E.M.Remarque "Läänerindel Muutuseta"
often as adolescents. Paul frequently considers the past and the future from the perspective of
his entire generation, noting that, when the war ends, he and his friends will not know what to
do, as they have learned to be adults only while fighting the war. The longer that Paul survives
the war and the more that he hates it, the less certain he is that life will be better for him after
it ends. This anxiety arises from his belief that the war will have ruined his generation, will
have so eviscerated his and his friends' minds that they will always be "bewildered." Against
such depressing expectations, Paul is relieved by his death: "his face had an expression of
calm, as though almost glad the end had come." The war becomes not merely a traumatic
experience or a hardship to be endured but something that actually transforms the essence of
human existence into irrevocable, endless suffering. The war destroys Paul long before it kills
him.
Kantorek
annaabi.ee 
