Erich Mario Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is a remarkable historical account of a German soldier who fights in World War 2. Throughout All Quiet on the Western Front, the reader is compelled into the confused sense of reasoning towards the cause which the soldiers consistently must face throughout the book. Erich Maria Remarque characters" attitudes about the war are very similar to the characters" attitudes in other works of writing throughout history.
In All Quiet on the Western Front the story constantly alludes to the reason why the countries are fighting, that is, the soldiers do not seem to know why the countries are fighting in this apparent pointless war. The thoughts of the soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front ponder the reality that since the countries are enemy's, the countries hate each other, but if the countries were allies they would gladly fight side by side. The mental trials of trying to understand the reason why the old leaders can sit around and decide whom to fight also always plagues the soldier's minds. Such a constant struggle is demonstrated in "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy. Hardy's character has shot and killed a man on the opposing side of a battle. This soldier is wondering what makes it just to kill a man who could be his friend if he were not born to a different line. They could have sit and talked and "wet many a nipperkin" if he had not happened to live in a group that just happened to become opposed to the other man's group. .
The soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front also have a struggle with the value of one's life and the absence of value in another man's, as I am sure every soldier who goes through a war must. The soldiers place great value on the lives of their countrymen and allies, but very little on the lives of the enemy, except for the instance where Paul, the character telling the story in first person, is stuck in a hole and must stab and kill a Russian soldier who falls into the hole and then must stay in the hole with him for hours.