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All Quiet on the Western Front is a graphic depiction of the horrors of war. In the short note before ChapterOne, Remarque lets the reader know exactly what themes he intends. War is a savage and gratuitous evil, war isunnatural, and war is responsible for the destruction of an entire generation.Remarque is very clear on thestrength of his themes, and uses graphic imagery to convey to the reader the physical and psychological impactthat war has on humanity. But Remarque uses more than graphic description to support his themes. Remarquealso utilizes a very defined nature motif, with the forces of nature constantlyrebelling against the conflict it playsbattleground to. With the Earth itself, the source of all things, supporting his themes, Remarque has a seeminglyunbiased witness bearing testament to his observations. Remarque can use natureas the judge to condemn war,along with shocking imagery, so that his literature remains without a trace of nationalism, political ill will, oreven personal feelings.

It should be noted that the nature motif is carried consistently throughout the novel, and that it supportsmany of the author's lesser themes. For the purpose of portraying war as somethi

ng terrible, though, the naturemotif is expressed most dramatically in the following passages. These passagesmark the three distinct stages ofnature's condemnation of war: rebellion, perseverance, and erasure.

The first passage occurs in Chapter Four when the troops are trucked outto the front to install stakes andwire. However, the narrator's squad is attacked unexpectedly by an English bombardment. With no visibleenemy to fight, the soldiers are forced to take cover and live out the bombardment. In the process, the earth isshredded and blown asunder. It is during this melee that many of the companies'horses are wounded, and beginto bellow terribly.

"It is unendurable. It is the moaning of the world, it is the martyredcreation, wild with anguish, filled with terror, and groaning."

The bombing subdues, but the bellowing continues.

"The screaming of the beasts becomes louder. One can no longerdistinguish whence in this now quiet silvery landscape it comes; ghostly,invisible, it is everywhere, between heaven and earth it rolls onimmeasurably."

Remarque is none too subtle in using the dying horses as a metaphor forthe Earth's own anguish. As themen face a new horror, nature is revolting against the damage being done to it.Remarque will return to thisusage of the nature motif, with war being anomalous and unnatural in the "natural" world. At the first sign ofwar, a disturbance in the Earth's eternal peace, nature rebels. "...it is the earth itself raging."

The next passage is found in Chapter Six, where the protagonists have ex

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perienced constant battle formany days.

"The brown earth, torn, blasted earth, with a greasy shine under the sun'srays; the earth is the background of this restless, gloomy world ofautomatons..."

The seemingly hapless and helpless nature can now only persevere. Earth plays the role of the victim, impotentto the forces that mutilate it. Whereas in the first passage, nature accuses man for his aberrance, and reactsviolently, but ineffectually, against that which torments it. Now, however, nature is silent. It endures, waiting forthe unnatural phenomena to pass.

The final passage is more subtle than the two prior. It is found in Chapter Six, during the calm after amassive struggle. The dead are present everywhere, and the earth is marred withinnumerable craters. It is in

this quiet that the narrator makes the following observation:

"My hands grow cold and my flesh creeps; and yet the night is warm.Only the mist is cold, this mysterious mist that trails over the dead andsucks from them their last, creeping life. By morning they will be pale andgreen and their blood congealed and black."

Once again, Remarque uses metaphors with notable success. The mist, which behaves abnormally, is themanifestation of nature. Nature is slowly and quietly erasing the traces of itsformer anguish. In this instance,nature is at work decaying the dead; beginning the relentless process of repairing itself. This final stage innature's condemnation of war can be seen consistently throughout Chapter Eleven,where the war toils on, butthe seasons pass indifferently as the dead pile up. Nature's victory can be seen as the simple ability to outlast itstormentors. The novel ends with the war's conclusion, and at the same time, therejuvenation of the Earth in

those tortured regions.What then does Remarque accomplish by demonstrating these three stages?

Staying consistent with histhemes, Remarque is emphasizing the horrors and pointlessness of war. But whereRemarque uses vivid andhorrific imagery to make clear the former, the latter is clearly supported in his nature motifs. By observing thethree stages above, the reader realizes the insignificance of war. Nature is above it, and greater than any war.

Despite the immeasurable impact the war had on those involved, it was but a minor disturbance to the forces of

nature. The dead decay and the earth mends itself. All traces of the carnage are erased, and although the war ishistory for humanity, for nature, the source of life, it has passed.

Remarque has then accomplished his goal in writing the novel. His themeof condemning war as agratuitous act of savagery is fully supported with accurate and shockingly graphic imagery. War being bothunnatural and unnecessary (and ultimately, insignificant) is expressed clearly with the consistent nature motifs.And while the reader is in the state of suspended disbelief, these themes will b

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e conveyed to him with alarmingclarity. It is at this moment that Remarque has truly succeeded. The successful utilization of the nature motifshave given All Quiet on The Western Front a voice and emotion all of its own. This voice compels andinfluences the reader; for those immersed in Remarque's haunting novel, war haslost its glory, its grandeur, andits meaning.

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