All Quet on the Western Front: Chapter 7

Part 1: [Pages 137-161] Kristine Avant

Main Characters: Paul, Leer, Kropp, Paul's mother

Plot:

Himmelstoss tries to make up with them - giving them more food and getting them easy jobs

Paul, Leer, and Kropp meet the three French women when they are swimming - later that night they take food and swim across the canal to meet with them; they obviously have a good time even with the language barrier

Paul gets seventeen days of leave. When he goes home he finds out his mother has cancer and the people there are starving. He lies to his mom about how "bad" it was out there.

Themes/Analysis:

We learned earlier in the book that all of Paul's, and most of the other men's, sexual experiences were in the brothels - by being with the French woman he is trying to gain back some of his youth/innocence (first time type of thing). He also realizes she would find him more interesting if he were going to the front - more betrayal, as she doesn't see him as a human being like he wants her to.

Part 2: [Pages 162-185] Tim Olson

Main Characters: Paul, Paul's mother, Kantorek, Mittelstaedt, Kemmerick's mother

Plot:

Immediately as Paul returns to his hometown he is greeted by a woman serving coffee, she exclaims how happy she is to give a soldier a coffee, Paul is disgusted by this notion and it sets the tone for the homecoming section of this chapter.

Paul makes it to his house where he has an awkward experience returning home, he has sensory overload and doesn't know how to react when he hears his sister's voice, he says he is home but, "a sense of strangeness will not leave me."

Paul's mother briefly questions him about what happened at the front, he dismisses the accusations of gas attacks and sieges, saying it's 'only talk.'

Paul has a run in with a Major who shames him for not saluting him, Paul is forced to march and vows to not wear his uniform while he is on leave. Despite this concealment, he is strangely humbled by the gestures of the townsfolk who offer him cigars while questioning him about the front.

Paul visits Mittelstaedt at the barracks, where he finds he is a training officer. Mittelstaedt is training Kantorek (their old school teacher), Mittelstaedt has a sense of satisfaction out of the role reversal, reciting orders once barked at him by his former teacher. Paul criticizes Mittelstaedt's pride, referencing Behm's death in war following his reluctance to fight in the war.

Paul puts off visiting Kemmerick's mother till the end of his leave. He lies to her saying Kemmerick's death was a result of a shot to the chest, which killed him immediately without pain. His mother has her doubts and tries to hear the truth from Paul. Paul defends his lie which results in Kemmerick's mother accepting it as truthful. Paul pities her and hides the truth because he feels she cannot ever know the pain he went through.

On Paul's last night his mother and him share a moment, where they pity each other. Paul's mother worries for him on the front, and he worries for her and her declining health. Paul wishes he could put his head in her lap and weep like a child.

Themes/Analysis:

The second half of the chapter continues the theme of Paul's youth and innocence. Paul and his friends joined the military together and left behind their childhood. They had no choice but to adapt to the conditions of the Front. Paul's homecoming in the second half of this chapter deals with his anguish of the war. Paul moved from a stressful environment of the front, returning to a place where he was innocent. He's become suspicious living in a hostile environment, the home he returned to doesn't feel like the home it once was. There is a metaphor in this chapter where he goes through his old things, books, insects, and other objects around his room seem foreign to him much like the overall surroundings he is in. Coupled with the stress of returning to war, and the conflict at home, the chapter ends with Paul biting into his pillow, wishing he had never come home.