"დასავლეთის ფრონტი უცვლელია" ერიხ მარია რემარკი "All Quiet on the Western Front" Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque is much more than a writer of supreme talent: he is a soul that has felt, experienced, and understood; a mind that, with astonishing clarity and the ornate screen characteristic of a writer, perceived and internalized both the corruption and the charisma, the flaws and the captivation, the violence and the harmony of the world; a consciousness that managed to weave the worldview, teachings, and philosophy formed over a lifetime into his peerless books. And we have been blessed to discover, explore, and perceive the profound depth of his work. The latter is not a lifeless accumulation of words printed on paper, but a soulful creation imbued with humanity and prudence - an echo of the past that unites and connects the children of humanity. Remark’s one of the most recognizable and, at the same time, most heart-rending works fits this description extraordinarily well: “All Quiet on the Western Front”.

The work is anti-militarist; therefore, it focuses on the horror of war, its vanity and absurdity, the cruel hopelessness and despair reigning around during times of extreme hardship, the transformation of human beings—living, breathing, warm-blooded entities—first into animals driven by instincts, and then into stuffed dummies devoid of common sense, and on suffering, bloodshed, and death. The narrator is a young lad, Paul Bäumer, whose mind is clouded by romanticized images of war, propaganda movements, and a false definition of patriotism forced upon him by his own teachers and educational system, and who, along with his classmates, heads to the so-called "slaughterhouse." These German boys, half-children, had just been learning how to live, how to think, how to feel with their youthful souls the beauty of life in all its glory... but it was not meant to be: under the influence of patriotic agitation, they were turned into cannon fodder. The "grand" teachings of elders on goodness and the elevated soul, virtue and loyalty, patriotism and decency evaporated as soon as they reached the front line; the pot of trust was shattered, and the flowers of humanity and philanthropy inside it were replaced by the thorns of wild instincts. In the consciousness of these poor soldiers, childhood, leniency, and mercy took a back seat, giving first place to heartlessness, ruthlessness, and the wild, primitive sense of self-preservation. Their previous carefree and lighthearted life finally became a thing of the past. Dehumanization began, and the boys degenerated.

The narrative begins as the group of young men returns from the front line back to the barracks. They soon visit their friend Kemmerich in the St. Joseph lazaret, who has had to have his leg amputated due to a wound sustained in battle. The young man's condition is hopeless; he weakens day by day, his voice fades, as if no longer beating beneath his skin and a machine of death is working inside him. Seeing this, Müller asks him for his boots. This moment clearly demonstrates the boys' indifference to the events that have occurred, which in turn is caused by getting used to the daily routine of war, though this does not at all mean they are heartless; no, for that moment it was simply the most sensible decision. Apathy is also shown by the hospital staff toward the dead young men - for them, Kemmerich is just an ordinary number, after whose death the focus is on freeing up space for another patient.

The poor soldiers soon have to return to the front. This becomes one of the most traumatic and bloody periods for them. The ominous cries of wounded horses, the heart-wrenching groans of the dying, and the gruesome, blood-stained landscape drive them into agony. Afterwards, the boys are given a few days to rest in a trench, and Paul is sent on leave. Upon returning to his family, the latter feels a chilling alienation—after being on the front line, civilian life appears before him as a very aimless, meaningless, and unrewarding existence. In addition, he learns that his mother is suffering from cancer. Paul can find his place neither in his childhood room nor in the outside world, and in the end, he dreams that he had never returned home at all.

Before returning to the front again, Paul undergoes a four-week training course in a barracks, opposite which is a ruined, devastated, and ruined camp of Russian prisoners. The Russians are so young, starving, and miserable that Paul's soul is covered with tiny flowers of empathy toward them.

"These quiet creatures were turned into our enemies by someone's command. Another command could have turned them into our friends. Several people unknown to us sit somewhere at a table and sign a document, and then for years our primary goal is something that normally causes disgust in the human race and deserves the highest punishment. Which of us can see the enemy in these quiet creatures with childish faces and apostle's beards? Any senior teacher is a worse enemy to a student than they are to us. Despite this, if they were free, we would shoot them without any hesitation, and they would shoot us," the narrator states.

Upon returning to the war, Paul feels awkward in front of his friends because of his leave, so while at the front, he decides to take on a great responsibility and scout enemy positions. Unfortunately, the young man has a bad day: during the execution of the task, the adversary launches a direct attack on the Germans. The endless rattle of machine guns, the whistling of shells, and the terrifying echo of explosions dominating nature begin, accompanied by the heart-rending screams and groans of people. Paul is forced to take refuge in a trench and stay there until the assault is repelled. Suddenly, a French soldier jumps into the same trench. Seized by fear and the animal instinct for self-preservation, Paul wounds the latter in the heart without hesitation. Only when he discovers family photographs carefully kept in the dying man's pocket and has to stay with him until dawn does he analyze the severity of his disgusting act and try to save the victim—he bandages the wound, offers water, and calms him as much as possible. However, hope has long since sprouted wings and flown to unattainable heights. The man's death is inevitable. Once again, fear bristles in Paul, but this is not that rabid fear that drives a person out of their mind and makes them give up all morality and values. It is an all-encompassing fear mixed with boundless sadness and inexhaustible regret, which only a human being can experience—a compassionate, forgiving person, and not a bewildered animal. After this nightmare, Paul safely returns to the trenches.

Shortly afterwards, the boys are sent to a village to perform guard duty. Here they experience a brief happiness and display their childishness—this is that colorful, winged dream that was prematurely snatched from their hands, when they were still honest and innocent, ruthlessly driven into the slaughterhouse, leaving a permanent mark on the path of their development and progress; this is the lost generation... Later, the boys move to another village, where they are tasked with safely evacuating civilians. Unfortunately, a rain of bullets catches up with them here too, resulting in injuries to Paul and Kropp. They are fiercely opposed to being separated from each other, so they are right next to each other both on the train and in the lazaret. Albert has his leg amputated, which completely destroys his psychological state. Paul recovers and returns to the front line. And here a real nightmare awaits him. His friends perish one by one. Even the strongest and most experienced of them, Stanislaus Katczinsky, is hit by a bullet. Despite Paul's dedicated attempts to save his comrade, it is not possible.

Thus, physically and morally shattered, the young man is left all alone. At the end of the work, the narrative shifts to the third person, and the author reports that Paul dies shortly before the end of the war. And this happens on such a quiet and peaceful day when the report from the front is limited to a single sentence: "All Quiet on the Western Front."

"He fell face down and lay as though sleeping. When they turned him over, one saw that he could not have suffered long; his face had an expression so calm, as though almost glad the end had come."

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is one of those books that every person should read at least once in their life. Remarque's ability to paint a heart-rending story with astonishing clarity and unparalleled artistry will truly leave no one indifferent.