Student Question
How does the author use motifs and symbols in All Quiet on the Western Front to criticize Nazi ideals?
Quick answer:
Erich Maria Remarque uses motifs and symbols in All Quiet on the Western Front to critique nationalist ideals, which later aligned with Nazi beliefs. The novel criticizes extreme nationalism and patriotic fervor through characters like Kantorek, who glorifies war, contrasting with the brutal reality experienced by soldiers. The recurring motif of societal pressure on young minds to sacrifice for the nation highlights the disillusionment and detachment from the romanticized view of war.
In his book All Quiet on the Western Front,Erich Maria Remarque uses various symbols and motifs to send a message about several ideas. Most of them, I feel as a reader, involve exposing the cruel reality of war and knocking down the romanticized, patriotic image wartime may conjure in someone's mind. Keeping in mind that All Quiet on the Western Front tells a story taking place during WWI, before WWII's rise of Nazism, there may still be ways to interpret its recurring motifs and symbols as criticisms of Nazi patriotic ideals.
One of the characteristics of Nazi patriotic ideals was total, all-encompassing loyalty to one's country. Soldiers as well as civilians were expected to support Germany in all ways possible, including dying on the battlefield. Remarque's work is certainly a lengthy critique of extreme nationalism like this. Kantorek, for example, often launches into impassioned, glorious speeches, encouraging the...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
men to join the military. As the novel progresses, and Paul and his friends become more deeply entrenched in the horrors of WWI, they slowly realize how untrue the speeches where. In battle, it does not matter what ideal or patriotic mindset you may have. It is still horrifically terrifying.
Remarque also uses vivid descriptions of horrendous violence to criticize nationalism. Most of the battle scenes are grisly and frightening, and the men seem emotionally numb to the deaths of their comrades. Against the backdrop of the disturbing carnage, intense patriotic ideals and nationalism seem ignorant and phony.
What motifs and symbols criticize patriotism in All Quiet on the Western Front?
All Quiet on the Western Front isn't especially replete with symbolism, but there are a number of recurring motifs in the story. Relevant to this particular question is the recurrence of the pressure that patriotism imposes upon young minds. Looked at from a rational standpoint, participating in such a carnival of slaughter seems like the very height of madness. Yet thanks to society's pressure, young men like those depicted in the story are expected to sacrifice their lives for the nation and think nothing of it.
This particular motif is exemplified most strongly in the character of Herr Kantorek, the boys' teacher. He instills them with the fanatical belief that war is glorious, the very life-blood of the nation. Far from teaching his students that war is a terrible, bloody business which involves wholesale slaughter and suffering on a monumental scale, Kantorek makes it sound incredibly heroic and glamorous.
Kantorek's nationalistic speeches are recalled by Paul and his comrades at various stages throughout the book with growing disgust. Their experiences of life on the front line bear no resemblance whatsoever to the romanticized portrait of war presented to them by their teacher. This only serves to make them all the more disillusioned. They realize that they've been lied to by Kantorek and so many other adult authority figures who really ought to have known better.