Genre
War novel
Setting and Context
The novel has been written in the context of World war 1.
Narrator and Point of View
The story has been narrated from the first-person point of view. Henri Barbusse has shared his own first hand experiences at the war front and what he witnessed at the trenches as a soldier.
Tone and Mood
violent, pessimistic, resentful
Protagonist and Antagonist
The soldiers are presented as the protagonist and the Generals are depicted as antagonists in the novel.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is how the men are killing their own fellow beings just because of the political leaders and generals who remain at the back and urge the soldiers to fight.
Climax
The climax comes when a soldier gets injured and is taken to the hospital where he gets to know about the hypocrisy of the generals and other staff at the hospital.
Foreshadowing
The death of the soldiers during the war foreshadows the death of those soldiers who are still fighting.
Understatement
futility and uselessness of war.
Allusions
allusions of Christ, war.
Imagery
The novel is replete with the images of war, bloodshed, guns, bullets and death.
Paradox
The generals urge the soldiers to fight at the battlefield while they themselves stay at the back or in their homes.
Parallelism
There is parallel description of war and everyday life.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
German and French Soldiers are represented as general human beings.
Personification
War is personified as something futile.
