Essay About Lost Generation And Earlier Generations

All Quiet on the Western Front Themes
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1) The Destructiveness of War
A major theme, not only on lives and property, but also on the human
spirit. Men are subject to physical torment-eyes are blinded, limbs are
blown off, blood flows everywhere, and innocent men die in agony. When
soldiers take shelter in the graveyard, bombs explode all around them,
the living hide in coffins and the dead are thrown from their graves.
The destructive power is so great that even the fundamental differences
between life and death become blurred. The impact of war on the spirit
is subtle. They find themselves less able to returrn to civilian life-
friends die all around them.
2) The Lost Generation
This theme is an offshoot of the destructiveness of war. Pauls
generation grew up too fast, its perceptins of life grossly distorted by
the horror or war. The youthful idealism that might someday have
blossomed into constructive maturity has been nipped in the bud. Unlike
earlier generations, Paul can never again hope to find comfort and
inspiration in the hollow rhetoric of politicians and generals. The war
has shattered their illusions. Their innocence is gone, and only in
aimless skepticism is left to fill the void.
3) Comraderie
The theme of comraderie occurs constantly in the novel. The comraderie
that exists in Pauls company keeps them from being driven insane by the
horrors all around them. In a sense, the comraderie among Pauls
friends can be seen as a last desperate clinging to the innocence of
youth. These young men were transported almost directly to the
battlefield from the schoolyard. The adolescent pranks of Paul and his
classmates can be seen in their “adult” behavior, as in their attack on
Himmelstoss. If the social responses of Paul and
his friends seem at
time childish, it is