During the course of his experience with war, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons--parents, elders, school, and religion--that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days, in order to mature. His new society, then, becomes the company, his fellow trench soldiers. They are a group who understands the truth as Baum

er has experienced it. A period of leave when he visits his hometown is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front. His military experiences and the home front settlers' limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war do not allow for a discussion. When he arrives home and greetings are exchanged, he realizes immediately that he has nothing to say to his mother. " We say very little and I am thankful that she asks nothing" (Ch. 7 P.141). The fact that he does not wish to speak with his parents shows Baumer's movement away from the traditional institution of the family. His mother finally speaks to him and asks, " was it very bad out there, Paul?" (Ch.7 P. 143) However, Baumer cannot respond to his mother's question: he understands that the experiences he has had are so overwhelming that " civilian language", or any language at all, would be ineffective in describing them. Trying to replicate the experience and horrors of the war via words is impossible, Baumer realizes this and so he lies, and is able to restore his family's faith in him. Any attempt at telling the truth would, in fact, trivialize its reality. However, family destruction is not all that Baumer sees, he experiences the physical destructiveness of the war, as well.

The soldiers in the Second Company form this bond between each other that represents that of all wartime buddies. They develop these friendships where they depend on each other so that they can make it through the war. The young soldiers play cards, smoke together and joke around together to pass time when they are not fighting. Their reactions towards dying friends show their love for one another. "Suddenly little Kropp throws his cigarette away, stamps on it savagely, and looking around him with a broken and distracted face, stammers "Damned sh*t, the damned sh*t!"" (page 18). Even after their good friend Kemmerich passes away, the circle of friends is able to pull together and get through it all. They have a deep love for each other. Some soldiers like Paul and Katczinsky even feel a father/son relationship with each other. "We don't talk much, but I believe we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have" (page 94). The war has brought them together. It has made them rely on each other for survival and has brought them to forget the horrors of war.

The soldiers from this novel represent actual feelings about brotherhoods, misperceptions of war and the pointless fighting. They provide clear examples of these with their experiences from war. From sitting on their "boxes" and chatting, to the realization of a friend inside an enemy, these soldiers have been able to see the realities of war and have shared it with the rest of the world. People can now see how horrid it is to be in a war and now they try at all costs to prevent war. War is bad, that's all there is to it. Not much more you can say about it except that. When viewing the death of innocent people, the question is asked once again, is it really worth it?

Some common words found in the essay are:
District Commandant, Frau Kemmerich, Paul Baumer, Maria Remarque, Front Ch, Paul Ch7, Kantorek Himmelstoss, Paul Katczinsky, Frau Kemmerich's, Paul Death, quiet western, western front, quiet western front, war soldiers, ch 7, innocent soldiers, home front, realities war, deep inside soldiers, destructiveness war, mental deterioration, winning don't, kemmerich's mother son, ch 7 160, western front novel,
Approximate Word count = 2226
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)