LITERARY ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 1

We haven't slept for two weeks and seventy men are dead. However, there is now actually enough food and cigarettes to go around, due to the fact that half my company has been lost. It is a bittersweet day. Many days now, depending on how long I live, will be this way. For all of our young, innocent world's were destroyed the first time we went out to combat. I feel almost selfish, eating the food cooked for the men who died on the battlefield; almost as if it's wrong. But then again, I feel that if I do not eat enough, I shall perish as well. Every man is needed in this war. I won't let the silent taunting of the dead kill me. There are too many other things out here that ruin our lives. Kemmerich is also dying. We all tell him he will be fine, but we know that is not the truth. CARTOON ANALYSIS: War causes damage so dramatic both physically and emotionally that soldiers are unable to return to their normal lives after war. This cartoon shows an average looking man whose shadow is that of a soldier. This implies that this man was once a soldier, and is constantly reminded of it, even after his combat. The cartoon also implies emotional damage to the man. He can no longer look at himself and see the man he was before he went to war. Soldiers face inevitable battle scars inside and out from the horrors of this hostile bombardment. WHAT I LEARNED: This first chapter shows just how quickly war can affect a person permanently. Just into combat, Paul has already watched a friend face the slow onset of death at such a young age. That's something most of us never see. War is an awful way to settle disputes and disagreements. Life is fragile. We don't realize this until it shatters before your eyes. Sure, you can tape it back together, but it won't ever be the same. In this chapter it is already evident that Paul thinks something great of his friends; that he is beginning to use them as a coping mechanism. They have become his family.

CHAPTER 2

I have now become detached from the average aspirations of most men my age. This is probably true for the twenty kids in my class that enlisted to fight in this war. These three weeks of training have really taken a toll on us. We have an awful drill instructor, called Himmelstoss. He loves to see us in pain under his rule. He makes us feel as if we are no longer humans, but slaves. I want to go home. Earlier today, I thought Kemmerich might be headed home. I visited him today, but it was for the last time. With one last painful gasp of air, he died. He is probably the first of many friends I will lose. I do not know how I shall live.

CARTOON ANALYSIS: The huge number of untimely deaths that result from war will never disappear. This cartoon shows a skeleton rising from the murky ocean to destroy people on a cruise ship. This shows that casualties are never forgotten and can have consequences. The size of the skeleton is a very important detail. It implies that the number of deaths in war is too big to be ignored. War deaths are significant enough to scar a country. WHAT I LEARNED: war is unfair; life is unfair; friendships never last in war; family is nonexistant.

CHAPTER 3

The new replacement troops have arrived. They seem so young and inexperienced. I feel bad for them, because they will go through what I have been through; that is, if they live. I would never wish this on anyone. I thank God for Kat. He has managed to locate food and bedding(straw) in this place. No one but him could do it. He has this knack for finding things when there really doesn't seem to be anything to be found. I'm just sitting around wondering how exactly formerly nice men, like Himmelstoss, turned into such bullies. I reckon it was the power. People always go mad with power.

CARTOON ANALYSIS: During war, countries provide very few options for their people in hopes of compelling them to fight on the warfront. In this cartoon, Uncle Sam, the American mascot is telling the country that they must work or fight. This means that all people are being forced to do some sort of labor. Uncle Sam holds a gun in one hand and a shovel in the other. Basically, the only choices he gives his people are to support the war and fight, or work, which is suffering for not supporting the war. Countries use unfair tactics when it comes to recruiting the armed forces during war.

WHAT I LEARNED: war is damaging; life is ruined by war; friendships can save your life during war; and your friends are your closest thing to family during war.

CHAPTER 4

My company boarded trucks in the middle of the night to go lay wire. There was a bombardment, and bullets and grenades flew everywhere. Explosions and cries from wounded people and horses filled the air. It was unbearable. Even worse, I caught a splinter in my arm and fell into an open grave. The only good thing about it was that I could take cover under the coffin. My friends joined me. Not too long after that we had to put on our gas masks. They are awful things to wear. Your breathing is extremely labored. At the end, five of us were dead, and more than that were wounded. So many of them were new recruits. It's so hard to watch the youngsters die so soon.