Dialectic Journals

“Comrade, I did not want to kill you. . . . But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. . . . I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade…how could you be my enemy?”

I thought this quote is extremely interesting. It is the first time Paul Baumer kills another human being. He cannot contemplate his actions and wonders why it must be done. Could it be that Dual is not different from Paul? Paul has gone through an extensive change in personality, attitude, mentality and morality. He seems confused when the deed is done. They are forced to fight each other no matter what their internal feelings are. They have been convinced that the men they are at war against are evil. Is it possible that the propaganda manipulated their thinking? It is possible and that is what happened.

It is interesting how Paul calls the one he killed “comrade”. I think he removed the differences and found something similar to himself. Paul feels that the things that divide the two men are irrelevant. He really connects to Duval in the sense that they are two and the same. The quote also delves deep into the moral decisions of taking another man’s life. It is a constant battle over right and wrong. Paul knew what he had to do but may not know why. The soldier’s mind is a fragile thing – something that is constantly changed and altered into a confused state.



"I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another."

Paul is describing the soldiers on either side of the war, including himself. Even though he is young, he knows the causalities of war being death, violence, and inhumanity. He believes that they have been tricked and foolishly joined to help the country. The soldiers had no knowledge of what they were going to experience. I think Paul believes that the government is to blame for the war – the soldiers are just mere pawns who are controlled by the government. He realizes that there is no reason to kill one another – man is turned against his brother.
It is very interesting how he says he knows nothing of happiness or joy because of the war. It comes back to the theme of the book – the transformation of man into beast when at war. He is also making a statement of the humanity loss when fighting and killing. The young boys who enter warfare have no idea what they are getting into. It is probably the closest thing to hell on earth. It is something no man wants to experience. A very important quote when discussing the life of soldiers.