Set against the backdrop of impending war, the central focus of Arch of Triumph is the love story between Ravic and Joan Madou, both of whom are refugees. They depend on each other for a sense of stability amidst their chaotic lives. Their relationship features a romantic escape to the Antibes, but from the beginning, their love is doomed to be brief and tragic due to Ravic's status as a refugee and the looming threat of war. This ill-fated romance reflects the fragile state of Paris on the brink of World War II. As Kate Hegstroem, who is battling cancer, poignantly observes: "Two wars within twenty years — that's too much. We are still tired from the first." Themes of doomed love also appear in Remarque's later works: The Black Obelisk (1957), The Night in Lisbon (1963), and Shadows in Paradise (1972).