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The horrors of the war that the soldiers
had to experience, they would never feel “young” again.
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The younger generation was only told
about the benefits of their bravery to fight for their country not the sacrifices
they would have to make (their teacher talked them into enlisting).
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Erich Maria Remarque wrote a novel that
goes into depth about what soldiers have to endure in the war and how it
affects them not only physically but takes a huge emotional toll as well, It is
an eye opening novel and movie.
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The honesty and trust that the soldiers
like Paul have with the other soldiers, other people haven’t experienced the
war so they can’t relate.
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The relationships that the soldiers form
with each other especially Paul and Kat.
Stanislaus
Katczinsky
The book All
Quiet on the Western Front has five main characters whom are Paul Bäumer, Albert Kropp, Haie Westhus,
Fredrich Müller, and Stanislaus Katczinsky. Katczinsky is also
referred to as Kat and was the leader of their group of comrades. He is clever,
sneaky, stubborn, and is the oldest out of the five main characters at forty
years old. His role throughout the book was an important one; he was the one
that everyone counted on and looked up to. He is remarkable at being able to
find food wherever he is at and always shares it with his comrades. Here is a
quote that shows how Paul thinks of Kat after he finds some much needed food, “I’m
sure that if he were planted down in the middle of the desert, in half an hour
he would have gathered together a supper of roast meat, dates, and wine.” (All Quiet on the Western Front, Pg. 39) He
also can sense when a bombardment/attack is going to happen which is very
helpful to be ready for the attack.
Over the course of the book Kat and Paul became
really close and are the last two left after the rest of the main characters
have died. During a late summer day Kat and Paul were bringing food to the
front line when Kat was hit in the shin. It is just the two of them and Kat’s shin
was smashed so Paul had to carry him to safety. On the way they stopped twice
to rest and take cover. Since Paul has to carry Kat neither of them can
properly shelter themselves from the explosions. While they are resting, Kat
and Paul talk about some of their memories together including when they stole a
goose, and how Kat carried Paul out the first time he was wounded. After Paul gets
Kat to safety an orderly tells him that he wasted his breath carrying Kat
because he is already dead. Paul comes to the horrible realization that Kat was
struck by a splinter in his head while he was being carried by Paul and died. Even
though Kat didn’t think the war was a good war, he was good fighter and was
always trying to help his comrades. Kat goes through a lot during the war but
his personality and leadership never falters.
Sources:
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet On the Western
Front. 1st Ballantine Books ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982. Print.
Summary of Chapter Two
The main characters in the book All Quiet on the Western Front are Paul Bäumer, Albert Kropp, Haie Westhus,
Fredrich Müller, and the leader of the group Stanislaus Katczinsky also
known as Kat. Chapter two starts off with Paul trying to think of how his life
was before the war. He thinks about how he used to write poems but his memory
seams dreamlike to him because of everything he has gone through during the war
so far. Here is a quote that I think is very important to understand exactly
what the soldiers were feeling during this chapter of the war, “Our early life
is cute off from the moment we came here, and that without our lifting a hand.
We often try to look back on it and to find an explanation, but never quite
succeed.” (All Quiet on the Western Front,
Pg. 19) Paul thinks about how the younger soldiers including him didn’t have
time to even think about getting an occupation before they joined the war,
while the older soldiers have families and occupations to go home to after the
war is over.
Kropp, Müller, Kemmerich, and Paul were all friends in No. 9
Platoon together under Corporal Himmelstoss. Himmelstoss was well-known for
being strict and was delighted about it; he had been in the military for twelve
years. He didn’t like anybody who he thought was disobedient so he especially hated
Kropp, Westhus, and Paul. Himmelstoss would make them re-do chores until he
thought they were adequately done to his standards. For example, he made Paul
remake his bed fourteen times, wear old boots that were unbelievably hard for
twenty hours until they were soft enough to comfortably wear, and scrub with a
tooth-brush.
In the first chapter their friend Franz Kemmerich was
hurt with a flesh wound to his thigh and had to have his leg amputated. Paul
goes to visit Kemmerich and sees that he is doing very poorly. Kemmerich tells Paul
that he doesn’t think he’ll survive to make it back home while Paul tries to
help him keep his hope up. Shortly after Kemmerich dies so Paul takes his belongings
with him back to camp and gives Müller his (Kemmerich’s) boots which he so desperately wanted
and gets tea and rum for himself. This wasn’t the first time Paul had to watch someone he knew die
and it wouldn’t be the last. Then chapter three begins…
Sources:
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet On the Western
Front. 1st Ballantine Books ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982. Print.
