Submitted by Professional_Mood_10 t3_yubz7f in books
I'm not here to rant about the movie— I just want to talk about this one detail of the book.
So, I'm a massive fan of All Quiet on The Western Front. The book. The writing is *chefs kiss.*
In the book, >!he dies on a quiet day. He slumps over with a calm look on his face; relieved that the war is over... for him.!< It's grim. The report that day is: >!"All quiet on the western front."!<
It's another senseless death in a senseless war. >!He dies on a peaceful day. It's ridiculous. It's senseless. It's only one month before armistice, having lasted the whole war. (Never mind the fact that there is nothing for him to go back to: "The war has ruined us for everything.")!<
It's an underscore to all their betrayal.
>!"And that is why they let us down so badly.!<
>!For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress— to the future. We often made fun of them and played jokes on them, but in our hearts we trusted them. The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief. . ."!<
These teenagers are dying, having been betrayed by their parents, teachers, and elders.
Later on, they touch on the generals and profiteers of war. Tjaden, Kropp, etc. have a dialogue about, "There must be some people to whom the war is useful." They talk about the nonsense of who says "yes" to war. And basically the fact that war is a dick-measuring contest for generals and kaisers. (Sorry to be crass, I couldn't think of a more fitting term.)
While Paul is on leave, he's sitting in a beer garden while the old men bluster. They stuff cigars in his pocket, but they're dismissive of Paul and his "everlasting trench warfare." They want "at least the whole of Belgium, the coal-areas of France, a slice of Russia."
The ending underlines all of this betrayal and sacrificing themselves for the complete nonsense of war-mongers in cushy offices, and comfortable beer gardens.
There are so many incredibly powerful messages layered so poetically in this book... It feels wrong to shortchange the ending, the title, the overarching message and all the nuance that comes with it.
Finally, even ignoring the significance of his death, you still have the fact that there won't be any report of, "All quiet on the western front" if there's no damn quiet on the front!
(Edit: In the 2022 movie, he dies a few seconds before armistice in a big battle scene where he's marching around like a hero-- as some others have mentioned, making him die unheroically and not detailing him going out in a "blaze of glory", is supposed to set it apart, too-- because war isn't glorious.)