Erasing Childhood

We will cherish the priceless moments of our childhood for the rest of our lives, for the innocence of childhood is one of the few things in life that we can never get back. Once one gains the experience of a mature, adult life, there is no returning to that innocent state. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, the author depicts a sense of a loss of innocence for the young soldiers at war, and enlightens the reader on the essence of the horrible experience of war erasing their last chance at childhood.

As the soldiers in the novel, such as the man narrating the story, Paul Bäumer, battle in war, they cannot live the naïve lives they once lived, but instead must cope with fighting in the midst of World War One. Paul recognizes, “Our early life is cut off from the moment we came here, and that without our lifting a hand” (19). The soldiers have an inability to embrace innocence, consequently forcing them to leap into the brutal experience of war whether they are ready or not. As a method of distraction from the surrounding chaos at war, the soldiers envision their mothering figures from back at home who nurtured them and protected them from harm. Momentarily, Paul pictures, “Thoughts of girls, of flowery meadows, of white clouds suddenly come into my head” (33). Evident romantic symbolism such as the white clouds, the flowery meadows, and the mothering women provide proof of thoughts of escapism. Mothers are the essential foundation for a suitable upbringing and necessary for one’s childhood. Without mothers, nurturing becomes lost. The war effectively concludes their childhood, and erases the remaining traces of innocence.