This novel's take on war emphasizes horror, fear, despair, violence, and catastrophe. When I think of war, I usually think of honor and heroism which opposite to how soldiers actually experience the war. The era of this book takes place during World War I where many young German teenagers where either convinced into joining the military or were, later in the war, forced into joining. Soldiers live through extremely harsh conditions, witness deaths of their comrades, survive with limited materials and necessities, and have to kill other living men who have families as well back at home with having no guilt about doing so, which make the soldiers think that maybe it isn't as heroic as they thought. This book has a large focus on not only the physical damages war has on soldiers, but also the psychological damages it can have as well. These soldiers are always at the face of danger and are ready to die at any given moment. All these things have detrimental effects on these soldiers, in which they accept the way in which they live and learn to act less emotional.
If someone wants to truly know the experience of a soldier and life out in the battlefield, this is definitely a good read for he/she. The reader is introduced to the gore and animalistic behavior that occurs out in battle. Each of the battles include horrific scenes and imagery along with ferocious violence. The deaths of young soldiers who were recruits having no experience of the war at all were very important to the story. Also, all of the major characters, most of which were only nineteen-years-old, were killed shortly before the war actually ends, stressing the idea that the war stole so many lives including the young and innocent. The idea of nationalistic glory to Paul, the narrator and protagonist, about the war later just seems as a naïve thought.
Kat is the smartest and quickest of the members of Paul's group. He is considered to some to be the leader for he is the most experienced to the war and knows a lot about warfare. Kat is one of the easiest characters to like in the story as you see him and Paul bond. Kat is around forty years of age and is probably one of the most skilled soldiers of the German army.
Kat makes it the farthest out of the group but sadly, does not live. His death crushes Paul mainly because of the relationship that was between them throughout the war. The friendship they had was the only thing that seemed normal or human out of this huge catastrophe. His death occurred when Paul rescued Kat after he had been injured and planned to deliver him to a safe location. When Paul reached his destination, he finds out that Kat died in his arms after being hit by a shell from an explosive. Paul loses his mind at this point because everyone he knows has died. He feels that when he returns home, things will be too different. This was his life now. It was everything he knew.
#13 What effect did the war have on Paul? page 295 (book finished)
The war completely changed Paul forever. His morals and way of life became opposite to what he had come to know in the military. His emotions and feelings seemed meaningless as time went on because in the war, there is no time to feel sorry or sad about anything; it would only get you or others killed. Paul murdered men on the opposing side for what he believed to be for the right reasons. Realizing that they have families and loved ones at home, he questions whether he is indeed doing the right thing. He also has these thoughts when he sees the way the captives are treated by the Germans, with disgust and hatred. The savagery of the war changes the way Paul views the world around him. Deaths of his comrades seem less important the more it happens. His conflicting feelings with his emotions and staying focused cause him to slightly lose his mind. Later finding out his mother has cancer, things just seemed to get worse for Paul and he feels that now he can't return home that there will only be more sadness. Being in the war also made him realize he would never know what its like to love. He believes the older men in the war have a lot less to lose than the young soldiers who he believes will never live a normal life again. All these things eventually lead to his death at the end of the novel which as the author puts it as a calm, relief that now the suffering is finally over.