“I'm young, I'm twenty; yet I know nothing of life but desperation, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality thrown into an abyss of pain” (Remarque 263). All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about nineteen-year-old Paul Bäumer, a soldier fighting for the Germans during the First World War. He describes his experiences as he fights alongside his friends and realizes that they are struggling because the new recruits are too young to fight properly. Paul has learned to focus on the battle to ensure his survival, but the new recruits cannot control their fears and are dying. Through the juxtaposition of innocence and experience in All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque reveals that soldiers must remove their emotions to survive the horrors of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe most experienced soldiers are able to put their emotions aside to be effective in war. Paul describes what he feels when he is at the front: “Men who have stood up as many times as we have become tough. Only the young recruits are agitated. Kat explains to them, “That was a twelve inch. You can tell from the report; now you will hear the explosion." . . It's suddenly in our veins. . . growing attention. . . The body with one leap is in full readiness” (Remarque 53-54). Veteran soldiers have learned to prepare for the shock of bombing, but recruits have no experience. The veterans try to help the recruits by explaining the difference between the bombs to calm them down. Recruits must lose fear so they can achieve “full readiness” and handle the stress of war. Through constant exposure, Paul developed a “thick skin” to withstand the terror of the attacks. This mental discipline gives him heightened senses that allow him to interpret the battlefield and survive. New recruits still must learn to leave their emotions behind to prepare for battle. He sees the recruits struggling around him during a battle and thinks, “Even though we need reinforcements, the recruits are almost more trouble than they're worth. . . They are killed simply because they can hardly distinguish shrapnel from high-explosive shells. . . and they only whine softly for their mothers and cease as soon as one looks at them” (Remarque 129-130). The recruits try to do good, but lose courage when they see the attack and don't know what to do. Their innocence prevents them from fighting effectively, so they panic when faced with real danger. Instead of looking at the battlefield, they cry for their mothers and give up. They fail to see every threat and defend themselves and their comrades. Because of their innocence, they have become “more trouble than they are worth.” They must put emotions aside and learn to fight smarter, not harder. They will be effective in war when they focus on fighting rather than on their fears. Even with this experience, soldiers have to adjust to life outside of war because, at some point, you still have to go home. Soldiers must put emotions aside to protect their families and themselves from the experience of war. Paul comes home to visit his family and his mother is worried about his safety and says, “'Yes, but Heinrich Bredemeyer was here just recently and said it's terrible out there now, with the gas and everything the rest.' . . . He doesn't know what he's saying, he's just worried about me. I should tell her that sometimewe found three enemy trenches. . . where men stood and lay, with blue faces, dead? (Observation 161). Paul wants to protect his mother from the horrors of war, so he puts aside his emotions for her. He would rather have her wonder what war is like than worry about him every day, knowing all the effects of war. His mother is already suffering from wartime stress. To know “everything else about it” would only give her more anxiety and, perhaps, cause her health to deteriorate more rapidly. Paul is also protecting himself, so he doesn't have to share his feelings with anyone or think about how the war has affected him. Seeing death regularly is difficult to deal with and easier not to think about. Paul has also lost his carefree happiness. She sits in her room, trying to connect with her old life and thinks: “Talk to me - take me up - take me, Life of my youth - you who are carefree, beautiful - take me back -. . . And at the same time I'm afraid I'm bothering him too much, because I don't know what might happen then. I am a soldier, this is what I must hold on to” (Remarque 172-173). Paul cannot be as free and unburdened as his past self because of all the trauma he has experienced. He reverts to a soldier's state of mind to protect himself from being overwhelmed by the fact that he will never be the same again. The “life of his youth” was torn away by the trauma of war. He has too much experience to regain his childhood happiness, so he falls back into his new identity, removing his emotions like a soldier. Paul is afraid of pushing too hard because he doesn't like what he sees in himself. He doesn't want to face his “carefree and beautiful” past because his present life is ugly and sad. Soldiers know how to detach themselves from their feelings because they have been taught that it is the only way to survive. The soldiers cannot let their emotions overcome them, otherwise they will die. Paul and Kat notice a rookie acting strangely and trying to leave the bunker during an attack: “'I'll be back in a minute,' he says, and tries to get past me. . . We're holding him. . . If we let him go he would run everywhere regardless of cover. It's not the first. . . they were sent straight from a recruiting depot into a barrage sufficient to turn an old soldier's hair gray” (Remarque 109-110). The young recruits cannot handle the stress and fear of random bombing, so they lose control. Veterans know they will make mistakes if they can't manage their emotions, and those mistakes would lead to their death. The recruits are too innocent to realize that they must focus on survival and not let their fears control them. They don't know that if they leave the bunker during an attack, they will most likely die. They want to escape the claustrophobic bunker and would run “anywhere, regardless of cover.” They get caught up in emotions, which prevents them from thinking rationally. The “recruiting depot” did not prepare them to endure the hardships that “turn an old soldier's hair gray.” They bring themselves unnecessary danger when they are not mentally prepared. Paul was also taken by surprise. Paolo fell asleep during a bombing and was surprised by an explosion nearby: “I wake up with a start, I don't know where I am. . . I lay in the pale cradle of twilight, . . . - am I crying? I put my hand over my eyes, that's cool, am I a kid? . . . I recognize Katczinsky's silhouette and . . . he says, 'That scared you. It was just a nose cap, it ended up in the bushes over there.' I sit down. . . It's nice that Kat is there” (Remarque 60). Kat helps Paul shed his childhood fear and survive. Paul.