Reflective Question 1

Given that this is a work of historical fiction, is there any piece of it that can be considered factual?  Can it be used in any way to study history?

All Quiet on the Western Front is a historical fiction, yet when we read it, it feels terribly real. That is because although the characters are fictional, what they experience is what many young soldiers truly go through.

This book is an account of a young man and his experiences during World War I. Although at no point in time does the author explain this, we can infer from Paul Baümer’s experiences and references to trenches, the weapons they use, and the people they fight, that it is indeed during that time period. The book doesn’t focus on the history of the war, like specific battles, weapons, the strategies they used, or the leaders of the war; it focuses on the experience as a soldier, who in history books is often forgotten.

If we were to read a history book or paper about World War I, we would most likely read about the causes that started the war, the leaders, important battles, and the victory of one of the warring sides. The point that makes All Quiet on the Western Front different from a history book or paper, is that it doesn’t care about hard historical facts, it wants to show us the emotions and the suffering of the war on a civilian level. In this book the leaders aren’t the important characters, it is the soldier, the ones who actually do the fighting.

We learn how scarce food was, how obtaining a good meal often depended on your own skills. We see that death becomes so common, one gets used to it; and that when one was injured and about to die, all that doctors care for is if you will die soon and be able to place some other wounded soldier in your bed. We also learn how little their training is actually worth, for once at the front, all you can do is fight and hope to live. We witness the cruelty and injustice of superior ranking officials, and the hard jobs that one is given. From the book we also witness how friendship forms, and how easily it is lost. And more than anything, we learn that the war turns young and innocent boys into men who no longer believe in the glories and beauty of life, but who instead “believe in the war” (Remarque, p.88).

Such details about the life of a soldier and the difficulties they face are never shown in books; in books they are reduced to mere statistics. All Quiet on the Western Front can’t be used to reference historical facts like when, where, who, or why; but from it we learn about the actual emotions and struggles of the soldiers during wartime. We get a glimpse of the horrors of war, and how when it comes to soldiers, living is the most important thing; and as Paul Baümer says, “We do not fight, we defend ourselves against annihilation.” (Remarque, p.113). What we most witness throughout this book, is that if it were up to the soldiers, they wouldn’t be at the front, for when it comes to wars, it is always “the wrong people who do the fighting” (Remarque, p.41)

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. US, New York. Ballantine Books, 1957-58.