All Quiet on the Western Front and the Horrors of War :: All Quiet on the Western Front Essays

The Horrors of War    Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war.   This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, â€Å"All Quiet on the Western Front†.   War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through.   The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.    One of the worst things about war is the severity of carnage that it bestows upon mankind.   Men are killed by the millions in the worst ways imaginable.   Bodies are blown apart, limbs are cracked and torn and flesh is melted away from the bone.   Dying eyes watch as internal organs are spilled of empty cavities, naked torso are hung in trees and men are forced to run on stumps when their feet are blown off.   Along with the horrific deaths that accompany war, the injuries often outnumber dead men. As Paul Baumer witnessed in the hospital, the injuries were terrifying and often led to death.   His turmoil is expressed in the lines, â€Å"Day after day goes by with pain and fear, groans and death gurgles. Even the death room I no use anymore; it is too small.†Ã‚   The men who make it through the war take with them mental and physical scarification from their experiences.    People who have actually been through war know how horrible it is.   Society on the other hand, while it believes it knows the horrors of war, can never understand or sympathize with a soldier’s situation.   The only people who can understand war is those who have been through it so they can often feel alone if they are out of the military.   Paul cannot even give a straight answer to his own father about his dad’s inquiries about war.   Paul’s dad does not understand that people who have been in the war can in no way truly express the horrible things that that have seen and experienced.   Nor can Paul fit in with the society who does not understand him.   Paul and so many others were brought into the war so young that they know of nothing else other than war.   Paul held these views on society as he said, â€Å"We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will b e bewildered;-the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall in to ruin.