocence was lost at the first glimpse of actuality of the world. He loses the thoughts of a past life, and focuses on only what is now. The men, once intertwined with the lives of one another only think of themselves and returning to their home. “.... And we saw that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone; and alone we must see it through” Pg 13. The thought of companionship seemed trivial as they fight through the fog in solitude. Even with the man next to you fighting for his life, you can’t look back. Only your survival