All Quiet on the Western Front

Antiquated methods of war is a motif in the novel. World War I was a transitional kind of military conflict. New technology meant that new weapons systems could be rapidly created and deployed. Of the many kinds of weaponry described in the novel, including artillery, shells, observation balloons, automatic weapons, and tanks, the most dangerous and horrific is chemical gas. The gas was a means by which opposing forces could inflict the most damage on their enemy in the shortest amount of time. As a result, the men must learn how to identify a gas attack because they have very little time to react to it.

By contrast, there are scenes in the novel that depict traditional, hand-to-hand combat. Paul discusses the utility of the bayonet versus the spade. His gruesome analysis concludes that the spade is better because one does not need to hit the enemy in a specific place as one needs to do with a bayonet. Also, while there are motorized vehicles transporting and moving everywhere, there are still horses on the battlefield. There are also messenger dogs that were used in special circumstances. The use of animals at the front, where the most heinous and technologically advanced warfare ever invented was being deployed, demonstrates how World War I was a war in which antiquated and modern warfare converged. 

Coffins function as a symbol in the novel. When the men walk past a schoolhouse against which many coffins are stacked, the image works in a very literal sense. The men, some in spite of themselves, all know instinctively that the coffins are for dead soldiers and will have literal use. But the image also functions on a figurative level, as it foreshadows the events that will soon unfold. In this sense, the coffins are something of an object of doom or a bad omen. In this way, Remarque has given the coffin both a literal and figurative function.

Furthermore, during the action sequence that takes place in a graveyard, Paul finds himself using the coffin as a means of protection against the onslaught coming at his company. Therefore, the coffin ironically becomes a shield that wards off death. During a prolonged bombardment, Paul says, “I merely crawl still farther under the coffin, it shall protect me, though Death himself lies in it” (37). The symbol of the coffin and the traditional association it has with death is entirely subverted. Remarque has deconstructed the symbol here which effectively aligns with the premise that WW I ushered in the modern age which brings with it the necessity of seeing old things in new ways.