All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front is a 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque which details the experiences of German soldiers at the frontlines of World War I. At the heart of the novel are graphic portrayals of trench warfare and the psychological trauma inflicted on the soldiers as a result. The novel presents a realistic portrait of a horrific war and provides unflattering accounts of the elite classes responsible for such mass destruction. The novel is more aligned with an anti-war sentiment than a romanticized or glorified pro-war view. The novel was therefore banned by the Nazi regime of Germany in the 1930s.

The novel follows a disjointed narrative structure, and it jumps around in time from present to past. There are two narrative points of view as well. For almost the entire duration of the novel, Paul Baumer is the narrator. All that happens at the front, all the dialogue, and all of the visual imagery of the scenes are witnessed through Paul’s eyes. As the novel concludes, there is an abrupt narrative shift. The final paragraph is narrated by an unknown, third-person narrator. The effect is that the previous 11 and half chapters were something of a

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