Attitudes Towards the War in Regeneration and All Quiet on the Western

"...no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both." -- Abraham Flexner "Regeneration" is an anti-war novel, reflecting the issues and the concerns in wartime Britain. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is also an influential anti-war novel and an important chronicle of World War 1. Both are historical fiction set near the end of the war, 1917-1918. The two texts explore similar themes in condemning the war. Remarque’s novel (All Quiet on the Western Front) is a profound statement against war, focusing especially on the ravaging effects of war on the humanity of soldiers. Similarly, Barker (author of Regeneration) offers realistic detail of many abominable war scenes, dwelling upon the destruction that war wreaks upon men’s minds. These details comprise a large portion of the novel. In All Quiet on the Western Front, through the narrative of Paul BÃ ¤umer, a young German soldier, there are constant attacks on the romantic ideals of warfare. The novel dramatizes the disjunction between high minded rhetoric about patriotism and honour, and the actual horror of trench warfare. Remarque continually stresses that the soldiers are not fighting with the abstract ideals of patriotic spirit in mind; they are fighting for their survival. Nothing in this novel makes the actual experience of war look attractive. The overriding theme of All Quiet on the Western Front is the terrible brutality of war, which informs every scene in the novel. It sets out to portray war as it was actually experienced, replacing romanticized versions in preceding novels, with a decidedly unromantic vision of fear, meaninglessness, and butchery. World War 1 completely alter... ... large concepts of duty, sanity, and war. Barker, with her insightful and direct writing style, succeeds in presenting a microcosm of madness that prevails during war. Regeneration recounts many vivid war scenes, and without drawing conclusions, effectively instils a feeling of vexation against the war into the reader. In presenting his grimly realistic version of a soldier’s experience, Remarque strips away the typical romanticism of war narrative in All Quiet on the Western Front, providing an unrelenting portrayal of carnage and gore. It is a novel of social protest; totally rejecting the war and nationalistic policies; and in doing so, successfully depicts the many horrors of World War 1. Works Cited Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003. Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine Books, 1984.