All Quiet on the Western Front Annotations

Nov 27: Chapter 1

Nov 29: Chapter 2

a. Examples of Direct and Indirect Characterization
- Direct - Müller was “really quite as sympathetic as another who could not bear to think of
such a thing for grief. He merely sees things clearly” (bottom of page 20). Müller didn’t
deal with death super emotionally and didn't want to connect Franz’s shoes with death.
- Indirect - Paul was hopeless and kind of sad. He was making all these realizations and in
doing so, it is clear that he has lost drive and meaning and hope and is just kinda of,
blank. Second, they make it clear that Franz is a very realistic person by nature. He
knows he’s going to die and he’s accepted it. As sad as it may be, he tries to be honest
with himself and the people around him.
b. Examples of Symbolism
- The play “Saul” and bundle of poems represent lost hopes and dreams, a lot future in a
sense.
- Franz’s boots represent death. They represent death and loss and broken hope and faith.
They also represent renewed hope and beginnings in the sense that they’ll be used by
soldiers who could seriously use them.
c. Examples of the theme: The Struggle for Identity is Real.
- These boys were all young when they were enlisted. They had dreams and goals and
futures that weren’t yet realities. They aren’t going to get that back though. They have
lost their identities as unique individuals and have now just become soldiers. They might
die before they get to go home but even the lucky ones who survive will be scarred and
screwed-up for the rest of their lives.
- Franz struggled with his identity. He had to get his leg amputated and often times soldiers
develop severe depression when they experience physical trauma like that. He probably
felt as if, even if he doesn’t survive it, he will never be able to fully find and be himself
again. And he also knew that he was most likely going to die very soon. What’s the point
of anything if you know that?
d. Find two significant or meaningful quotes from the text and explain why you found them
significant.
- “We recognized that what matters is not the mind but the boot brush, not intelligence but
the system, not freedom but drill” (top of page 22). This is significant because it shows
the immatureness of these boys going into the military and how much fighting has
unfortunately forced them to grow up. They lost their idealistic ideas of life as a soldier
quickly and now have to learn the ugly truth that what matters is not their lives but
making sure their country wins the war.
 - “Thoughts of girls, of flowery meadows, of white clouds suddenly come into my head.
My feet begin to move forward in my boots, I go quicker, I run. Soldiers pass by me, I
hear their voices without understanding. The earth is streaming with forces which pour
into me through the soles of my feet. The night crackles electrically, the front thunders
like a concert of drums” (top of page 33). I like this because of the imagery and
analogies. It’s beautiful to imagine and listen to and also very intense when I imagine it.
e. What are big questions that arise from reading this chapter?
- What is the point of fighting if you, as an individual, will never “win” in a sense? What is
the point if you’ll only be worse off, or dead because of your service?
- What is the downside to no longer being phased by death?

​ ec 3: Chapter 3
D
a. Examples of Direct and Indirect Characterization
- Direct - The new reinforcements are immature “infants” as Kropp said on page 35.
Katczinsky is talkative on page 40.
- Indirect - Katczinsky is smart and sneaky as well. He’s wise and intelligent and knows
how to make deals and sneak around well. He also knows how to efficiently get what he
wants. This was talked about on page 37. Kropp is a very realistic person while Kat is
more cynical. This was on page 41.
b. Examples of Symbolism
- The turnip meals represent boredom. They represent the life of a soldier. Almost always
the same, gross, boring, unappealing, and repetitive.
- The dog mentioned symbolizes the “beast” living inside of mankind.
c. Examples of Established Themes and Evidence of "Man is Essentially a Beast"
- “For instance, if you train a dog to eat potatoes and then afterwards put a piece of mea in
front of him, he’ll snap at it, it’s his nature. And if you give a man a little bit of authority
he behaves just the same way, he snaps at it too. The things are precisely the same. In
himself man is essentially a beast” (end of page 43 to beginning of page 44).
- The scene of basically kidnapping Himmelstoss on pages 47 and 48 simply because they
thought his methods of teaching were bad in a way represents that men is essentially a
beast; beast in the sense of being unthoughtful and cruel.
d. Find two significant or meaningful quotes from the text and be prepared to explain why you
found them significant.
- “The army is based on that; one man must always have power over the other” (top of
page 44). I think this is an important quote because it summarizes the nature and morals
of man. Humankind creates people who are higher and better-than and those who are
lesser. By nature, there always seems to be people who have more authority over others.
Man is innately greedy.
 - “Himmelstoss ought to have been pleased; his saying that we should educated one
another had borne fruit for himself. We had become successful students of his method”
(bottom of page 49). I think this is significant because it shows a sense of cruelty and
people not feeling remorse for that cruelty. It also portrays karma.
e. What are exigent questions that arise from reading this chapter?
- Is it better to be smart or clever? Is one more respectable than the other?
- Is it human nature to want and think one is better or greater than the other?
f. Find at least two applications of How To Read Literature Like a Professor (Hint: Think
Communion).
- On page 40 there is a scene of comunion where they all sit around enjoying the horse
meat that Kat cooked. It unifies them. They are all hungry and all feel the same way
about the stuff going on in their lives so meals together symbolize a lot usually.
- On page 40, a scene of Haie bending over Himmelstoss beating him and abusing him
represents the chapter entitled ​More than it’s Going to Hurt you: Concerning Violence.
g. Look for "The Business."
- The business is the harassment, manipulation, and kidnapping of Himmelstoss.

Dec 5: Chapter 4
a.​ ​Metaphors
- Shuddering air that with a noiseless leap springs upon us
- The front itself emitted an electrical current which awakened unknown nerve centres
- The sharpness of a bayonet in the moonlight
- Here the heads become figures: coats, trousers, and the boots appear out of mist as from a
milky pool
b.​ ​Animal Instincts/Animals in general
- “Lurching along”
- A cackle of geese
- Led and protected
- Throwing themselves down on the ground when they hear shots
- Horses/Wounded Horses
c.​ ​Symbolism of graveyards, excrement, and rain
- Rain down in showers of red, white, and green stars
- The cemetery with the mounds and black crosses
- The graveyards are the only cover
- Raining clouds
- He climbed into a coffin
d.​ ​Characterization
- An understanding glance from Peter to Kat
- “There’ll be a bombardment” said Kat
 - Peter experienced what is possibly the first sign of trauma/dissociation/PTSD
- The new recruit pooped his pants because of gun-shyness
- Detering wants to shoot the horses to get it over with because he’s sick of hearing their
cries but Kat doesn’t allow him to. Detering is mad that horses are used in the war. He is
a farmer.
e.​ ​Moral/Ethical Conundrum
- Whether or not to shoot the dying horses
- Do you shoot someone who will die a painful death soon anyway to put him out of his
misery?
- Is it okay to remove dead bodies from graves?
f.​ ​Evidence of ​How to Read Literature Like a Professor
- More than it’s Going to Hurt You: Concerning Violence: the man with the injured arm,
the gas-shells, the shooting,
- It’s More than just Rain or Snow: the chapter started off describing the weather
g.​ ​Evidence of Theme(s)
- Cigarettes unite and connect them to each other.
- Death is better than prolonged pain
- “Wounds don’t hurt till afterwards”
- It is kill or be killed

Dec 7: Chapter 5 and Dec 11: Chapter 6

Look for and consider the significance of the following themes in the text. The page number
where they are found is indicated for each one:
84-86: Irony, War, and Identity
- They are all having an identity crisis. What are they to do when the war ends? What life
will be left for them? What even was it to begin with? If they had jobs before, do they go
back to those jobs? They talk about the irony of being a student and a soldier. The two
don’t go together. You can’t take school seriously after being in war.
91-97: Communion, Christ, Beasts and Wings, Love
- They ate roast goose together, an act of communion. They are sharing a meal as one,
coming together as men who all understand each other to an extent. Peter was trying to
catch two geese but failed. He picked them up, one after another and tried to bash their
heads in but didn’t do it hard enough. The geese started going off like alarm clocks and a
bulldog came and struck Peter down, biting at his neck. I think this symbolizes the harsh
and cruel factors of the war. The soldiers are ordered to kill, they have to. I think the
bulldog is Peter trying to resist and save/remain the person he is. The bulldog represents
him trying to fight against it. Peter and Kat have a (gay) moment where they are sitting
across from one another alone roasting the goose and in the book Peter thinks they have a
more complete communion with each other than even lovers. “We are two men, two
 minutes sparks of life; outside is the night and the circle of death. We sit on the edge of it
crouching in danger, the grease drips were hands, in our hearts we are close to one
another, and the hour is like the room: flecked over with the lights and shadows of our
feelings cast by the quiet fire. What does he know of me or I of him? Formerly we should
not have had a single thought in common--now we sit with a goose between us and feel
in unison we are so intimate that we do not even speak.”
101-108: Chance, Rats, and the Battle for Bread
- The men live in slight fear. They never fully know what will happen or when they could
die. They are sitting, awaiting chance, all they can do if a shot is fired is duck, that's it.
Everything in the war and everything about these men's future is up to chance. One
second they could be playing a game and leave to go to the outhouse and come back and
the spot where they were playing the game is now a big hole in the ground. It could have
been them, they could have been the one that died. Who is to say that they won't be the
next one who dies because of chance. The battle for bread is against the rats. The number
of rats has increased because the condition of the trenches have decreased. The rats in the
trenches are gross. The men call them corpse-rats, they are always hungry and they're
stealing the minimal amount of bread soldiers have to begin with.
108-114: War is Hell
- The actual combat is not always the worst part of war. The rats, the food, the men, all of
these things make up the reason why war is hell. War is almost unbearable. The men are
going crazy, and if that isn't enough after the war they will most likely never be the same.
War can destroy the human psyche and makes it hard, at times, for these men to act and
function the way they need to. War is not something to be taken lightly, war is hell on
everybody involved. “The first recruit seems actually to have gone insane. He butts his
head against the wall like a goat. We must try tonight to take him to the rear. Meanwhile
we bind him, but in such a way that in case of attack he can be released at once.”
124-128: Birds, Butterflies, and the Cries of the Damned
- They have to listen to all of the dying men wailing. One man cried out for two days until
the soldiers found him. Butterflies fly all around the trenches. They have red spots on
their yellow wings. Why are they around these trenches? “There is not a plant nor flower
for miles they settle on the teeth of the skull. The birds two are just as carefree, they have
long since since accustomed themselves to the war. Every morning larks ascend to No
Man's Land. A year ago we watch them nesting; the young ones grew up too.”
129-135: Not all Men are Made for War
- The new recruits are just young boys. They do not know what they're doing and they
have no experience. They are falling like flies, getting killed because they don't know
what they're doing, not because they're getting shot. They should not be in combat yet
they are because there are too many soldiers dying and not enough alive.
Dec 13: Chapter 7
Look for the following aspects in this chapter:
a. Characterization
- Paul is angry that his mother is sick and about to die and he has to leave soon to report
back for Duty. He is experiencing symptoms of PTSD. He is imagining what happened
back on the front and trying to think about good times but having a hard time doing so.
- Kemmerich dies
- Kropp has a good attitude while meeting the French Ladies who played a significant role
in this chapter
b. Theme
- War can have a major effect on someone's life. It can disrupt their entire identity just as it
did with Paul and his PTSD. Too many soldiers almost die, or want to die because war is
such a traumatic thing. Throughout this entire book, the hardships and challenges of war
have been shown over and over and over again.
c. Symbols
- The boots have been discussed many times throughout the entire book and they've played
a very major role. The boots have symbolized hope, ends, death, tragedy, war, future
hopes, and many other things.
d. HTRLLAP
- In ​How To Read Literature Like a Professor,​ one of the chapters is called N​ever Stand
Next to the Hero​. This chapter talks about the phenomenon that occurs in literature where
the secondary character to the main character almost always die in order for the plot to
progress. In ​All Quiet on the Western Front,​ Kemmerich, Paul’s best friend in battle dies
which is showing exactly what that chapter talked about.

Dec 17: Chapters 8 and 9

Dec 19: Chapter 10

Dec 21: Chapters 11 and 12