Lost Innocence

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Europe was undeniably approaching World War I. Sir Edward Grey was quoted as saying, “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” This quote is directly related to Erich Maria Remarque’s book, All Quiet on the Western Front. The characters in this novel, as well as all other young World War I soldiers, represent the lamps in Grey’s statement. The young men that fought for their countries in World War I were a metaphor of a desperate European society as well as a lost youthfulness caused by the trials and tribulations of war.
Sir Edward Grey made the statement, “The lamps are going out all over Europe.” When he said this, the British Prime minister was using lamps to represent the purity of the generation that was invol...