All Quiet on the Western Front is a powerful novel that allows one to experience the inside lines of World War I, from a soldiers perspective. Erich Maria Remarque includes the gruesome details of a soldiers life while on the front lines and the unimaginable everyday battles that they go through. What they witness in their daily lives is more dreadful then any horror movie you could think of. From the unsanitary living conditions, to the starvation, and worst of all the gory sight and smell of death on the battlefield, there is one thing that helps these soldiers stay alive during war, and that is teamwork, and the brotherhood bond, unlike any other, that is obtained in their situation.
To begin, to spend every minute of every day for year after year with the same people, you open up a new relationship and understanding of that person. You know personal details about their life and their family, you observe their habits and understand their pet peeves and ever tweak of their personality, including their weaknesses. Put all of this into a war situation, which requires a person to bond with all those around him, in a way where he puts his life in their hands, and has no choice but to depend on them for the one thing that is most important to all people; survival, and what one gets is a companionship that can compare to no other.
Our families and our teachers will be shocked when we go home, but here it is the universal language.(8) Paul describes the latrines, a perfect example of soldiers connection which is stronger than any other; they develop their own language with one another due to the amount of time they spend together. Something as simple as going to the bathroom, which is done very privately at home, where as at war its all done out in the open. They have nothing to hide from each other. Paul even says There is can only be hygienic; here it is beautiful.(9) He describes the idea of the latrines perfectly here. He is saying that back at home it is a daily private routine, done for sanitary and obvious reasons, but here however, all the men are so uniform and accustomed to each other they can spend hours on the toilet in front of one another playing cards.
Furthermore, in times of war one experiences things that are unthinkable and the horror witnessed of continuous death takes a toll on ones well being and mental state of mind. A person can not possibly deal with this alone, but need the support and friendship of someone who can relate to their situation to pull them through and keep them alive. A normal citizen would not be suited, as is made obvious by Pauls retrieve. You are at home, you are at home.(160) Paul continually reminds himself of this on time at home, he feels distanced and cannot relate to anyone around him, not even his own family. But a sense of strangeness will not leave me; I cannot feel at home amongst these things (160). No matter how hard Paul tries he cannot bring back memories of his childhood or what it is like to live at home, no matter what he tries, the connection between him and his life at home is lost, all he remembers is his friends back at war and all he wants, ironically, is to be back at war with them. Showing the bond these soldiers acquire is so powerful; you would rather be with them then your family. They help you through the everyday struggle of life and death.
In conclusion, one line by Paul really sums it all up, in the midst of everything, Paul says, I must think of Kat and Albert and Muller and Tjaden, what will they be doing?(169). While everything is going on all Paul can think about is his friends, he has this concern for their wellbeing and lives above anything else. Simply put, war pulls people together, whether it is a nation, or soldiers fighting at the front together. The experiences involved are far too great to be done alone, and the inhumanities of the bonds created are far too much to ever be broken. Fight together, live together, and die together.
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