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Tjaden is a former locksmith with a sharp, thin appearance and an enormous appetite. He is Paul\'s age, though not one of his classmates. When we first meet him, he is ready to pick a fight with the cook who does not want to serve 80 men the food prepared for twice as many. Because of a bladder problem, Tjaden was considered lazy by Himmelstoss, who persecuted him in basic training. He is bolder at the front, however. He is a fine enough compan ...
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Detering is a one-dimensional stereotype of the simple, peace-loving peasant. He constantly dreams of his home, his wife, and his farm, and cares little for philosophy or military doctrine. In the spring of 1918, surrounded by battlefield carnage, he is driven nearly mad by the sight of cherry blossoms. They unlock his memories of growing things and, losing all caution, he deserts. He is caught and court martialed.
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A classmate, volunteer, and special friend of Paul, Kropp is a small man. Since he is regarded as the best thinker in the class, no one is surprised that he is the first to make lance-corporal. In group discussions he is the one who offers profound solutions and comments. It is Kropp, for instance, who suggests turning war into a public festival, with the generals fighting it out in an arena while the common people sit and watch. It is also Kro ...
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Westhus is a 19-year-old peat digger with hands so huge that in one he can conceal a loaf of bread. He operates as Katczinsky\'s executive on foraging expeditions, and, on the whole, prefers army life to cutting sod. The army gives him food and a place to sleep, and in peacetime would offer what he considers nice, clean work. He is the one member of Paul\'s group who plans to reenlist after the war but dies of a back wound after being rescued b ...
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The fat First Company cook, he is willing to trundle his pots right up to the front lines for his men. He provides a contrast with Ginger.
^^^^^^^^^^ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT: GINGER
The red-headed Second Company cook is more concerned with his personal safety and regulations than with feeding the men. His pettiness contrasts with Bulcke\'s courage and generosity.
^^^^^^^^^^ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT: JOSEF BEHM
One of Paul ...
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William II (1859-1941), or Kaiser Wilhelm, who briefly appears to inspect troops, is a figure from world history. Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia from 1888 to 1918, he was the son of Frederick III and a grandson of both William I of Germany and Queen Victoria of England. When he was a young man, his parents rejected his belief in the divine right of kingship and disliked his impulsiveness and love of military display. These traits have o ...
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The story told in All Quiet on the Western Front occurs during the two years just before the Armistice ended World War I in November 1918. In Chapters 1 and 2 we learn that Paul Baumer, the narrator, and his friend Kat had been together three years--one year longer than the time period covered by the novel.
By 1916 when the story begins, World War I had already been underway for two years. It broke out in August 1914 between the Allies (Brit ...
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In the short note that comes just before Chapter 1, Remarque lets us know exactly what theme he intends. He says that All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of a generation of young men who were destroyed by World War I--even if they survived the shelling. To arrive at a fifth statement of this main theme, Remarque weaves several related themes into the story. The outline that follows points out chapters you can read to see how he presents ...
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All Quiet on the Western Front is, on the whole, a very serious and even a grim novel. Remarque presents his message through vivid description and imagery. The tone is not overwhelmingly bitter.
Two things stand out in Remarque\'s style: his vivid word pictures and the way he balances contrasting scenes against each other to make each one stand out.
His descriptions bring every chapter to life, whether he is showing us the glare of flares ...
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Stories usually are told from the first person or the third person point of view. We get these terms from grammar. \"I love\" is a first person structure, \"you love\" is second person, and \"he (or she) loves\" is third person. A story is told in the first person when the narrator says that I or we are doing thus-and-so: someone actually in the story is telling it. A third person story uses the he or they approach; some unnamed person outside ...
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When critics use the word form to discuss a novel, they sometimes mean its overall style and structure--the elements already presented under that heading in this guidebook. Another meaning of form is the category a novel falls into--how it should be classified, what kind of fiction it is.
You yourself use from in this narrow, second meaning when you say that you like to read mysteries or westerns or romances or some other kind of story. But ...
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Remarque begins his book with a note before the first chapter. In it he says that his book \"is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure,\" but rather an account of a generation of young men who were destroyed by the war--World War I--\"even though they may have escaped its shells.\"
What does he mean? Biography and history tell us his situation. By 1929 when his book came out, World War I had been over for ...
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The very first paragraph takes us within five miles of the front lines. The men are resting on the ground, having just stuffed themselves with beef and beans (the cook is stiff dishing out more). There are double rations of bread and sausage besides, and tobacco is so plentiful that everyone can get his preference--cigarets, cigars, or chews. Whoever is telling the story is right there, in it; this is what is called first person narration. But ...
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We get to know Paul better in the second chapter. It is the next day and he is still thinking about his parents and about Kantorek. He recalls school life, hobbies, poetry writing, and observes, \"of this nothing remains.\" The older men have wives and jobs to return to; the war is just an interruption for them. But the \"Iron Youth\" had not yet taken root: \"The war swept us away\" and they don\'t know how it will end. \"We know only that in ...
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Reinforcements arrive. Some are older, but many are even younger than Paul and his schoolmates. When Kropp calls them \"infants,\" Paul agrees. He and Kropp strut around feeling like \"stone-age veterans.\" It\'s been a few days since the big feast, and everyone is astonished when Katczinsky (\"Kat\") produces a tub of beef and bean stew. He patiently teaches the new recruits the proper etiquette--payment next time with a cigar or chew of tobac ...
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One night the men were trucked to the front to ram in iron stakes and to string barbed wire. It\'s a warm evening, a pleasant drive, and the men smoke as they roll along. They\'re not concerned about lurching into potholes the driver can\'t see without headlights. Many a man would just as soon be pitched out and sent home with a broken arm earned that way! Kat and Paul distinctly hear geese as they pass one house. They exchange glances--another ...
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After the nightmare in Chapter 4, we\'re ready for some relief, and this chapter offers it. Remarque--or Paul--shows us by contrast how friendship can create a tiny island within the sea of death.
Once again the men idle behind the lines, nonchalantly killing lice while they talk about plans for after the war. Suddenly the newly assigned Himmelstoss appears and roles are reversed: they are the veterans. Tjaden sneers at the man and rudely re ...
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This chapter opens a whole new stage in the novel. Battered and numbed as Chapter 4 left Paul and his friends, with its screaming horses and twice-killed corpses, it was only one night--a series of flash impressions of war. Now Remarque moves Paul--and us--into the deadening cage of weeks of trench warfare. In 1929 a few critics accused Remarque of sensationalizing the war in chapters like this one, of deliberately trying to shock readers to se ...
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This chapter gives us some breathing space. We follow the men back to a field depot for reorganization. The change in Himmelstoss seems to be permanent: not only did he rescue Westhus; he has also wangled a job as substitute cook and slips Tjaden some butter and the others, sugar.
NOTE: By this time we could make a list of the ways Remarque has developed his theme: how World War I destroyed a generation of young men. It has taken from them t ...
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Paul goes to his assignment, the training camp near his home town where Himmelstoss \"educated\" Tjaden. During days of drill, evening of poker and newspapers, he again notices the beauty of nature. At other times he guards Russian prisoners of war in the camp alongside. They are sick and feeble, hanging on to life by picking over the none-too-plentiful garbage from Paul\'s camp and trading their last few possessions for bread. He loves their c ...
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