Loss of Innocence

In "All Quiet on the Western Front", there seems to be a reoccurring theme of the men losing their innocence. The first few chapters of the book (before the actual war scenes) focus mainly on how young the soldiers are. They are only 18 and they feel as though the war has aged them greatly. When Paul gets put on leave, he goes back to his childhood home where he is faced with his old life again. He says this while he is sitting up in his room, flipping through his books, "The breath of desire that then arose from the colored backs of the books, shall fill me again, melt the heavy, dead lump of lead that lies somewhere in me and waken again the impatience of the future, the quick joy in the world of thought, it shall bring back again the lost eagerness of my youth." He has truly realized that he will never be the same as he was and will never get his youth or innocence back after the war.

The link at the bottom of this is a link to a article about children living in Iraq. They are growing up amidst war and are severely suffering from it mentally. Much like the soldiers are suffering from it in "All Quiet on the Western Front". The article talks about how the children saw their teachers throat slit and since then have wet the bed and played extremely violent games. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/feb/06/iraq.topstories3