SYMBOLISM

Directions: For each event or character listed, state the symbolic meaning and offer a supporting reference from the text. (18 points).

Post all answers under your All Quiet Link.



CHARACTER



1. Paul Paul joins the army as a young boy just starting to experience his life and excited to be in the army. By the time Paul dies, he becomes an old man because he experienced and learned so much during the war that he was changed into a whole different person. Paul realized that war is real and it wasnt what he expected.

2. Kat Kat is 40 years old but somehow him and Paul became best friends. Kat was Pauls reason to live and when he died, Paul had no hope left.

3. Albert Kropp Kropp was one of Pauls classmates and he was a very clear thinker. He wanted to be a teacher after the war.

4. Leer- Leer was one of Pauls classmates and he was the first to grow a beard and lose his virginity. It shows that the boys were still young. He was also obsessed with math and women

5. Franz Kemmerich- Kemmerich grew up with Paul. He was one of the first to die because he had his leg amputated. Before he died, he gave his boots to Muller. Symbol of wasted life, leg gets amputated

6. Detering- Simple man, destroyed by war. Detering was a farmer who loved his wife and family and missed them very much. He was also a loner and ran away from the front.

7. Kantorek- book smart, but knows nothing about war. Kantorek was Pauls school teacher that persuaded Paul to join the army. He represents an older generation who believes it is patriotic to go to war.

8. Corporal Himmelstoss- Symbolizes the small man that was corrupted by power. Himmelstoss was a postman before the war. He is a sadistic drillmaster that craves power.

Scene or Situation

1. the theft of Kemmerichs watch Time of life was up, so was the time of his life. The theft of Kemmerichs watch represents that people will do anything, even steal from the dying, to get something they want.
2. Kemmerichs death- Useless waste of a young life. Kemmerichs death really made Paul realize that his friends were going to die and that death wasnt fake.

3. the front The front symbolizes death, destruction, and fear...Paul calls it a whirlpool. It sucks you in and you cant escape it, except die.

4. Earth! Earth! Earth! Death, where the soldiers will end up, The Earth represents the soldiers shelter. They buried themselves in it to escape from the bombs and they also bury themselves in it when they die.

5. coffin stacked against a school-house wall Foreshadowing the many deaths that will occur that day. Coffin symbolizes death, the school house symbolizes education....therefore together symbolizes death of education. Instead of teachers and students in a school, there was coffins. It represented that there wasnt any room for school when so many people were dying.

6. the death of the horses nothing is immune to the destruction of war, wars brutality. The horses were killed for no reason. It shows that people killed anything in there way.

7. Paul dreaming of childhood scenes during a bloody battle Escapism, he was thinking of something else to relieve his stress. Dreaming of his childhood was the only way Paul could get his mind of dying and remember the happy times in his life because the war was not one of them.

8. the plight of the infantrymen during battle- Destructiveness of war. The plight of the infantrymen during the battle were men that were going to die from this war.

9. the young recruits ["the infants"] Symbolizes the infants being sent to war, destruction of innocence. The young recruits were sent out because they were running out of men, so they put untrained men on the front basically so just so they could die.

Scene or Situation

10. the encounter with the French girls The encounter with the French girls showed that Paul hadnt experienced love yet. He slept with a girl but he didnt experience the connection with someone he loved.

11. Pauls visit home Loss of youth, destructiveness of war, Paul cant adjust, he feels very uncomfortable. Pauls visit home made him realize that he had changed a lot. He no longer fit in at home because no one had experienced what he had no one understood him.

12. the Russian prisoners Shared Humanity, theyre ordinary people..The Russian prisoners made Paul realize that they were normal people just like him.

13. sharing the goose with Kat Camaraderie, deep friendship, the only thing Paul feels comfortable with. Sharing the goose with Kat brought the two closer. They didnt even have to talk, they just understood one another.

14. the death of Gerard Duval - Act of Murder, Paul treats the man like a comrad

15. Pauls friends voices in the dark during combat Pauls friends voices in the dark during combat relieves Paul because he knows that his friends are with him.

16. the death of Kat Hopelessness, despair. The death of Kat destroys Paul. After Kat dies, Paul loses all faith. He has no one to live for.

17. Pauls death Glad the end of come, war can kill before it actually destroys your body. Paul died during one of the quietest days on the front. He was not afraid to die, he could now join his friends and leave the war behind.

18. the boots Symbolizes the death to anyone who wears them, physical comfort, soldiers self image. First Kemmerich had the boots, then when he died he gave them to Muller and then when Muller died he gave them Paul. When they died, the boots were passed on.

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