The metamorphosis of Paul Baumer in All Calm on the Western FrontErich Maria NoteAll Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set during the First World War, centered on the changes brought by war to a young German soldier. Over the course of his war, Note's protagonist, Paul Baumer, transforms from a rather innocent romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons – parents, elders, school, religion – that formed the foundation of his days before his enlistment. This rejection resulted from Baumer's realization that pre-enlistment society simply did not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society then becomes the Company, his fellow soldiers in the trenches, because it is a group that understands the truth as Baumer experienced it. Note demonstrates Baumer's disaffiliation from the traditional by focusing on Baumer's language before and after enlistment. companies. Baumer cannot, or chooses not to, communicate honestly with these representatives of his pre-enlistment period and his innocence. Furthermore, he is repelled by the banal and meaningless language used by members of this society. As he moves further away from his old, traditional society, Baumer is only able to communicate effectively with his fellow soldiers. Since the novel is told from the first person point of view, the reader can see how the words Baumer speaks are at odds with his true feelings. In his preface to the novel, Remarque argues that "a generation of men...was destroyed by war" (Remarque, All Quiet Preface). Indeed, in All Quiet on the Western Front the meaning of language itself is, to a large extent, destroyed. Early in the novel, Baumer notes how easy his elders had been with words before he enlisted. Specifically, teachers and parents had used words, sometimes passionately, to persuade him and other young men to enlist in the war effort. After telling the story of a teacher who urged his students to enlist, Baumer states that "teachers always carry their feelings in their vest pockets and show them on time" (Note, All Quiet I. 15). Baumer admits that he and others were deceived by this rhetorical trickery. Parents, too, did not hesitate to use words to shame their sons and encourage them to enlist. "At that time, even parents were willing to use the word 'coward'" (Note, All Quiet I.