~Griffin Dewing, Class of 2024

Camaraderie & The Horror of Modern War 

I sat down on my bed at 9:30 pm on a cold and gloomy Thursday night. With just one chapter left to read, I decided to finish it that night. Normally, I’m not very entertained by reading, but for some reason I was filled with excitement and wondered how the story would end. Through the ups and downs of All Quiet on the Western Front, I was finally able to hear how the story ends. 

Soldiers never come out of war the same. In All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, the men are lost in the horrors of modern war. The main character, Paul, faces the horrors of modern war in the frontline. Paul has lost himself and can’t find his way back. The horror of modern war has changed him for the worse and will never be the same. 

I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear. The life that has borne me through these years is still in my hands and my eyes. Whether I have subdued it, I know not. But so long as it is there it will seek its own way out, heedless of the will that is within me.  [page, 138-139]

War = lost soldiers and  lonely men. A man speaks to Paul about the horror of modern war and brings up the deaths of their comrades.“You know, to-day alone there have been 16 deaths — yours is the seventeenth.”  [page, 15] War = dead comrades; horror. War, the most horrifying and gruesome thing known to men. You will only make it through war with comrades. In All Quiet on the Western Front, comrades keep the men going. The main character, Paul, faces hardships, but his comrades are always there to help. The soldiers are attracted by nothing but comradeship when it comes to war and being in the front.

We could never regain the old intimacy with those scenes. It was not any recognition of their beauty and their significance that attracted us, but the communion, the feeling of a comradeship with the things and events of our existence, which cut us off and made the world of our parents a thing incomprehensible to us–for then we surrendered ourselves to events and were lost in them, and the least little thing was enough to carry us down the stream of eternity. Perhaps it was only the privilege of our youth, but as yet we recognised no limits and saw nowhere an end. We had that thrill of expectation in the blood which united us with the course of our days.  [page, 57]

Unbreakable bonds, and shared laughter is the essence of true comradeship.”Shouldn’t we just take a revolver and put an end to it? “The youngster will hardly survive the carrying, and at the most he will only last a few days.” [Page, 33]

Camaraderie is the key to survival and the key to happiness. We all need comrades to help us through tough times such as war. When you’ve lost yourself it’s your comrades that will help you find yourself again.  

When you’ve lost yourself, your comrades will help you find your way back.

If they are alive.