Before the war, Paul and his comrades were fresh from school, full of hopes and dreams for their future. Their teachers and parents told, passionately at times, about the glory and honor of war to persuade them to enlist in the war effort. Baumer states that "teachers always carry their feelings ready in their waistcoat pockets, and trot them out by the hour." Parents, too, were not reluctant to use words to shame their sons into enlisting. "At that time even one's parents were ready with the word 'coward'."

"We're no longer young men. We've lost any desire to conquer the world... we believe in the war". Paul said this about himself and his comrades. This was their mentality after horrifying experiences on the front lines. Seeing the friends he grew up with dyin

When his mother finally asks, "Was it very bad out there Paul?", Paul cannot answer her question. He knows that the experiences that he has had are so overwhelming that nothing he says can duplicate them. Only his comrades are able to understand, as they have been through the same things that he has. Paul then lies, "No, Mother, not so very bad. There are always a lot of us together so it isn't so bad." This is able to slightly cease their worrying and concerns for him.

Upon returning to the front lines, Paul is assigned a patrol mission to ascertain the enemy's strength. For the first time in the war, Paul becomes disoriented during a bombardment, and displays a new characteristic: fear. He suffers a panic attack as he is pinned down in a shell hole. He forgot how to use his animal instincts to maneuver the field. He is calmed, however, by the sound of the familiar voices of his comrades in his trench behind him.

Comrade, I did not want to kill you ... You were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction that I stabbed ... Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony- Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert. (195)

g had an initial negative effect, but there was nothing he could do about their deaths. There was no reason dwelling on it, because, "After all, war is war."

Soon after he hears the comforting words of his friends,

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1163
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)