Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel
set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on
one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's
protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a
hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the
course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those
societal icons--parents, elders, school, religion--that had been the
foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a
result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlist…
