Quote 4
Just
as we turn into animals when we go up to the line . . . so we turn
into wags and loafers when we are resting. . . . We want to live
at any price; so we cannot burden ourselves with feelings which,
though they may be ornamental enough in peacetime, would be out
of place here. Kemmerich is dead, Haie Westhus is dying . . . Martens
has no legs anymore, Meyer is dead, Max is dead, Beyer is dead, Hammerling
is dead . . . it is a damnable business, but what has it to do with
us now—we live.
In this grim passage from Chapter Seven,
Paul discusses the psychological process of how a soldier disconnects
himself from his feelings in order to survive the terror of the
war. After the bloody fighting, Paul and his friends are lying about
enjoying a moment of relaxation and leisure, and have pushed their
recent horrific experiences out of their minds. Paul says that terror
can be survived only if one avoids thinking about it; otherwise,
feelings of grief, fear, and despair would drive a man mad. Paul
even looks upon those feelings with contempt, calling them “ornamental
enough during peacetime” and implying that they are superfluous
luxuries rather than essential components of the human experience.
To help the reader understand the pressure that is always upon the
soldier, Paul presents his appalling list of recent casualties,
friends, and comrades who were either killed or badly injured in
recent fighting. There is even a grotesque poetry to the list with
the alliteration and rhyme of the names Martens, Meyer, Max, and
Beyer, demonstrating the stoic attitude that Paul claims is necessary
for survival.
