The Death of a Regular Soldier

At the the end of the book Paul talks about being the last one in his group that is alive.  He describes how it feels and what he thinks he is going to be good for after the war. The narrator suddenly changes and they explain that Paul is dead. But they ended up saying that it is "All quiet on the Western Front". In class we talked about why they said that the day was all quiet. What I dont understand is why don't they explain anymore on the subject of Paul death. I would think that people would want to know how Paul had died.  I feel like it would of made the end of the book better.  All and all this was a great book and I enjoyed it very much.

A Not So Fun Reunion

In chapter seven Paul visits homes and finds his mother to be sick with cancer. I find this very sad because Paul is getting slapped in the face over and over. First having to join in on something that has no real reason (The war) , then watching his friends die infront off him, and now at a time he thought would be calm he finds out his mother has cancer. I beleive the author just wanted to point out that after the war Paul has nothing to go back to. By showing this it reveals one of the themes as being that young soldiers who doesnt establish a life before war did not have much to return home to.

After Paul finds his mother ill his father begins bragging about his son's "help" in the war.  This shows that his dad has the same thoughts as Kantorek. I felt like this got Paul angry and made him not want to be around his father.  His mother understands that Paul cant explain what he has gone through so she does not ask as many questions.  Her first question is " Was it very bad out there, Paul?". Paul felt he had to lie to her and i agree with his decision.  He didn't want his mother to be worrying about him when she should be worrying for herself. Does anyone else feel the same way or am I the only one?

A soldier with his mother

The Horses Cry

I felt the like scene when the horses were wounded and they soldiers were just watching was very disturbing.  How come that they had such a bad reaction to the horses dying when they see people dying all the time.  Why is it any different then a person dying? I understand that it is hard to watch an animal die but i feel like it would even be harder to watch a person die. How come Kat wouldn't let Detering put the horses out of their misery? I feel this scene was one of the most disturbing parts of the book.

The Great Katczinsky

In chapter three Paul talks about how he doesn't think he would survive without Kat.  He explains that Kat seems to have a sixth sense. I think it would be hard to have people expecting me to have all the answers and know how to solve every problem.  But everyone in Paul's group looks up to him. Chapter three tells stories about different times Kat has helped the group. One such story is when they are in the factory with wire beds.  Kat took one look around and then he went off to find something more comfortable to sleep on.  Him and Haie come back with piles of straw.  Kat then goes out to "explore" and hours later he comes back with two loaves of fresh bread and meat. Paul then explains that Kat can find anything ranging from tables and chairs to food.  This chapter gave me a better idea who Stanislaus Katczinsky is.

Chapter One

I felt like chapter one did a great job introducing the situation to the reader.  It explains how the characters have just been replaced in the front line and are finally getting to rest for a little.  The main characters of the story are established as Paul Baumer, Albert Kropp, Leer, Muller, Tjaden,  Haie Westhus (who are all 19), and Stanislaus Katckinsky age 40.  Chapter one tells that Paul, Albert, Leer, and Muller all joined the military because their teacher led them to believe that war was glorious.  The characters actually end up feeling hatred towards him because of what he has done.  They even blamed the death of one of their classmates Joseph Behm on him.

       They find out one of their friends, Franz Kemmerich was in the infirmary with a flesh wound to his thigh.  I find this part very sad because instead of worrying about their friend they were thinking about what to do with his boots.  Muller I find was going to far in trying to get the boots that he was actually being rude. It's also sad because in war nowadays we would be able to help him through such a minor wound.