Characters
Who is the protagonist of the story?
Paul Bäumer
In what country does the setting occur?
France / Germany
“There was, indeed, one of us who hesitated and did not want to fall into line. That was Joseph Behm, a plump, homely fellow. But he did allow himself to be persuaded, otherwise he would have been ostracized. And perhaps more of us thought as he did, but no one could very well stand out, because at that time even one's parents were ready with the word ‘coward’; no one had the vaguest idea what we were in for. The wisest were just the poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune, whereas those who were better off, and should have been able to see more clearly what the consequences would be, were beside themselves with joy” (Remarque 11).
Irony
What does "ration" mean?
A fixed amount of food given to soldiers
Who motivated the young recruits to join the army?
Kantorek
Which character enjoys making his recruits' lives hard?
Himmelstoss
Where are Paul and his friends stationed at the beginning of the novel?
Behind the front lines / reserve camp
“We walk on for a long time. Kropp has calmed himself; we understand, he saw red; out there every man gets like that sometime. ‘What has Kantorek written to you?’ Müller asks him. He laughs. ‘We are the Iron Youth.’We all three smile bitterly, Kropp rails: he is glad that he can speak. Yes, that’s the way they think, these hundred thousand Kantoreks! Iron Youth! Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? This is long ago. We are old folk” (Remarque 18).
Paradox
What does "bombardment" mean?
Continuous attack with bombs or artillery
When Kemmerich dies, what item of his belongings is taken and who takes it?
Müller takes his boots
What character is known as a bed wetter who hates Himmelstoss?
Tjaden
Where does Paul go when he is granted leave from the front?
His home / hometown
“Someone plumps down behind me, another. I wipe the goggles of my mask clear of the moist breath. It is Kat, Kropp, and someone else. All four of us lie there in heavy, watchful suspense and breathe as lightly as possible. These first minutes with the mask decide between life and death: is it air-tight? I remember the awful sights in the hospital: the gas patients who in day-long suffocation cough up their burnt lungs in clots” (Remarque 68).
Foreshadowing
What is "wiring fatigue"?
A mission to put up barbed wire
What happens between Himmelstoss and a few recruits? Why?
Himmelstoss gets ambushed because he made the recruits lives harder
What character is 40 years old and the leader of Paul's friends?
Kat
What place is known to have large rats and is a place of death?
No Man's Land
“‘I don't want to do anything,’ replies Kropp wearily. ‘You'll be dead one day, so what does it matter? I don't think we'll ever go back.’ ‘When I think about it, Albert,’ I say after a while rolling over on my back, ‘when I hear the word ‘peace-time,’ it goes to my head: and if it really came, I think I would do some unimaginable thing – something, you know, that it's worth having lain here in the muck for. But I can't even imagine anything. All I do know is that this business about professions and studies and salaries and so on – it makes me sick, it is and always was disgusting. I don't see anything at all, Albert.’ All at once everything seems to me confused and hopeless” (Remarque 87).
Paradox
What does "melancholy" mean in, "Their stillness is the reason why these memories of former times do not awaken desire so much as sorrow—a strange, inapprehensible melancholy. Once we had such desires—but they return not. They are past, they belong to another world that is gone from us" (Remarque 121).
Deep Sadness
What happens to many young recruits during their first time at the front?
Many panic / are inexperienced / heavy casualties / "went" in their pants during bombardments
Who was the first character to die in the novel?
Joseph Behm
Where is Second Company taken after being relieved from the front lines? Why?
Farther back than usual to a field depot. Needed more than a hundred reinforcements because they only had thirty-two members left.
"Their pale turnip faces, their pitiful clenched hands, the fine courage of these poor devils, the desperate charges and attacks made by the poor brave wretches, who are so terrified that they dare not cry out loudly, but with battered chests, with torn bellies, arms and legs only whimper softly for their mothers and cease as soon as one looks at them. Their sharp, downy, dead faces have the awful expressionlessness of dead children" (Himmelstoss 130).
Imagery
What does "shell-shock" mean in, "The reliefs go out, the observers stagger in, covered with dirt, and trembling. One lies down in silence in the corner and eats, the other, a reservist-reinforcement, sobs; twice he has been flung over the parapet by the blast of the explosions without getting any more than shell-shock. The recruits are eyeing him. We must watch them, these things are catching, already some lips begin to quiver. It is good that it is growing daylight; perhaps the attack will come before noon" (Remarque 106).
Anxiety/nervousness and psychological disturbances experienced by soldiers exposed to constant artillery bombardments
What happened between Himmelstoss and Paul in the trenches?
Himmelstoss curled up and would not move. Paul had to force him out of the trench during a bombardment.