All Quiet on the Western Front: Soldiers in War Fought for Survival

“Little souls who thirst for fight, these men were born to drill and die” (Crane 7-8). Stephen Crane’s poem acknowledges the fact that many soldiers in the war have fought for survival, dehumanized, and lost lives for their country. Many propose the idea that war is not necessary and that it is pointless. This is quite ironic since a great amount of people go to war even though they think that it is unnecessary. Generally, these battles can be prevented after all most people would say that war is a tragic thing and that it shouldn’t play such a big role in life. Author of an international bestselling novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque also portrays a similar purpose in his novel as Stephen Crane’s poem “War is Kind”. Remarque and Crane both want to convey a message of harmony by distinctly delineating the destructiveness, dehumanization, and the ridiculousness of war. Remarque presents his novel showing readers how the soldiers feel when battling in this war. Tjaden, one of the main characters in the novel says, “Then what exactly is war for? […] there must be some people to whom the war is useful.

Well I’m not one of them, not you, nor anybody else here” (Remarque 205). Tjaden makes a clear point that him and his friends do not want to be here fighting this war, not to mention that by him asking the question of “what is war for?”, shows that he doesn’t even know why he’s here and has to face all these destructions. Albert, another main character in this novel adds, “We didn’t want the war, the others say the same thing-and yet half the world is in it all the same” (Remarque 206). This shows irony because it clearly states that if the others say that they don’t want war, then why be in it and make such a big sacrifice? It all contradicts itself and brings one to the point that war is an act of stupidity. Crane presents his poem “War is Kind” in a similar way as Remarque’s novel to express what the soldiers go through when fighting in this war. He writes with the use of anaphora when stating, “War is kind” throughout his poem. This exposes the purpose that he wishes to convey to his readers of the honest truth, war is really not kind, and that it is ridiculous. Crane says, “Make plain to them the excellence of killing and a field where a thousand corpses lie” (Crane 21-22).

Such an exaggeration brings readers to the view of a soldier that has been dehumanized into thinking that killing is tolerant. Crane creates an appearance of imagery when describing, “Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches, raged at his breast, gulped and died” (Crane 13-14). Using such words, he truly proposes the fact that war is a gruesome picture for those who are in it, implying that war is meaningless if death is a common thing. Both Remarque’s use of imagery and Crane’s use of paradox add to the authorial purpose of their works. Remarque grabs the readers’ attention with a horrendous scene, “Here hang bits of uniform, and somewhere else is plastered a bloody mess that was once a human limb” (Remarque 208). Such horrific descriptions of a disgusting scene display a visual in readers’ minds of how destructive war really is. Crane’s use of paradox in his poem presents a contradiction between war and kindness. “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind, because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky and the affrighted steed ran on alone, do not weep war is kind” (Crane 1-5). Because war is not kind in anyway, the use of paradox in this poem reveals the true meaning that the idea of war has been made into a god-like thing that can solve problems when in reality war ‘kindly’ teaches us the falseness belief that it can bring glory to anyone.

Readers can easily identify the use of imagery in Remarque’s novel and sense of paradox in Crane’s poem. Erich Maria Remarque and Stephen Crane’s works both contain a purpose, to explain to readers the destructiveness of war plus the dehumanization of soldiers that participate in the battle and that war is irrelevant to most contributors to it. Both Remarque and Crane select the use of imagery, an ironic tone, a sense of paradox, and for Crane, the use of anaphora and hyperbole to convey their overall message. Without a doubt, both authors wanted to have their voices heard and their thoughts on war comprehended. Readers, no matter from the late 19th centuries or the year 2013 will still apprehend the destructiveness of war, lost lives, dehumanization, and the honest truth that no matter the fact that war is meaningless, it still continues on even today.