Entry Two: Character and Plot Overview

          At the beginning of All Quiet on the Western Front, the reader learns that a soldier named Paul Bäumer and the rest of the members of his company have eaten a meal which was much larger than the typical rations of the German army. The mood among the men is one of content, and Bäumer and his comrades seem to be enjoying one another’s company. Following this depiction of what almost seems to be a celebratory occasion for the soldiers, Bäumer briefly mentions that the explanation behind these increased rations is that nearly half of their company was killed along the Western Front the previous day. This nonchalant mention of what otherwise would seem like a horrific tragedy is an example of the particular style that Bäumer, the narrator, uses to describe the events of World War I.
          Bäumer’s style initially comes across as though he has become completely desensitized to the violence occurring all around him. The care with which he describes his fellow soldiers, such as Tjaden, Müller and Katczinsky, indicates that this is in fact untrue. For example, Bäumer constantly visits one of his comrades known as Kemmerich while he is dying in a hospital, and is beside him during his last hours, comforting him. In addition, Bäumer highlights the unique strengths of each of his fellow soldiers, especially Katczinsky who he describes as being one of the smartest men he has ever known, and says that he is grateful to be such close friends with him. Perhaps Bäumer’s blunt narration has become his only way to handle the death of his friends, a misfortune which is all too common for the young man. Also, I have found that this frank depiction of the war makes Erich Remarque’s writing, the author of this book, all the more poignant.
          Together these men must endure constant hardship, and it is clear that they rely heavily on the relationships between each other in order to keep themselves going. At the same time, I notice that Bäumer states that he often feels completely alone. I believe that this may be his reaction to the drastic differences between civilian and military life. Almost instantly does he leave the life of a typical high school teenager and become a soldier forced to face death on many occasions. At one point in the novel, Bäumer states, “We were all at once terribly alone; and alone we must see it through” (Remarque 13). It is obvious that Bäumer feels alienated by the combat and it is as if he is a part of a reality which is entirely different from the one he had known in the twenty years leading up to the war.
          Not only does he feel as if he has thoroughly lost his idea of life before the war, but it seems as if Bäumer has also lost his youth and has matured greatly in less than a year. He writes, “We are none more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk” (Remarque 18). It is apparent that Bäumer and his fellow soldiers never wished to age this quickly, it was just that the transformation was automatic due to the circumstances they were in. Now they long for childhood and a time when did not see more and more of their fellow Germans die every day. They all enlisted as just that, teenagers who had no understanding of what would be required of them and who only thought ideas of patriotism and of protecting Germany.
          Although this book largely details the thoughts of these young soldiers, it is also somewhat rooted in historical context pertaining to World War I. Therefore, I predict that the action of this novel will be loosely based on the movements of both the Allies and the Central Powers. Also, due to the fact that so many of Bäumer’s comrades have already been killed during the beginning of the book, I feel as if many more will be killed in the following pages, and that the dead may even include Katczinsky, who Bäumer greatly admires. Much of this book seems to be devoted to how Bäumer handles these deaths, and how he struggles over the idea that soon he too may be one of the dead. I look forward to reading more of Bäumer’s narration, and I hope that it continues to include the powerful metaphors and imagery which made the first section so captivating.