I read "All Quiet on the Western Front" and viewed the movie. Both the film and the novel show the horror of trench warfare and the drawbacks of unquestioning patriotism. Both the film and the novel follow the same plot but emphasize different aspects. The beginning of both the movie and the novel start off saying. "This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. [This story] will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells were destroyed by the war. This line is a precursor of what is to come.
             The film version of "All Quiet on the Western Front," directed by Lewis Milestone and the novel by Erich Remarque tells what happens to a group of German teenagers during World War I. In this novel some very deep feelings come from the soldiers point of view. The story centers around Paul Baumer, the main character. Paul is the protagonist of the novel who changes from a soft young man to a hardened soldier. He and his classmates had patriotically marched off for recruitment, led on by their teacher, Kantorek. However, they soon find that war is not as glorious as everyone thinks it is. The soldiers soon endure a life in the rat-infested trenches with very few food rations. Throughout the novel and the movie Paul focuses mainly on trying to stay alive and is constantly worrying whether his friends will survive. There is a strong serious tone present in the novel. The theme of how the war destroyed the generation is brought up many times. In the movie this theme is not brought up as much as in the book. There is struggle with death for the soldiers. There is a struggle to survive, and also to deal with the death of their comrades and those around them. A great deal of the setting of the novel and the movie takes place on the battlefield or in the trenches. Paul and his fellow soldiers live ...