The Morally Unsayable and the Role of "Reality": The Case of Nothing New on the Western Front

Abstract: This essay explores the morally unsayable, as portrayed in Erich Maria Remarque's antiwar novel "Nothing New on the Western Front." The protagonist finds he is unable to articulate his war experience to his family, or even to think of it. The inadequacies and dangers of communication are a central theme of the novel. I compare Remarque with Cora Diamond and her take on the unsayable and unthinkable in "The Difficulty of Reality." Her examples are similar, but she does not focus on communication and its context. Her ultimate aim is to establish reality as a philosophical and ethical master concept.