Notes

The brighter side of warfare is the comradeship that often develops in death-defying situations. As Paul says, a far more important lesson of their struggle is that "it awakened in us a strong, practical sense of esprit de corps, which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war — comradeship."

A moment of human kindness has been replaced with the cold, raw reality of death in war.

In this chapter, Paul also reflects on how war changes insignificant men.

As Kropp notes about rise in rank, "As sure as they get a stripe or a star they become different men, just as though they'd swallowed concrete." Kat concurs, noting that military life brings out the worst in men, particularly the abuse of power over lesser men.

As Remarque's most pointed explanation of how war reduces combatants to simple survival skills, the section contains reminders that humanitarianism and compassion quickly return, impelling the men to help the wounded and dying and to commiserate with maimed horses.

In Chapter 5, Remarque takes the opportunity to contemplate the war and its effects on his generation. His treatment suggests that for every terrible event there is an opposite opportunity: The comradeship that reveals the humanity of these desperate men contrasts with the terrible inhumanity all around them.

Responses are expected to be like a class discussion including textual evidence and commentary. Here are two guidelines that must be followed:
1. Frame your comments as a response to something that has already been said. Here are some possible openers to agree, disagree or qualify.
a. I really liked John’s points about _____. I’d add that _____ .
b. I take your point, Susan, that _____ . Still _____
c. Though Sheila and Ryan seem to be at odds about _____ , they may actually not be all that far apart.
2. To change the subject, indicate explicitly that you are doing so. Here are some possible openers:
a. So far we have been talking about _____ . But isn’t the real issue here _____?
b. While I agree with Martha, a more appropriate take on this quote would be _____ .

Respond to the prompt below using the guidelines listed above. Remember to respond to another person of the same novel as yours and then to another person who is reading a different novel.