Unseen Prose: All Quiet On The Western Front

In this moment of the novel, Paul is perceived as emotional and feeling guilty for his actions. He is facing some internal conflicts about the way the war is making him act and behave, so when put in a situation with one other soldier he chooses to do the morally correct thing and try to save the enemy. He struggles to handle how he stabbed this enemy and he says “This is the first time I have killed with my hands, whom I can see close at hand, whose death is my doing” (Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 105). Paul feels that this is the first death where he feels truly responsible because he sees the suffering and pain of the soldier up close. An interesting writing method used by Remarque all throughout the chapter is simple sentences. These are very short sentences but they paint a picture and put emphasis on either how Paul is feeling or what is happening at that time. For instance “The figure opposite me moves” or “The eyes follow me” (Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 104), both extremely short sentences, but pack a lot of context and feeling to the reader. Perhaps a technique such as simple sentences was used by Remarque to display some of the events he experienced in his own time during the war. Also with the narrative style being first person point of view, this allows Remarque to share his experiences through the main character Paul. Later in the chapter Paul continues to struggle with what he has done. He feels ashamed of what he did and mentions “This dying man has time with him, he has an invisible dagger with which he stabs me: Time and my thoughts” (Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 105). Each breath the wounded enemy takes reminds Paul of what he has done, resulting in a constant stream of consciousness. He continues to talk to the soldier, hoping that he will hear him and forgive what he has done. Paul says “‘Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert’” (Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 106). Paul feels extremely guilty and wishes to take it all back, but as known by both soldiers and society, that is not how World War works.