What do the coffins symbolize in all quiet on the western front? Steven Fiorini | How-to The coffins symbolize the impending death that the soliders face while on the front lines. They symbolize the dangers of the war the recruits are in and how valuable their lives are.
What are the symbols in All Quiet on the Western Front?
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. All Quiet on the Western Front doesn’t employ a great deal of symbolism, but one important symbol in the novel is Kemmerich’s boots. Kemmerich’s high, supple boots are passed from soldier to soldier as each owner dies in sequence.
What is the significance of the new coffins?
The new coffins foreshadow death and suffering to come. The soldiers are being sent to the front with the expectation that many of them will be slaughtered. The men know it and their leaders know it, and yet the men still do their “duty.”
What do the new coffins foreshadow in the poem?
The new coffins foreshadow death and suffering to come. The soldiers are being sent to the front with the expectation that many of them will be slaughtered. The men know it and their leaders know it, and yet the men still do their “duty.” When they reach the front, the men notice that the enemy artillery has been reinforced.
Why are there hundreds of coffins in the trenches?
The hundreds of coffins the soldiers saw on their way to the front have proven necessary. Trench warfare has exacted an astoundingly devastating toll on Paul’s comrades.
Who wrote the book "All Quiet on the Western Front"?
What do potato cakes represent?
What do you picture when you think of butterflies?
What does the potato cake symbolize?
What does it feel like when Paul returns home on leave?
What is the point of Remarque's book?
Why do we see hearts everywhere?
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What do the horses symbolize in all Quiet on the Western front?
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque uses horses and butterflies to represent how war forces soldiers to conceal their emotions, which protects him from the brutal experiences of war. The Horses represent the soldiers and their emotions that they carefully hide.
What does the rum and cheese symbolize in All Quiet on the Western Front?
Rations of cheese and rum are handed out to the soldiers, but the men understand them to signify hard times ahead.
What do the wounded horses symbolize?
What does the cry of the wounded horses represent? The moaning of the world (the innocent are affected).
What happened in Chapter 4 of all Quiet on the Western front?
Paul crawls under an uncovered coffin for protection. Kat shakes him from behind to tell him to put his gas mask on. After he dons his mask, Paul helps a new recruit put his on. He then dives into a hole created by an exploding shell, reasoning that shells seldom hit the same place twice.
What is the significance of Kemmerich's boots?
Kemmerich's Boots Paul brings them to Müller after Kemmerich dies and inherits them himself when Müller is shot to death later in the novel. In this way, the boots represent the cheapness of human life in the war. A good pair of boots is more valuable—and more durable—than a human life.
Who dies in Chapter 6 of All Quiet on the Western Front?
Lesson Summary They then wait in their bunker to see what luck has in store for them next. They defeat a French attack, causing them massive casualties. During the next attack, Haie dies of a horrible wound, as Paul holds his hand. After a while, Second Company is relieved, but only 32 of 150 men remain alive.
Why can't the men get rid of their lice?
Why can't the men get rid of their lice? They have hundreds on each of their heads.
What does a rearing horse symbolize?
Rearing occurs when a horse or other equine "stands up" on its hind legs with the forelegs off the ground. Rearing may be linked to fright, aggression, excitement, disobedience, non experienced rider, or pain.
What symbolism does the earth have for the soldier?
The earth has the power to protect and shelter soldiers when they hide in trenches or in holes made by shells. Earth proves to be a match for the man-made weapons that seek to kill men; for, even though Earth cannot fight back, it can protect Paul and his friends.
What happens in chapter 5 of All Quiet on the Western Front?
In Chapter 5 of All Quiet on the Western Front, the men grow closer after the day's events. First, they disrespect Himmelstoss, who mistreated them in training. Second, Paul and Kat are able to steal and roast a goose, which they share with their friends.
What is Kropp's first name?
Bernard "Bernie" Kropp (also known as "Teacher" or simply "Bernie") is a supporting character in The Incredibles.
What happened after the bombardment All Quiet on the Western Front?
After the bombardment, a wave of attacking soldiers advanced on the enemy trenches. Unfortunately, as we see in this chapter, the defending side knew that the attack was coming the moment the bombing ended.
What is the irony in the comment we are the iron youth?
What is the irony in the comment, "We are the Iron youth?" The irony is that they consider themselves adults because of their experiences rather than youths.
Who took Kemmerich's boots?
This, like realizing the importance of boots, was essential to their survival. It is this which allows the young men to calmly will their boots away to one another. Muller does eventually get Kemmerich's boots, and when he dies Paul gets them.
What are the themes in All Quiet on the Western Front?
The Horror of War The overriding theme of All Quiet on the Western Front is the terrible brutality of war, which informs every scene in the novel.
Who is Himmelstoss in All Quiet on the Western Front?
Himmelstoss is a character from Erich Maria Remarque's World War I novel All Quiet on the Western Front. He's a training officer at the training camp the boys must attend before being deployed to the front lines, and he's universally hated because he's a bully.
All Quiet on the Western Front Symbols | LitCharts
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All Quiet on the Western Front: Symbols | SparkNotes
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Kemmerich’s Boots. All Quiet on the Western Front doesn’t employ a great deal of symbolism, but one important symbol in the novel is Kemmerich’s boots. Kemmerich’s high, supple boots are passed from soldier to soldier as each owner dies in sequence.
All Quiet on the Western Front Symbols | Course Hero
Symbolism in Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Learn about the different symbols such as Weapons in All Quiet on the Western Front and how they contribute to the plot of the book.
The 25 Best All Quiet on the Western Front Quotes - bookroo.com
#2: “The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts.” #3: “While they continued to write and talk, we saw the wounded and dying. While they taught that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger.”
All Quiet on the Western Front | Symbolism Wiki | Fandom
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel and story written by Erich Maria Remarque Paul Bäumer - A young German soldier fighting in the trenches during World War I. Paul is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. He is, at heart, a kind, compas-sionate, and sensitive young man, but the brutal expe-rience of warfare teaches him to detach himself from his feelings. His account of the war is ...
Symbolism - CliffsNotes
All Quiet demonstrates a controlled use of symbols, which guide the reader's thinking toward significant themes of loss and longing.. Most prominent are the soft airman's boots, which pass from man to man after each wearer succumbs to a violent death. Worn by Kemmerich before his injury, they were undoubtedly stripped from a downed British airman before changing hands, which they do twice more ...
Who wrote the book "All Quiet on the Western Front"?
There are many symbols in All Quiet on the Western Front, the World War I novel by Erich Maria Remarque. In this lesson, you'll learn about a few of those symbols and their significance.
What do potato cakes represent?
Potato cakes may seem like an odd symbol to put in a novel about war, just like butterflies, but they provide an interesting way to represent both sacrifice and home. Potato cakes are the narrator's favorite food in the entire world, and they really do provide him with a link to his family and to his old home.
What do you picture when you think of butterflies?
First and foremost, what do you picture when you think of butterflies? Those beautiful tissue paper wings. They're so thin you're afraid to touch them. So it's no surprise that Remarque uses the presence of butterflies to symbolize the utter fragility of human life. The narrator's life, as well as the lives of countless young men, ended in this brutal conflict, and Remarque seems to say that, like the death of a butterfly, these young men's deaths meant absolutely nothing to the world.
What does the potato cake symbolize?
Symbolically, the potato cakes connect Paul to his family and to his home, and it represents an act of sacrifice - first, when Paul's family makes the potato cakes possible, then when Paul shares them with others. It's a reminder of something kind and good, which are few and far between at the front, and it's a reminder for Paul of what the war, the front lines, have turned him into.
What does it feel like when Paul returns home on leave?
In fact, when Paul, the narrator, returns home on leave for a few weeks, he feels very out of place, very uncomfortable. Especially when confronted with the sacrifices his family makes to stay alive, but also to provide him with comfort and his favorite meal. His father works very late and supports the entire family while Paul's mother is ill; his sister stands in line for hours on end for food during the severe rationing. And Paul's sick mother drags herself out of bed so she can cook his favorite meal: potato cakes and whortleberry jam.
What is the point of Remarque's book?
As demonstrated by the way the men act in order to obtain the boots in the novel, Remarque makes a point about how people act in wartime, when survival is on everyone's mind and it's every man for himself. Your concern becomes how you yourself will last - not how to comfort your dying friend. You, understandably, just want those boots.
Why do we see hearts everywhere?
Why is that? It's because the heart has become a symbol of love and passion, ideas that are really hard to define and discuss. But a heart is a concrete thing, so it's easier to just use a heart instead of a lengthy description of love.
What is the symbolism of all quiet on the Western Front?
All Quiet on the Western Front doesn’t employ a great deal of symbolism, but one important symbol in the novel is Kemmerich’s boots. Kemmerich’s high, supple boots are passed from soldier to soldier as each owner dies in sequence. Kemmerich himself took them from the corpse of a dead airman, and as Kemmerich lies on his own deathbed, ...
What does the boots symbolize?
The question of who will inherit them continually overshadows their owners’ deaths. The boots also symbolize the necessary pragmatism that a soldier must have. One cannot yield to one’s emotions amid the devastation of the war; rather, one must block out grief and despair like a machine.
Why do Paul bring the boots to Müller?
Paul brings them to Müller after Kemmerich dies and inherits them himself when Müller is shot to death later in the novel. In this way, the boots represent the cheapness of human life in the war. A good pair of boots is more valuable—and more durable—than a human life.
Who explains the symbols in Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front?
Professor Bradley Greenburg of Northeastern Illinois University explains the symbols in Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front.
Why are Franz Kemmerich's boots passed from one soldier to the next?
Franz Kemmerich's boots are passed from one soldier to the next in an effort to defy death because the boots outlive each owner : Franz Müller gets them from Kemmerich, and Paul Bäumer gets them from Müller. At the same time, the boots come to represent the fleetingness of life because the boots last longer and are somehow more valuable than the lives of their owners. In addition, the practical notion of needing good boots during warfare supersedes the compassion one soldier might feel over the death of another.
What do butterflies represent in the novel?
The butterflies come to represent innocence, happiness, and order within nature as they contrast with the observation balloons and the skulls that litter the battlefield. They also represent that the men's lives are especially fragile and vulnerable to death during war.
Why does Remarque use symbolism?
Remarque uses symbolism to convey the complex responses of his characters to the horrors of war.
What does food symbolize in the novel?
Sharing a meal also symbolizes their camaraderie. In these respects, food represents one of the last vestiges of their humanity. Good, nourishing food is often in short supply at the front where it is rationed. As the novel opens, the men have just finished eating beef and green beans, experiencing a rare feeling during wartime of being "satisfied and at peace." But food, like everything else, cannot escape the war's influence. The delicious meal the men consume is a result of extra rations produced after 70 members of their regiment were wounded or died in battle.
What is the counterpoint of Paul's stint of guard duty?
The counterpoint of Paul's stint of guard duty heightens the sense of loss as he tries to summon former feelings of love, innocence, and optimism, but cannot fully override the distant sound of artillery fire that triggers his siege mentality. His wistful, elegiac mood persists, forcing him to accept the fact that his generation is burned out, indifferent, emotionally stifled. He recognizes that he can go on existing, but that he will never feel fully alive again. Regretting the loss of his former self, he concludes, "I believe we are lost."
What did the British see as they passed the shelled remains of a school?
Rumors return the men's attention to a possible offensive. As they pass the shelled remains of a school, they see a hundred sweet-smelling pine coffins stacked against it, preparations for their own casualties. Nightly, the British strengthen both troops and munitions — ominous reminders that the war shows no signs of ending.
What does Paul's inability to warm his hands mean?
Paul's inability to warm his hands parallels the deaths of his comrades and foreshadows his own coming death. He decries the pitiless landscape, so pockmarked by craters that it resembles the moon, a cold heavenly body. Unable to solace his flagging spirits, he looks forward to a mug of barley soup, but the meal fails to brighten his mood. Even with blue skies and gentle breezes overhead, the earthly scene of rotting, bloated corpses sickens the men, who are incapable of interring so many dead comrades. Against this hellish backdrop flutter larks and two yellow and red butterflies, symbols of fragile beauty, which settle on the "teeth of a skull." Likewise Paul and his comrades, at one time innocent denizens of nature, perch on the rim of death, because they have no other place to rest.
What is Paul's fate?
Paul grows morose and superstitious about his fate after narrowly escaping death in either of two foxholes while passing from one to the other. German artillery is so worn that shells fall on German troops. Fat rodents, which the men call "corpse-rats," gnaw the men's bread.
Why did the recruits fail as reinforcements and die?
Inexperienced recruits fail as reinforcements and die because they have no survival skills. Himmelstoss, panicked by the reality of front-line duty, nurses a slight wound until Paul forces him out of the dugout with insults and a rap on the head. At a lieutenant's order, Himmelstoss joins the others. Paul becomes disoriented. In his words, " [W]e run, we throw, we shoot, we kill, we lie about, we are feeble and spent. . . ." Paul and the other experienced infantrymen teach recruits how to use their ears to determine which projectiles are incoming and where they will land. Haie, severely wounded in the back, drags himself along, acknowledging to Paul that death is near. As autumn arrives, the line maintains its hold on the trenches, but roll call reveals that only thirty-two out of a hundred and fifty men of Second Company survive.
What is the ignoble death of rats trapped in the gleam of a flashlight?
The ignoble death of rats trapped in the gleam of a flashlight calls to mind the airman who is trapped by searchlights and gunned down. Just as Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest predicts, the rats that survive are the most aggressive — bloodthirsty enough to devour a couple of cats and a dog.
What is a listening post?
listening post an advanced, concealed position near the enemy's lines, for detecting the enemy's movements by listening.
What is the theme of All Quiet?
All Quiet demonstrates a controlled use of symbols, which guide the reader's thinking toward significant themes of loss and longing. Most prominent are the soft airman's boots, which pass from man to man after each wearer succumbs to a violent death.
What does Paul's butterfly exemplify?
For Paul, the butterflies, mocked by the ominous observation balloons that hover overhead, exemplify the innocence and joy of nature. Even when the graceful creatures alight on a skull, their presence reminds the men and the reader that the land on which battles are fought still contains a semblance of natural order.
What did Paul receive on the train to Cologne?
On the train to Cologne, Paul receives the kindness of a nurse who ennobles his sacrifices for his country with clean sheets and personal care. At the Catholic hospital, the nuns pray during Morning Devotion, despite the men's wish for an extended sleep.
What does Paul's vision of her fresh good looks emphasize?
At the same time, the vision of her fresh good looks emphasizes Paul's scruffy clothes and infestation with lice. The brunette, who pragmatically exchanges sex for food and cigarettes, holds him close, allowing intimacy as a means of staying alive. His hometown looks so inviting that he compares it to a mother.
What does Paul's love for potatoes mean?
Paul's fondness for potato-cakes, a direct offshoot of his attitude toward his mother, symbolizes home and sacrifice. Like the men who dig into the earth with shovels and sometimes teeth and fingernails to survive bombardment, the potato is a grubby, humble outgrowth of the same soil, as well as a welcome treat when grated and cooked in patties. During the severe rationing at home, Paul's sister must stand in line for food, his father works late to support his household, and Paul's mother, saintly and unselfish, cooks the cakes and puts up whortleberry jam because they are his favorite foods. The gifts are so precious to Paul that he feels compelled to share them with the starving prisoners of war and with his buddies.
What are the new coffins?
The new coffins foreshadow death and suffering to come. The soldiers are being sent to the front with the expectation that many of them will be slaughtered. The men know it and their leaders know it, and yet the men still do their “duty.”
What chapter is "All Quiet on the Western Front"?
All Quiet on the Western Front: Chapter 6. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in All Quiet on the Western Front, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. The company is sent to the front two days earlier than usual, after hearing rumors of a new offensive.
What did Paul see in the trenches?
They throw grenades into the no-man’s-land between the trenches and recognize a charging line of French soldiers. Paul sees an enemy soldier fall into barbed wire with his hands clasped in front of him; when Paul looks again, only the stumps of the soldier’s arms remain hanging in the wire.
What do the men call the rats in the trench?
The company’s trench is in deteriorating condition, and it is infested with fat, revolting rats that the men call “corpse-rats.”. Tired of the rats eating their bread, the men make a pile of bread and use shovels to kill any rats that come near it.
Why do the soldiers get rations of cheese and rum?
The men receive more ammunition, and set to remove serrated blades from their bayonets, because the enemy will brutally kill any German found to be using a saw-blade bayonet.
What does the brief moment of human connection between Paul and the enemy soldier suggest?
The brief moment of human connection between Paul and the enemy soldier suggests that the common soldiers are not actually true enemies. But the rush of mindless fighting continues and the need to survive overcomes any other thought.
What does the French soldier's severed hands offer?
The horrors Paul witnesses become ingrained in his memory; the French soldier’s clasped, severed hands offer a cynical image of a prayer gone unheeded.
Who wrote the book "All Quiet on the Western Front"?
There are many symbols in All Quiet on the Western Front, the World War I novel by Erich Maria Remarque. In this lesson, you'll learn about a few of those symbols and their significance.
What do potato cakes represent?
Potato cakes may seem like an odd symbol to put in a novel about war, just like butterflies, but they provide an interesting way to represent both sacrifice and home. Potato cakes are the narrator's favorite food in the entire world, and they really do provide him with a link to his family and to his old home.
What do you picture when you think of butterflies?
First and foremost, what do you picture when you think of butterflies? Those beautiful tissue paper wings. They're so thin you're afraid to touch them. So it's no surprise that Remarque uses the presence of butterflies to symbolize the utter fragility of human life. The narrator's life, as well as the lives of countless young men, ended in this brutal conflict, and Remarque seems to say that, like the death of a butterfly, these young men's deaths meant absolutely nothing to the world.
What does the potato cake symbolize?
Symbolically, the potato cakes connect Paul to his family and to his home, and it represents an act of sacrifice - first, when Paul's family makes the potato cakes possible, then when Paul shares them with others. It's a reminder of something kind and good, which are few and far between at the front, and it's a reminder for Paul of what the war, the front lines, have turned him into.
What does it feel like when Paul returns home on leave?
In fact, when Paul, the narrator, returns home on leave for a few weeks, he feels very out of place, very uncomfortable. Especially when confronted with the sacrifices his family makes to stay alive, but also to provide him with comfort and his favorite meal. His father works very late and supports the entire family while Paul's mother is ill; his sister stands in line for hours on end for food during the severe rationing. And Paul's sick mother drags herself out of bed so she can cook his favorite meal: potato cakes and whortleberry jam.
What is the point of Remarque's book?
As demonstrated by the way the men act in order to obtain the boots in the novel, Remarque makes a point about how people act in wartime, when survival is on everyone's mind and it's every man for himself. Your concern becomes how you yourself will last - not how to comfort your dying friend. You, understandably, just want those boots.
Why do we see hearts everywhere?
Why is that? It's because the heart has become a symbol of love and passion, ideas that are really hard to define and discuss. But a heart is a concrete thing, so it's easier to just use a heart instead of a lengthy description of love.