1. All Quiet on the Western Front
Video!

2. Erich Maria Remarque 1898 - 1970 Background: German
Born Erich Paul Remark (changed middle name to honor mother; changed last name to honor French ancestors)
Early interests:
Writing and music
Often argued with school authorities – especially Professor Konschorek (Kantorek)

3. Erich Maria Remarque
1916 – at age 18 Remarque is drafted into German army as infantryman
He experiences trench warfare
He is wounded several times, once seriously
Carries out friend, Troske, who dies
1917 – mother dies of cancer

4. Erich Maria Remarque 1898 - 1970 Post war
After trauma he experiences in war, Remarque lives as one of the “lost generation.”
Odd jobs as tombstone salesman, substitute teacher, organist, and journalist

5. All Quiet on the Western Front
Semi-autobiographical; Remarque faced wartime torments
Serialized in 1928 (original title: Im Westen nichts Neues, In the West Nothing New)
1929 – Published in book form; sold more than 1 million copies in Germany
Translated into 23 languages
Nominated for Nobel Prize

6. All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 – made into Hollywood movie; receives Academy award for Best Picture
Controversy ensues
Nazi party attacks novel as pacifist and anti-nationalist
Remarque forced to leave Germany (lives in Switzerland; moves to U.S. in 1939 – becomes naturalized U.S. citizen in 1947)
Nazis burn books in 1933

7. Erich Maria Remarque
Remarque’s other works, including sequel to All Quiet (The Road Back), are not as popular.
Famous for his social life in Hollywood (friends with Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald)

8. All Quiet on the Western Front
Setting: late 1916 – October 1918 (one month before armistice), near German front lines
Point-of-view: first person
Style specifics: present tense verbs, verbal/situational irony, symbolism
Symbols: boots, goose, wounded horses, cherry tree

9. Characters Second Company, former schoolmates
Paul Bäumer – protagonist, 19
Tjaden – grudge vs. Himmelstoss
Stanislaus Katczinsky – 40, leader, ingenuity
Albert Kropp – best thinker, hospital
Kantorek – teacher, encourages students to enlist, pompous/authoritarian
Himmelstoss – drillmaster, despised

10. Characters continued Detering – farmer, fondness for nature/ animals
Kemmerich – dies, boots, Paul visits mother
Müller – boots
Gérard Duval – French soldier
Mittelstaedt – commander of home guard
Sergeant Oellrich – rifle sniper
Lieutenant Bertinck – company commander
Ginger - cook