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Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
AQWF Reading Questions Chapters 3 and 4
Chapter 3:
1. Why is it ironic that Paul and his comrades refer to themselves as "stone-age veterans" when they compare themselves to the new recruits?
2. Describe Katczinsky. What is his special talent?
3. What is Kat's philosophy of war? What is Kropp's philosophy of war?
4. Why does the author expand and discuss these philosophies?
5. What is Kropp's philosophy concerning power given to insignificant men?
Chapter 4
1. What symbolism does the earth have for the soldiers?
2. What allows the men to survive?
3. What does the cry of the wounded horses represent?
4. What is ironic about using the cemetery for cover?
5. What do Kat and Paul nearly do to the recruit with the hip wound? Why?
6. Why does Paul say the rain falls in their hearts?
1. Why is it ironic that Paul and his comrades refer to themselves as "stone-age veterans" when they compare themselves to the new recruits? Paul and his comrades have only served in the war a short time themselves; however, the war affects them so much it has robbed them of their youth.
2. Describe Katczinsky. What is his special talent? See pp. 37-40. He is quite a skilled and resourceful scavenger. pp. 40 and 41.
Kat: if the powers that be treated everyone equally, the war would end much more quickly. Kropp: Should be treated as a sports festival wherein the warring countries have their leaders fight one another instead of involving a multitude of their countrymen (“the wrong people”).
4. *Why does the author expand and discuss these philosophies? “The people who make declarations of war are never the people who have to do the dirty work of fighting it. Kat's ironic statement, refers to this reality. He is in essence saying that if the people who started wars - the politicians and world leaders - were forced to experience the hardships the front-line men endure (‘the same grub and the same pay’), they would think twice before committing themselves and their countries to this absurdity. Kropp expands on this idea, proposing that "a declaration of war should be a kind of popular festival with entrance-tickets and bands, like a bull fight. Then in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries, dressed in bathing-drawers and armed with clubs, can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins". The ridiculousness of modern warfare is only too clear to the fighting men. All agree that an arrangement such as that suggested by Kropp would be "much simpler and more just than (the present) arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting.’”
* "All Quiet on the Western Front Group." enotes.com (2009): n. pag. Web. 29 Sep 2009.
5. What is Kropp’s philosophy concerning power given to insignificant men? Kropp: When insignificant people gain power they abuse it; they become mere shadows of their former themselves. Kat: “ ‘It goes to the head of them all, you see. And the more insignificant the man has been in civil life the worse it takes him’” (44-45).
p. 55-56 “his only friend, brother, mother … stifles his cries of terror …
2. What allows the men to survive? Instinct to survive
3. What does the cry of the wounded horses represent? Moaning of the soldiers/the world
4. What is ironic about using the cemetery for cover? Men die on top of and inside old graves/RIP? Place of eternal rest/peace but no peace
5. What do Kat and Paul nearly do to the recruit with the hip wound? Why? Shoot him/ put him out of his misery.
6. Why does Paul say the rain falls in their hearts? p.74 (care so passionately/into their very souls/ their hearts mourn
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
1. How do Himmelstoss and the men reconcile?
2. Why do the soldiers forget about the front-line fighting when they are behind the lines? Why do they only rest when they are behind the front?
3. What does Paul say will happen with memories of the front after the war?
4. Why is Paul unhappy after the evening with the women?
5. Why does Paul cry when he arrives home? Why does he feel strange in his own home?
6. Why does Paul lie to his mother about the reality of war?
7. Why do the major and Paul conflict? Why does Paul change into civilian clothes?
8. Why can’t Paul talk to his father and the other older men about the war? What does he realize about the people around him and their knowledge of the war?
9. What is leave to Paul?
10. What does Paul tell Kermmerich’s mother about her son’s death? Why can’t he understand her anguish?
11. Why does Paul regret coming home on leave?
1. What does Paul think of the Russian prisoners?
2. How do many of the Germans treat the Russians? How do they trade with them?
3. How do the Russians differ from the Germans?
4. Why does Paul not feel more sympathetic toward the Russian prisoners? Why are these men his enemies?
5. What is Paul’s sole aim?