All Quiet on the Western Front

780 Words4 Pages
‘This World War 1 novel is a story of powerful bonding among men. Using examples from the book, explain how Remarque develops his idea of comradeship in the face of battle.’ Erich Maria Remarque’s novel “All quiet on the western front” illustrated a very strong theme of comradeship in the face of battle. Paul Baümer, a German soldier who fought in World War 1, had very strong bonds with his fellow comrades, and would not have been the same, if he did not have them. In war, the soldiers did not get to choose who they got to spend their time with, so they gained a strong relationship with their comrades, particularly as they started to do everything together. Paul had many close relationships, but the main relationship was Stanislaus ‘Kat’ Katczinsky. He considered Kat to be a father figure, as he was a very inspirational role model. As the war progressed, the soldiers learnt to always stay with their comrades, and this is clearly demonstrated in the book. In World War 1, they did not get to choose who they fought with. As the war progressed, soldiers bonded with everyone in their unit, and began to do everything together. From going to the latrines together to killing rats for fun together, the soldiers were always together, “Small individual thunder-boxes...We pull three of them together in a circle and make ourselves comfortable.” This just shows the amount of time the soldiers spent together and the emotional connection that they must have had. Another example of a strong bond was when the soldiers were killing the rats. It shows that they can have some fun, even though they are at war. ‘Then the lamps come on and we all lay into the dark mass, which breaks up. The results are good. We shovel what is left of the rats over the edge of the trench’. Remarque obviously used the situation that the soldiers were in, to prove what comradeship was formed with each
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