An Army of Thieves

A German proverb states, “A great war leaves a country with three armies – an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.” After war, many wounded soldiers remain, comprising an army of cripples. There stands a number of widows, parents, children, and friends who lose their loved ones in the war. A third army also emerges, one that consists of men who give themselves up for the war and come out without a place in society, sometimes reduced to thievery. The nickname of World War I, a devastating war with over 11 million casualties, persists as “The Great War.” Erich Maria Remarque reveals the development of the “army of thieves” resulting from World War I in his classic All Quiet on the Western Front. Throughout the chronology of the novel, the character development and description reveal the “lost generation” of men who lose everything due to the war.

During the beginning of All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer describes himself as a young man who does not have anything in his life to look forward to; he has no purpose in life. While reminiscing about his previous life, the main character compares older soldiers who have other lives and occupations with the generation of young men like him who have nothing more than parents and some vague interests. He explains, “Beyond this our life does not extend. And of this nothing remains” (Remarque 20). The characters have no futures and places in society, and the war takes away what little they do have, such as hobbies and connection to their old lives. Because Paul and others of his class enlist in the war right after their high school careers, they do not have time to settle down and build lives of their own. Therefore, the young men, the “lost generation,” cannot set root in real life after the war. Additionally, the death of Kemmerich greatly affects Paul and changes how he thinks about life and his place in society. As Paul runs back to his hut after the death of Kemmerich, images of his old life and happiness appear to his mind: “Thoughts of girls, of flowery meadows, of white clouds suddenly come into my head” (33). As one of Paul’s best friends dies from the war, Paul realizes that this war takes everything from his life. The shock of Kemmerich’s death makes Paul wish for his old life, to actually be someone instead of an animal of instinct, a slave to the war. Paul’s thoughts change his character and perspective of the war as he begins to realize what the war does to him. As the beginning part of the novel proceeds, he displays character development towards the concept of the lost generation of men that envelop men like him.

As the novel progresses, Paul’s character and personality further evolve to reflect the ever present theme of young men never taking roots. Unlike many of his other comrades, Paul cannot mask his emotions as well, and these emotions build his complexion. While Kat and Paul share a goose they catch together, Paul cries for his loss of the ability to find the beauty of life, for his loss of what he might have without the war. He observes, “There are sights there that he has not forgotten, because he never possessed them — perplexing, yet lost to him” (95). Although there are beauties out in the world, the soldiers do not forget about those beauties in life because they do not see them before the war. The soldiers live like birds that never learn to fly, therefore never missing the experience, yet they still weep because they want to fly. Paul reveals that the war enchains him, trapping him with its horrors and preventing Paul from experiencing life and taking roots. Equally important, Paul realizes that he cannot return to his previous life and his family. When Paul returns home on his first leave, he discovers that his previous life seems trivial compared to the war, and he cannot hope to return to it. While trying to read his once favorite books, Paul sighs, “Words, Words, Words — they do not reach me” (173). Paul loses his connections to things once dear to him. What little possessions Paul maintains before the war disappear from Paul’s life. Now he fails to advance forward in the future and create a life, yet he also fails to go back to his former life. Paul grows into a man with a lost soul, a man with nothing left in his life.

As the novel begins to come to a close, Remarque describes Paul’s character in that of a sad and hardened man. Paul understands that he and his comrades will never escape the war and be able to lead normal lives again. At the Catholic hospital where he rests, Paul ponders the fact that all men of his age are like him. Paul refers to the war: “It was our first calling in life. Our knowledge of life limited to death” (264). The authorities thrust the young generation of men into the war, and this war becomes their first call in life. The young men have nothing else because the war takes anything away before it even exists. The twenty year old men only know about death, killing, and despair as comrades die off one by one. As a consequence of stumbling into the war, the men do not have any other roots to set in. Moreover, Paul finally discerns that death is the only escape from life for his generation. When every one of his comrades dies, Paul accepts physical death as the only solution to being lost and without purpose. He emerges oblivious to the months and years: “I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear” (295). No more purpose survives in his life, and as the final bond between Paul and life, comradeship, vanishes, Paul welcomes death as a solution to the monstrosity done to his generation. The final change in Paul’s character of grateful acceptance considerably emphasizes the theme of the generation of young men losing their lives as well as their futures to the war.

All Quiet on the Western Front relays the story of a generation of German soldiers who give up their lives for World War I and have no futures because the war consumes their lives early on. Remarque conveys the message of the novel through character description and development, especially that of Paul, within the chronology of the book. Unlike older men with occupations and their own families, Paul Baumer and others of his class fall victims to the cruel consequences of “The Great War.” A generation of men enters the war with nothing but youth; an army of thieves leaves the war with nothing but painful memories of death.