Kat, the shrewd, self-reliant scrounger, manages to supply his friends with beans and beef. Franz Kemmerich, Paul's friend, dies after the amputation of his leg. In its place, they evolve a strong comradeship, which bolsters and protects them far better than the now useless information they learned in school. The soldiers, recalling Platoon 9's brutal basic training in Klosterberg, abandon their idealism as a result of the sadistic tutelage of Corporal Himmelstoss.

A letter from Kantorek calling them 'Iron Youth' stirs Kropp's anger. Franz Kemmerich, his leg amputated, faces imminent death. Paul and his comrades have acquired a bit of battle experience, including the loss of Joseph Behm, the first of their group to die. Paul Bäumer, a sensitive teenager, serves as central intelligence, the prototypical young infantryman whose youth is snatched away by the brutality of war.īehind German front lines between Langemark and Bixschoote in 1916, only eighty of the original one hundred fifty soldiers of the Second Company remain fit for duty. This scene is here to force Paul and the audience to confront what it means to take a life, which is rarely so underscored in stories about war.The record of several schoolmates who represent a generation destroyed by the dehumanization of World War I's trench warfare, All Quiet on the Western Front tells of their enlistment in the army at the urging of their teacher, Kantorek, whose wisdom they trusted. He promises the corpse that he will do right by them, but loses the wallet as the war continues. Paul searches his jacket for proof of who he was and discovers that he had a name and a family. He sobs and apologizes profusely as the wounded Frenchman succumbs to his injuries. He switches from trying to end the man's life to trying to save it, or at least to comfort him as he takes his final breaths. An emotional Paul is at war with himself. He thinks he's delivered a quick but necessary death, but the Frenchman gags blood and pleads for his life for several grueling minutes. Instead, he finds himself in close contact with a French soldier who intends to kill him. They square off in hand-to-hand combat until Paul makes his move and stabs the man near his neck. Paul and Kat are separated from each other when Paul frantically trips into a swampy basin to hide out and perhaps snipe at the enemy from a distance.

All quiet on the western front book