... war voluntarily after listening to the patriotic speeches of their beloved schoolmaster, Mr. Kantorek. The young men soon realize that these ideals of nationalism and patriotism are empty promises. Paul and his friends soon realize that war is not glorious and honorable. He and his fellow comrades start to feel the effects of the war on them mentally and physically. But they ... enemy is not an enemy but rather a victim just as Paul is himself. After the incident, Paul and his friends are sent to guard a supply depot for three weeks. During the next battle, Paul breaks his leg and injur...

• Word Count: 1086
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , in scenes of battle and rest, the reader sees the camaraderie of these men. In chapter nine, when Paul is alone in the trench, he loses his nerve and his direction and is afraid he will die. Instead, he hears the voices of his friends: "I belong to them and they to me; we all share the same fear and the same life ... ideals of patriotism, which led them to voluntarily join the war. The patriotic myths of war that the older generation portrayed became more apparent to Paul through the course of his journey of war. When Paul and his friends talk about enemies, they do not speak of the so...

• Word Count: 1602
• Approx Pages: 6

... about it every waking moment of their lives. The war sticks to them like a scary movie. The third theme is Nationalism. Nationalism is what gets Paul and the others to join the army. It tricks them into thinking the war is great and everything the war really is not. The several themes in ... it would be grand and they would look like heroes. After about ten weeks in training and being on the western front for a few weeks they realized that war was not as spectacular as they were told and thought it would be. Once they got deep into the war they began to ignore all ... that they saw and...

• Word Count: 1206
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Their schoolmaster, a man named Kantorek, told them that enlisting was their duty. The leader of their welcoming party was Corporal Himmelstoss. This pitiless man abhorred Paul and Co. and made their lives miserable. Himmelstoss forced the men to do taxing drills in the mud and rain. Although the men resented the corporal ... , with his love of books; Detering, a loner who pined for his farm and wife; and Haie, who collected silk parachutes for his girlfriend. Paul and his friends had a few escapades to break up the gloom of war. At one location, they raided the settlement for food and ot...

• Word Count: 902
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... to display comradeship as such an importance. Being the only good thing to come out of the war comradeship takes a large place in the novel. Paul's closeness with his comrades begins to grow until he sees the enemy ads comrades with different uniforms. "Comrade, I did not want to kill you ... to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response ." This was said after Paul killed Gerald Duval and realized he had a family and friends just like Paul. In Remarque's epigraph he states that it's dedicated to men destroyed by the war, this having two me...

• Word Count: 533
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School