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Paula Fox wrote, “A lie hides the truth. Literature tries to find it.” This quote has significant meaning that applies to both Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Literature tries to uncover what has been buried in lies and present the truth to the reader. Both works succeed in uncovering misconceptions about war and human nature and reveal the real truth about humanity and the devastating effects of hatred. All Quiet on the Western Front presents a whole different view of war. In the novel, Remarque uncovers the truth about war; he shows the horrifying side that most people cannot understand or believe. Many people perceive war with patriotic idealism and associate it with heroism and glory. Remarque does the exact opposite and presents a realistic and gruesome picture of war as it actually is and as the soldiers experience it. The author portrays this through Paul Baumer and his fellow comrades as they battle in the German army of World War I. Paul and his friends go into the war excited and believing in all the heroic and romantic stories told by