![]() ![]() ![]() A compelling cry of abandonment, Paul's final words, "I am so alone," summarize the treachery of war, an insidious malaise that obliterates all ties with life, leaving an empty, dehumanized husk, which bears no will to live. For Paul and the other veterans, bestiality and carnage have usurped three years of their lives, leaving empty, aimless men to be the future generation of Germans. By this point, details have receded in importance. Even the setting of the garden in which he convalesces is ambiguous. October 1918, a month before the armistice, Paul dies at the front he did not suffer and there was an expression of calm on his face as though he was glad the end had come.Īs the plot moves inexorably toward a conclusion, Remarque, becoming more philosophical and less objective, omits details of Paul's gas injury, two-week leave, return to the front, and fatal wound. ![]() The narrative suddenly changes to third person as if someone else is telling the story. Then Paul must go back to the front, alone. The days and years will pass and he will be alone without fear or hope. ![]() Sadly, Paul mentions that the generation before and after his had a civilian life as young adults his generation does not. But what is home? He and his whole generation have no goals, no aims, no passion for life and no direction. Resting for fourteen days because he swallowed some gas, Paul considers the possibility that an armistice means they can go home. ![]()
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