Dialectical Journal Chapter 14

Chapter 8: Paul watched the Russian prisoners. Their voices reminded him of cozy homes. Paul was touched by some of the prisoner's brotherhood. He shared bits of his cigarettes with the prisoners. Later, Paul’s dad and sister visited him before he head to the front again.

For Paul and his comrades, who had sacrificed so much to participate in the war, the unfair leadership created tension between the ranks. For example, when Paul was on leave and strolled the streets of his hometown, a nearby Major became furious at Paul because he had missed the opportunity to salute. This man, with the considerable power to overthrow Paul’s leave, orders Paul, “Twenty paces backward, double march!” Paul complied, but was infuriated and contemplated the validity and relevance of these men. This, “ruins everything” (163), for Paul, as he abandoned wearing his uniform to avoid another confrontation. It was shown that the most controlling officers were so often those without combat experience on the front. In fact, Himmelstoss, a Corporal that trained Paul and his company, showed fear toward the battle when he was called to participate. In Chapter Six, he was found, “pretending to be wounded.” The thought of him progressing made his, “lips quiver, his moustache twitch” (131-32). Pretending to represent their country, these men showed no respect for the soldiers, resented them, and expressed the deepest inhumane actions in the name of

He states that when he goes home, his family will be shocked to hear this language. Paul treats his lingual freedom as privilege that soldiers have, and shows the benefits of living a soldier’s life. He refers to the front as if it were a paradise, for he can use vulgar language and not worry about manners and decorum. He treats his service as a time for relaxation, recreation, and a little excitement. This attitude becomes short-lived as the realities of war sink in. When Paul volunteers for reconnaissance one night, he becomes stranded in No Man’s Land (the area between opposing trenches) and begins to realize the brutality of war and starts to lose his own humanity. At the beginning of the book, Paul shows care towards his fellow soldiers and treats his service as an adventure by his education of the recruits and his excitement towards the boundaries of his vocabulary.

A solider biggest fear is dyeing. Paul and many soldiers have a fear about dyeing in battle they just want to go home. Most soldiers do not want to go back after a leave. They want to be safe, but during the time it was common and everyman wanted to fight for their country. No man would pass the opportunity to join the military. Soldiers become brothers. Before joining the war Paul felt alone in world. He joins the

Paul is given seventeen days of leave in which he visits his family. When he returns home, he feels out of place and is not comfortable sharing his awful combat experiences with others. His mother is sick and dying of cancer as his father is struggling to pay for her care. Paul also finds out that Kantorek, his teacher from school, was forced to become a German soldier. This pleases Paul because Kantorek now has to actually experience the tragic events of the war firsthand like the

I would rather live in the World State due to life on the “savage reserve” being hazardous. On the reserve, food is not guaranteed. In 1984 it is stated that the environment of the savage reserves is so inhospitable that it is not productive to establish civilization in these areas. To me, living in the World State would mean losing my identity, so I wouldn’t miss the freedoms that I have now. On the other hand, on the savage reserve I would be aware of the missing food and absence of any luxury. Also, based on Bernard’s experience in the book, I would have a hard time fitting in on the reserve as a white person.

During the war, Paul sees that his friends die or get injured. Kemmerich is the first of Paul’s friend to lose their leg in the battle. Paul notices that Kemmerich did not feel that his leg was amputated. Paul remembers Kemmerich as a childhood friend before they had signed up for the army. Paul finds Kemmerich dead after he tries to find a doctor to cure Kemmerich. After Kemmerich’s death, many of Paul’s friends died near the end of the war. Kropp’s leg is also amputated like Kemmerich when he was shot after running away from a battle with Paul. Kropp soon dies afterward after getting a fever from the wound. Paul finds out that another friend, Müller, dies after being shot in the stomach. Müller gives everything away before he dies, including the boots that Kemmerich gave Paul to give to Müller. Paul says that he would give the boot to Tjaden when his time is up. The next person to die is Company Commander Bertinck; he died after being shot in the chest. After Bertinck death, another friend of Paul named Leer is shot in the arm and later dies of eternal bleeding. Many of Paul’s friends also died from the lack of foods and supplies. One of his oldest and closest friends, Katczinsky, is also wounded during the battle. When Katczinsky was wounded, Paul tries to carry Katczinsky all the way back to safety. When he makes it back to

1) “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment” (O’Brien 20).

The young men at the front had a distant relationship that seemed to grow as the war went on. The men that fought at the front became alienated through all of the gruesome scenes they encountered and the problems they faced daily. After just two weeks of battle only half of the men that went to battle with Paul remained at the battle front. Paul along with all of the other soldiers at the front had to see their “brothers” shot and killed or wounded while fighting right by their side. Paul

Considering the boys were only eighteen when they enlisted in the army they did not have a chance to experience life after high school. They had been cut off from life just as they were beginning to live it. Paul remembers that as a high school student, he wrote poetry. He now has no interest in, or time for, poetry, and his parents seem to him a cloudy and unreliable memory. Reminiscing about his home life upset him. Paul soon learned that he would receive a leave of seventeen days; fourteen days leave and three days for traveling. Paul also learns that he will not return to the front immediately after he is done with leave but to a camp for a training course. After Paul learns of his leave he says farewell to his fellow comrades. He begins to worry about if the men he has grown so fond of will still be there. Despite all of this Paul packs up and heads to the train station to leave for home. As the train approaches his hometown all the memories come flooding back to him. When Paul finally got to his parents house he realized his life will never be

The French soldier dies an agonizingly painful and prolonged death; his gurgling and whimpering haunting Paul, but when the soldier finally dies, the resulting silence is even more haunting and debilitating. “Paul describes the trenches, the shelling, the screams of wounded horses and men, the poison gas attack, and the rain that drenches everything. [He] describes the tension and the horror of a major battle, with the confusion, the noise, and death turning the soldiers into numbed, unthinking machines.” (All). Paul recognizes how war forces people to think and act in ways that differ from their values and beliefs, as they are desperate to survive. Remarque uses imagery and sensory details to skillfully formulate a raw and grisly atmosphere that leaves no aspect hidden. Towards the end of the novel, many of Paul’s comrades have died, and he is the only person left in his class who is alive. He expresses the desolation and misery he feels, “I am very quiet. Let the months and years come, they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more. I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear.” (Remarque 295). Paul has nothing left to lose at this point, so he faces his enemies free of fear and obligation to return back to his friends and his home. His sorrowful tone conveys his indifference towards death and his desire

In All Quiet on the Western Front Paul witness all the horrors of war. He sees death crawling towards the wounded soldiers in the wood, hospital, and on the front. When a soldier was wounded it killed them, they lost a limb or they got sent back to the front. Another awful part of war is soldiers would get shot and stranded out in the woods. They would yell for help, but were never found. Mental wounds were another injury of war. Paul would see people go insane on the front and some soldiers got shellshock. The worst part of the war for Paul was watching all of his comrades die, and his connection with the ones he loved at home fade away. The horrors of war is clearly represented in both Battle Scars and All Quiet on the Western Front with physical wounds, mental wounds, and loss of loved ones.

While on leave, Paul also visits his father and some of his father's friends, but does not wish to speak to them about the war. The men are "curious [about the war] in a way that [Paul finds] stupid and distressing." They try to imagine what war is like but they have never experienced it for themselves, so they cannot see the reality of it. When Paul tries to state his opinion, the men argue that "[he] sees only [his] general sector so [he is] not able to judge." These men believe they know more about the war and this makes Paul feel lost. He realizes that "they are different men here, men [he] can not understand..." and Paul wants to be back with those he can relate to, his fellow soldiers. Paul wishes he had never gone on leave because out there "[he] was a soldier, but [at home] he is nothing but an agony to himself." When Paul returns to the battlefield, he is excited to be with his comrades. When he sees his company, "[Paul] jumps up, pushes in amongst them, [his] eyes searching," until he finds his friends. It is then

Yet another example of the brutalization and dehumanization of the soldiers caused by the war occurs during Paul’s leave. On leave, Paul decides to visit his hometown. While there, he finds it difficult to discuss the war and his experiences with anyone. Furthermore, Paul struggles to fit in at home: “I breathe deeply and say over to myself:– ‘You are at home, you are at home.’ But a sense of strangeness will not leave me; I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano – but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a

Many of Paul's fellow army men do not survive. After the loss of Paul's closest friends,