Hope Frihauf

Stephen Sellers
Humanities, Period 1&2
11 September 2014
Seminar Reflection
During the seminar, I found it interesting how everyone agreed that Chapter
7 really changed Paul Baumer. In the beginning of the chapter Paul is still at war
with his friends and says, The days, the weeks, the years out here shall come
back again, and our dead comrades shall then stand up again and march with us,
our heads shall be clear, and we shall have a purpose, and so we shall march, our
dead comrades beside us, the years at the Front behind us (Remarque 140). We
agreed that before he went on leave, Paul was more hopeful and ignorant about
the war. He had not understood what real life was really like. After he has gone
home, Paul says, I ought never to have come on leave (185). Going home made
him realize how awful war really is, which is why we agreed that it had changed
him quite a bit. We thought that the author did this to make Paul different from
the other soldiers. I found this point of view very interesting because originally I
thought that Chapter 9 was the turning point for Paul, but after the seminar I had
changed my mind.
One fascinating question that we went over in the seminar was, Is this an
anti-war novel?. Based on the quote, This book is meant to be neither an
accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an
adventure to those who stand face to face with it (0), I had formed the opinion
that it was not an anti-war novel, but just a truthful book about war. We all agreed
that the point of this book was not to form an opinion, but to help us understand
World War 1. At the end of the book Paul says, All that meets me, all that floods
over me are but feelings-greed of life, love of home, yearning for the blood,
intoxication of deliverance. But no aims (294). Paul explains that war ruins your
emotions so much that there's really no way to have a side. At one point in the
seminar it was even brought up that the soldiers don't even really know why
they're fighting. Tjaden even says, Then what exactly is the war for? (205).
They have no idea why they're fighting, so they can't really form an opinion about
it anyway. To them, the war is just something that they were tricked into. So in
response to the question, Is this an anti-war novel? we agreed that no, it is not
an anti-war novel, but just a novel to help explain the unexplainable of war and to
make people realize what was going on.
All Quiet on the Western Front was very similar to the book The Book Thief in
the way that they're both about a time of war and end similarly. One of the first
lines of The Book Thief is Here is a small fact: You are going to die (Zusak 3).
This is a very similar theme to All Quiet on the Western Front because they both
have the idea that death is common and often. Throughout All Quiet on the
Western Front, Paul talks about how soon enough everyone will come face to face
with death. The book ends when everyone dies and Paul says, I am so alone, and
so without hope that I can confront them without fear (Remarque 295). The Book
Thief also ends with everyone except Liesel (the main character) dying. Both
characters die at the very end of the book, but have to live a little while alone.

The Book Thief and All Quiet on the Western Front have very similar themes and
have very alike endings.
I heard them coming for me, so quickly, I jumped into a random shell hole.
Immediately I was stabbed and I yelped. The gurgling sounds continued to come
from my mouth and I couldn't say any words. Eventually he told me, Comrade, I
did not want to kill you (Remarque 223). I do not understand. I am not his
comrade. Who is this man? The confusion builds up inside me and I try again to
speak, but only a hideous gurgled sound comes out. He then goes on and says,
I'll write to your wife (224). How does he know my wife? The words jumble up
in my brain and I start to fade away. I hold on a bit longer, but can't hear
anything. I see the pain in his face; he must care about me. I trust in this man
and believe his words. Suddenly everything goes black. I am dead.
A common theme that I found throughout the book All Quiet on the Western
Front is that war is more of a mental war than it is a physical war. Paul stabbing
the French man is a perfect example where he starts out saying, I do not think at
all, I make no decision-I strike madly at home, and feel how the body suddenly
convulses, then becomes limp, and collapses (Remarque 216). He starts without
thinking about killing the man and just using his instincts. After hearing the man
suffer for a while longer, Paul starts to go crazy with guilt over killing the man.
Towards the end he gives a speech to the French man and says, But now, for the
first time, I see you are a man like me (223). Paul can't contain his emotions
anymore and completely changes. His thoughts take a hold of him and he is at
war with himself. The most common theme from All Quiet on the Western Front is
that the biggest war for Paul was the war with himself.