~Xavier Mercado, Class of 2024

An Analysis and Reflection 

We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.

~Jimmy Carter

 It’s a cloudy winter afternoon, the class is just fifteen minutes away from a much needed dismissal- it was almost time for lunch. I sit there, attempting to concentrate my thoughts and jot them down onto my essay. Just sitting there in the recording studio with my iPad and a dream- it seemed quite challenging to get any work done. Even after realizing the importance of the work, reflecting on the All Quiet experience and its lessons, is it really worth it in the end?     

In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, Comradeship is used as a survival tool by Paul and the gang as they cope with the horrors of World War I. Survival is not possible without comradeship, as ultimately it is the dehumanization and hopelessness that attacks the mental health of all soldiers, especially Paul and the gang. Shortly after a bombardment on the front lines, a French man stumbles into Paul’s hiding place. Without hesitation and out of pure shock, Paul stabs the man multiple times. It is his first melee kill. Immediately, Paul realizes what he’s done- the feelings of regret, guilt, hit him hard. He needed to get this off his shoulder- his comrades were there.

But by next morning I can keep it to myself no longer. I must tell Kat and Albert. They both try to calm me. “You can’t do anything about it. What else could you have done? This is what you are here for.”   [Chapter 9]

Humanity is a social species; how shall one keep his mental health in shape without community and his peers during a deathly war? I listen to them and feel comforted, reassured by their presence. After a heavy bombing at a village where Paul and the Gang were evacuating, Paul and Albert Kropp are treated for their severe injuries. Knowing that their injuries may separate them in the future, they bribe a sergeant-major in order to get on the same medical train. “We must work the army medical sergeant-major so that we can keep together, Albert.” [Chapter 10] With humanity as a survival tool; Paul and Albert, the good friends they are, require each other in order to survive. Having comrades that take the pain along with you makes it more bearable. With how comradeship has affected Paul during WWI, it’s clear that there is more to be learned from those dark times.

The human spirit is a great force. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, survival is of utmost importance for Paul and the gang as they all attempt to make it through the war. The human spirit is a strong force; the desire to live can present itself in unexpected ways. Paul and the gang are deployed to guard an abandoned village as they are just the right people for that. With the village being abandoned, they choose to loot the whole place in order to get comfortable. While Paul and the gang prepare a feast, they receive visitors who are generously invited to the feed. Shortly before, a bombardment occurs, disrupting their feast.

I am almost in, there is a rising screech, I bound, I run like a deer, sweep round the wall, fragments clatter against the concrete, I tumble down the cellar steps, my elbows are skinned, but I have not lost a single pancake, nor even upset the plate. [Chapter 10]

Paul didn’t drop a single pancake; it must’ve been adrenaline, his desire to live. Fear alone made it possible. We should have run even if our feet had been shot off.Before the bombardment, Paul describes him and the gang as they prepare the much needed. “The sucking pigs are roasted whole. We all stand round them as before an altar.”[Chapter 10] It looked like a religious cult; if they were worshiping roasted pigs, it is just the human spirit showing its desire for food. These actions may seem extreme. Once before, however, these men were regular human beings- humans that did not seem like they would worship roasted pigs.

Take time to look at history, there are lessons and values to be learned from the past. All Quiet on the Western Front taught me the value of history, the suffering, triumphs that the people of WWI felt, and how it influenced today’s culture. Reading All Quiet on the Western Front forced me to read deeper and with more passion than ever before for an English class. Though the text was slightly challenging due to the old timey dialogue, it seemed to cancel out with the author’s storytelling skills. Forcing me to think deeply about the key themes that are being tracked, it proved to be a decent challenge while allowing me to get a deep understanding of the text. 

Reflection

With the start of our All Quiet unit, I planned to work on the bulk of the reflections, analysis paragraphs, and other writings outside of class, while I spent any class time getting the reading done. With regards to reading specifically, I started annotating the first chapters but got frustrated and stopped when they started to disappear from Destiny Discover. I only annotated if required, which was near the end of the reading. Unfortunately it was there where I realized that the annotations had not disappeared, it was just on another tab. Without annotations, I did a decent job of pulling the events of each chapter. When it came down to remembering small details, however, my weaknesses showed that I may have needed to read closer in order to truly digest the information. 

From All Quiet on the Western Front, there is no denying that the value of friendship empowers the world. No matter what situation you are in: The dark, horror-filled trenches of WWI, or safe and sound in your own cozy neighborhood, the company and attitude of friends makes life at least a little more bearable. 

Seeing Paul and his comrades progress through the book and all their triumphs and hardships together really shows the true power of the human spirit, as we are meant to be social creatures. It made me have a deeper understanding of what friendships truly do to a man. Alongside themes that relate to me, are themes that may not closely relate to me, like survival and the horrors of modern war. Though I have glazed the surface in the past on studies of warfare in the world wars, this book gives you an opportunity to see the war from a first person perspective. Reading All Quiet actually makes me curious to read other famous classic literature books. 

As I read the first page, I believed that I’d just be doing the work, simply to do the work. Now that the story has ended, I realized that there is much more that you can take away from this reading experience, rather than just chasing it for the good grades. 

Dive deep into reading, as you will never know what you will learn.