-
The Beginning
Paul Baumer and his friends, Kropp, Muller, Tjaden, Westhus and Katczinki, are already in the war and been in battle, pushed to enlist by their teacher Kantorek. Their group has gone down from 150 men to 80 and while they are all sad for the losses, most are excited about the extra rations they will get because supplies and food are scarce. Paul visits his friend in the infirmary, knowing he will die, and Muller asks for his fancy boots, wanting them in place of his ratty worn out ones. -
Cruelty of War
This point shows the cruelty of war and how it changes young, enthusiastic boys in miserable war-hardened men. They came with bright ideas and hope for a future but that was quickly squashed. Baumer reflects on how it’s easier for the older generation to deal with the war than the younger, because the old have families, previous jobs, and more of a life to remember and hold onto whereas the younger have nothing but each other. -
The Boys' Character
Baumer and his friends are placed under the command of Corporal Himmelstoss. He is the strictest and most disciplined of all the corporals and immediately dislikes the group because he senses a quiet defiance. They see him as he is, less as strict and more as a bully with power so they perform their jobs as bad as possible to infuritate him. -
Friendship
Katczinki is kind of the unspoken leader of the group. He has a knack for finding food or supplies in odd places, but shares them with his friends and it helps strengthen the closeness and comradeship of them. It shows the teamwork and loyalty of them to each other. -
Front Lines
Paul and his friends are put on wiring duty and have to go to the front lines to lay barbed wire to stop the enemy. All of them are nervous at being so close to the fighting but they have been trained too much to be afraid and keep their cool. -
Bombardment
(midnight)- At the front lines Kat predicts a bombardment later and then they see one from a distance and then a few get close enough to hit them. A couple men die and horses are wounded, emitting terrible cries that set everyone on edge until they are killed. -
Ambush
On the walk back to their huts they are attacked by the enemy; being shot at, bombed and gas bombed. At the end eight people are wounded and five left dead. Paul is splintered and injured but saved by quick thinking on Kat’s part by hiding in the holes of graves of the cemetery. -
Waiting
The group is sent to the front to go on the offensive this time, however much time is spent waiting in the trenches for the enemy to stop the bombardment. Rats get into the bread and people start to go crazy over claustrophobia. Paul and Kat as well as some others pass the time by raging attacks against the rats. -
How Many Will Die?
Finally the attack comes and the group is on the offensive. They throw grenades ahead and shoot everywhere with their rifles, killing any man in sight. Paul says ‘we have become wild beasts… it is not against men that we fling our bombs, what do we know of men in this moment when Death is hunting us down…’ they make it to the enemy lines and penetrate their trenches, but they only have a few moments to grab what they can before retreating to reinforcements. 32 Second Company men of the 150 live. -
Younger Years
Paul reminisces about life before the war and how beautiful and easier life was. He thinks about how now if they were given their old life back they wouldn’t know how to handle it because it is so different than what they have grown accustomed to. “We are forlorn like children, and experience like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial— I believe we are lost.” It shows the growing up and maturing the boys have to go through. -
Pretty French Girls
Paul and the group are relieved from the front lines and stationed at a camp for a while. There, while swimming, they meet some French ladies and agree to hook up with them later that night. Even though it is against the rules, the boys don’t care because they get really lonely being away from civilization and sneak out to spend part of the night relaxing with the girls. -
Home
Paul is sent of leave for two weeks and gets to go home. There he finds his mother really sick in bed with what they predict to be cancer again. He walks around all the old places he used to visit and sits in his room hoping to have memories and warm feelings, but nothing comes from them and it leaves him feeling even more empty and changed. -
Russian Prisoners and Training Camp
Paul is stationed at a training camp that is located next to a prison where they house Russians. Most people either ignore them or kick them as they walk by. Paul wonders about the morality of war and how cruel it is that those soldiers were his age but that didn’t make a difference because they wore a different uniform. He makes an effort to be nicer to the Russian prisoners and gives them a little food to try to fight the horribleness of the war. -
Hiding with Death
They are sent to the front lines again and Paul sees the new devastations that he missed during his leave. At the front they get into another battle with the enemy during the dark and Paul gets stuck in a shell hole while he waits out the attack and some light to get back to his group. During his wait a man stumbles into the whole and Paul stabs him blindly only to later regret his hasty decision. The man slowly dies and Paul doesn’t have the heart to stab him again to put him out of his misery. -
The Hospital
Paul makes it back to the group but is injured along the way and learns that Kropp has been too. They pay off some doctors and make sure that they end up at the same hospital where they spend much time and Kropp has his leg amputated. -
Parting Ways
After spending months in recouperation the pair has to split up. Kropp will live but he has to go to a different hospital to get a prosthetic leg and Paul goes back to the war. Sadly, this is the last you hear of Kropp. -
The Loss of a Friend
Kat is injured badly and Paul carries him piggyback to the nearest dressing station. They have to make numerous stops but Paul talks Kat through all of it. When they make it to the dressing station the attendant tells Paul that Kat is dead. He took a shrapnel piece to the head about five minutes before they hit the station and died. -
All Quiet on the Western Front
Paul is shot down on the front. “…the army report confined itself to a single sentence: All quiet on the western front. No one saw it happen but they found him face down but knew he didn’t suffer because he had a peaceful expression on his face as if he was ready for the end.
