Child-like Soldiers

Author's Note: We are suppose to write a response to what the author of All Quiet on the Western Front theme is in chapter two.

During the course of World War 1, boatloads of soldier came and joined the army due to the propaganda that lead their child-like brain to think joining the army is the “in” thing for all the teenagers across the country. This then causes people with their childhood still in their memory, to join the army. In the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the author uses metaphors in order to relates task with things kids would understand, therefore making a connection that the boys are still young at heart.

The boys in the story show many sign of letting their inner kids come out and play. Life is tough in the Front when one of the members of the battalion have to get an amputation and has a great chance of dying. Kemmerich is basically on his deathbed and has knowledge of it. With all this rushing through the main character’s mind, he thinks, “We had fancied our task would be different only to find we were to be trained for heroism as though we were circus ponies”. The author uses these metaphors to make the reader think about what soldier actually do but to also get a connection with their child. This is beautifully written and the exact same technique is scattered throughout the story. This basically allows them to create a connection with the reader and their heart.