All Quiet On The Western Front Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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Often times when a soldier returns home from war he feels detached and lonely. In chapter seven of All Quiet on the Western Front Remarque presents three different anecdotes. These experiences previously might have been exciting for Paul but have now been tarnished by the war. Remarque includes these to differentiate Paul from his past life. This serves as a reminder to Paul of the ways the war has corrupted his innocence. Paul realizes that he cannot and never will return to who he once was and that the war has ruined that part of himself forever.
The first anecdote gives Paul a sense of hope that one day he can cleanse himself from the filth of war. Paul and his friends discover a theater poster of a young couple; the first thing they notice about the couple is their inherent cleanliness compared to themselves. They are tainted with the shadows and filthiness of war, nothing at all like the flawless couple. Even though Paul feels inferior he agrees to get deloused, a redundant chore that does little good, in the absurd hope he could compete with the young man on the poster.
In the next situation Paul is once again given false hope of escaping the devastation of war, even if it is only for just a moment. Paul and his fellow soldiers meet a group of French women when bathing one day at a canal. They are attracted to these girls. even though they …show more content…
Although Paul wanted to change out of his uniform, once he puts on his old civilian clothes he feels awkward and out of place. Later, he thinks about how books had once enthralled him and hopes that reading them may bring back the thrill of his adolescence. Unfortunately, “...he cannot find his way back…” to the way he once could escape in books (Remarque 172). He sees that even menial activities have been ruined for him. Paul realizes that the war has completely and utterly destroyed
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