All Quite on the Western Front

Novel Study

AUHTOR: Erich Maria Remarque
TITLE: All Quiet on the Western Front
THEME: Anger
THESIS: Anger arises through a feeling of displeasure; usually caused when an individual realizes that either he/she or something is being wronged.

Passage One:

  While on wiring duty, Paul and his lot start to get bombarded by shells. One of the shells hits a group of men and horses a few columns ahead the lot. Detering, a soldier from the lot, is outraged by the sight of the suffering and screaming horses.

      Detering sits up. ‘Bastards, bastards! For Christ’s sake shoot them!’ He is a farmer and used to handling horses. It really gets to him. … Detering is going crazy and roars out, ‘Shoot them, for Christ’s sake, shoot them!’ … Detering raises his rifle and takes aim. Kat knocks the barrel upwards. ‘Are you crazy?’ Detering shudders and throws his gun on the ground. (44 & 45)

  After Detering, who is a former farmer, sees the horses suffering; he goes crazy with rage. He shouts to the stretcher-bearers, ‘Bastards, bastards! For Christ’s sake shoot them! But, as they are told, they have to get the wounded men out first. He cannot handle to see the horses being tortured; he knows they are harmless animals since he has taken care of them before and is used to handling them, so he raises his rifle in anger to shoot at the horses himself, but Kat knows he is not allowed to do that, so he knocks the barrel upwards. The line, ‘Detering shudders and throws his gun on the ground,’ implies that Detering now feels helpless, and shudders in anger.

Passage Two:

  Paul and his lot are in the trenches, and there is loud shelling going on around them. This one night is unbearable and they cannot sleep. Towards morning, there is a sudden commotion because a mob of fleeing rats has stormed into the dugouts and is running up the walls.

      The night is unbearable. We can’t sleep; we just stare in front of us and doze off. … Everyone screams and curses and...