The unbreakable union within the group of soldiers strengthens as the realities of war begin to take full effect. In such a desperate time, the only remaining possession each soldier has is their fragile lives and the unspoken bond they share with one another. Having to muddle through the overwhelming devastation of war, they learn to thrive on each other to keep their physical and mental state alive. In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the soldiers rely on one another for emotional relief, substitution of family, and physical dependence on the front.
The unmerciful nature of the war leave each of the soldiers with a deep emotional wound. They look to each other as the only means of relief in this time of complete loneliness. Paul thinks; "We make grim, coarse jests about it, when a man dies...that keeps us from going mad" (125), exemplifying their avoidance of reality. They seek comic relief to conceal the harsh actuality that surrounds them. The soldiers depend on this daily sliver of relief from one another to survive mentally in the war.
The unity the soldiers' developed throughout the war is what each thrives on to survive. Each soldier is stranded from any love or family and left only with the uncertainty of their own lives and the bond they share with one another. In times like these, the only true aspect of their own lives they can control is the friendship that they have. This comradeship, as solitary as it may seem, is the vital connection that keeps them mentally alive amidst so much confusion.
Paul's dependency is revealed when he describes his relationship with Kat as; "two minute sparks of life; outside is the night and the circle of death" (87). Kat, his closest comrade, shares an emotional connection with Paul and they rely on each other as an escape from the brutality of life. The way Paul describes outside world refers to his outlook on the entirety of the war. The soldiers' evasion of the thoughts of a grim future is exercised through the comradeship they share with one another.
Less important than the soldiers' emotional and psychological dependencies on one another, is their reliance on the prote
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