“Comrade,” I say to the dead man, but I say it calmly, “to-day you, to-morrow me. But if I come out of it, comrade I will fight against this, that has struck us both down; from you, taken life—and from me—? Life also. I promise you, comrade. It shall never happen again.” (Remarque 226)
In this passage from Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Baumer is overcome by guilt after killing an enemy soldier. Paul was hiding in a trench on the enemy’s side when another man jumped into it, and Paul stabbed him without thinking. The man does not die instantly however, and Paul is forced to spend hours hiding in the trench with the dying man. Once he does die, Paul is so overcome by guilt that he feels it necessary to justify his actions. While doing this, he decides there are no benefits to war. War simply takes away life and in this fact all soldiers share a common bond. No matter the cause they fight for, all soldiers are united by the sacrifices they make and the horrors they witness. This quotation is extremely significant to not only the novel but to all literature of war because it explores a new facet of comradeship which crosses enemy lines.
This specific passage is significant to the novel because Paul is able to see the true meaning of comradeship. Throughout the novel, it is evident Paul has a strong bond with his fellow soldiers. At one point when he is reunited with his fellow soldiers after being separated, he speaks of the relief he finds in his comrades. He explains, “I am no longer a shuddering speck of existence, alone in the darkness;—I belong to them and they to me; we all share the same fear and the same life, we are nearer than lovers, in a simpler, harder way” (212). Though his connection with his comrades is strong, it is detached in a way because he must be prepared to say goodbye to any one of them because they could be killed at any time. His comradeship extends to the enemy soldier he kills because he realizes just like his comrades who fight on the same side as him, this dead soldier also faced the same fears and made the same sacrifices as he did. This passage is also significant to the novel because it is the first time Paul speaks directly against war. He often speaks of the grotesque and brutal aspects of war but never really speaks out against the establishment itself. Even when he returns home for a short leave, he still wishes to return and resents the men who did not go to war. Paul describes his feelings saying, “I would like to be here and forget the war; but also it repels me, it is so narrow, how can that fill a man’s life, he ought to smash it to bits; how can they do it, while out at the front … the wounded are carried back on waterproof sheets and comrades crouch in the trenches” (169). This obligation to fight is somewhat obliterated after he kills the enemy soldier and is forced to stay in hiding with him. He begins to see war in a completely new way, as an institution which simply destroys life.
This passage challenges the old ideals of comradeship and war and in this way is significant to all literature of war. Comradeship is considered to only exist between those who are fighting for the same cause. J. Glenn Gray in The Warriors defines comradeship as “the one genuine advantage of battle that peace can seldom offer” (Gray 39). Though comradeship in All Quiet on the Western Front still fits this definition, it goes against Grays other necessity in order for true comradeship to exist. Gray believes that comrades must be united by passion for the cause. Remarque never really describes the soldiers as having any true attachment to the cause, yet they still have a very strong bond with each other, which allows Paul to feel comradeship with the enemy. Because Paul is not consumed by the cause he is fighting for, he is not limited by it and therefore feels a bond with the enemy soldier. All Quiet on the Western Front is also very unique as a war novel in that it explores the enemy’s side. Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage simply describes the enemy in a detached manner as “the red eyes across the river” (Crane 12) and never as a group of individuals. Paul feels a connection with the enemy soldier because he realizes that they are both doomed by war.
Below the title on the cover of All Quiet on the Western Front, it reads “The Greatest War Novel of All Time.” This is a rather extreme claim to make. In comparison to Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Odyssey and The Iliad, and many more famous stories of war is All Quiet on the Western Front really the greatest? Probably not, however it can definitely be considered in the highest of ranks of war literature. The novel is so highly esteemed because the novel goes outside of the general perimeters of other war novels. Feeling a connection to the enemy is only one way All Quiet on the Western Front goes beyond the expectations of the everyday war novel. The novel’s honesty about circumstances and the thoughts of the soldiers also make it original. The anti-war sentiment of the main character and his vowing to end war, which of course he cannot keep, also make the novel distinctive. Though it may not be the “Greatest War Novel of All Time” it can still be considered in the highest of ranks because Remarque goes beyond the general expectation of what makes a war novel.
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