All Quiet on the Western Front Summary
Description
Here you will find a All Quiet on the Western Front summary (Erich Maria Remarque's book).
We begin with a summary of the entire book, and then you can read each individual chapter's summary by visiting the links on the "Chapters" section.
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Last Updated: Monday 1 Jan, 2024
Chapters
Chapters All Quiet on the Western Front Summary Overview
A youth named Paul Bäumer, along with his schoolmates, enlists in the German military during the First World War, convinced by the patriotic speeches of their teacher, Kantorek. They soon face harsh instruction from the sadistic Corporal Himmelstoss and witness the horrific realities of war, leading them to question the nationalist ideals they once revered. The hardships of war and the need to survive desensitize them, compelling them to detach from emotions such as fear, sympathy, and grief. After significant losses in their company, they meet their former tormentor, Himmelstoss, at the front, leading to conflicts and discussions about the corruption and arrogance in the power structure of war. They endure grim experiences at the front, including a haunting mission laying barbed wire amidst heavy artillery, causing corpses to unearth from their graves. Despite the horrors, they find moments of relief in simple pleasures like a large meal, a swim, or a brief interaction with French girls. However, the notion of war's end seems a distant fantasy, and Paul struggles with the idea of returning to normalcy after his experiences. He takes a brief leave, returning home only to find his mother terminally ill and his hometown alienating. He spends time at a training camp with Russian POWs, empathizing with them and questioning the purpose of war – a sentiment echoed when he kills a French soldier, Gérard Duval, in self-defense and feels immense remorse upon discovering his personal life. In the subsequent days, Paul and his friends guard a supply depot for a respite, but the relative peace is short-lived. Following a battle, Paul and his friend Kropp sustain injuries, leading to Kropp's leg amputation and their return to the front after recovery. As the Allied forces continue their onslaught, one by one, Paul's friends fall. The hopeful whispers of Germany's impending surrender and the prospect of peace do little to comfort Paul, who feels unprepared for a peaceful life. In the quiet fall of 1918, Paul, the last survivor of his comrades, gets killed on a day of minor fighting, his face peaceful in death, signifying a respite from the relentless horrors of war.
chapter 1
All Quiet on the Western Front examines a group of men who might have lived through the war, but are mentally scarred from it. Paul Bäumer, the narrator, and his fellow soldiers of the Second Company are recovering after two weeks of fierce fighting. Out of the original 150 in the unit, only 80 are still alive after a grueling attack on their last day at the front. Paul talks about the men in his unit. He, Leer, Müller, and Kropp are all 19 and enlisted voluntarily. Tjaden is a locksmith who eats a lot but stays thin, while Haie Westhus, also 19, is a muscular peat-digger. Detering is a farmer who left a wife behind. Katczinsky, around 40, is the group's informal leader. After a good sleep, the soldiers queue for breakfast. The cook made food for 150, not realizing many are now dead. The surviving men want to eat the surplus, but the cook resists, saying he can only hand out individual rations. After a fiery debate, the cook agrees to distribute all the food. Despite their initial embarrassment, the soldiers now find general latrines a luxury, and they enjoy rest, smoking, and card games. One of Paul's friends, Kemmerich, is in the hospital with a thigh wound. Paul thinks back to his schoolmaster, Kantorek, a patriotic man who convinced many of Paul’s friends to volunteer for the army. Joseph Behm was reluctant, but could not resist Kantorek’s pressure and was one of the first to die. After Behm’s death, they all lost trust in Kantorek and hated him for sending them to war. The men visit Kemmerich, who doesn't know his leg has been amputated. Paul sees his pale skin and knows he won't survive. They bribe an orderly with cigarettes to give Kemmerich morphine for his pain. Müller wants Kemmerich’s boots, but Paul stops him. They decide to stay until Kemmerich dies and then take the boots before the orderlies do.
chapter 2
Paul reflects on his pre-war existence, a time in which he wrote poetry and enjoyed a simpler life. His experiences in war have matured him beyond his years, overshadowing his past and making him skeptical of anything besides factual reality. He reflects on the differences between his generation and the older soldiers: the latter at least have a life to return to post-war, while the younger men's futures are consumed by the war. Paul considers his comrades, their shared experiences binding them closer than family. He justifies Müller's seemingly callous request for Kemmerich's boots, choosing to see it as practical rather than heartless. He goes on to recall their harsh training, during which they were made to suppress their individuality in service of the nation, a lesson taught by their relentless trainer, Corporal Himmelstoss. Though the training was brutal, Paul acknowledges that it prepared them for the hardships they face on the battlefield. The chapter ends with the death of Kemmerich, a fellow soldier who had dreams of becoming a head forester. Paul attempts to comfort him in his final moments, even as Kemmerich bequeaths his boots to Müller. The doctor refuses to attend to Kemmerich, and by the time Paul returns, he has already passed. His place is swiftly filled by another wounded soldier, while Paul delivers Kemmerich's boots to Müller.
chapter 3
Fresh reinforcements, barely older than seventeen, join Paul and his company, making the latter feel like seasoned soldiers. Kat, a cobbler by profession, displays his remarkable ability to procure extra food and supplies, which astounds Paul. Kat gives a recruit beans, acquired through bribing the cook, and asks for tobacco in return next time. Kat theorizes that the war would end if all soldiers received equal food and pay. Kropp suggests that wars should be declared like festivals, where generals and leaders fight each other in an arena, with the last man standing declaring the victory of their country. Paul and his comrades recall their training period. Even the minor humiliations they endured under Himmelstoss seem preferable to war's realities. They wonder why Himmelstoss, a postman before the war, turned into a harsh drill sergeant. Kat suggests that men like Himmelstoss relish any opportunity to exert authority, comparing it to a dog trained on potatoes snapping at meat. He believes that the army's issue is that some men have too much control, which isn't allowed in civilian life. When Tjaden learns that Himmelstoss will be joining them at the front, he is thrilled. He holds a grudge against the drill sergeant, who tried to cure his bedwetting problem through humiliation, attributing the issue to laziness. Himmelstoss made Tjaden share bunks with another bedwetter, Kindervater. This method failed, as they just ended up getting colds from sleeping on the floor. In revenge, Haie, Paul, Kropp, and Tjaden ambush Himmelstoss one night, beating and whipping him, before leaving him half-naked and clueless about his attackers' identities.
chapter 4
The Second Company is given the perilous job of setting up barbed wires at the front. Passing by a house on their way, Paul and Kat hear geese and decide to return and feast on them later. Gunfire and the booming of shells instill fear in the new recruits. Kat teaches them to recognize different gunfire sounds while predicting a night-time bombardment since the English have started shooting earlier than usual. Paul reflects on how the war zone's noises heighten their senses. Paul considers how frontline warfare alters a soldier's relationship with earth—it serves as a refuge and also as a receiver of their bodies. He ponders how warfare awakens primal instincts that often save lives, transforming soldiers into "human animals." The soldiers transport wiring material towards the front. After completing the task, they try to rest before the trucks return. As Kat predicted, they're bombarded. In the ensuing chaos, Paul attempts to comfort a frightened recruit, even shielding his backside from shrapnel fire. After the attack, the recruit is mortified to discover he's soiled himself. Paul reassures him that this is a common first-time occurrence. The agonizing cries of injured horses disturb the men, especially Detering, a farmer with a soft spot for horses. As the wounded soldiers are collected, the injured horses are shot, which Detering condemns as the "vilest baseness." Returning in the trucks, they're suddenly bombarded again. They seek refuge in a graveyard, where Paul shelters under a coffin. He's alerted by Kat to wear his gas mask. Once secured, he aids a new recruit with his mask and dives into a shell hole for cover, joined by Kat and Kropp. Paul takes a breath, hoping his mask is sealed. When the bombardment ceases, Paul emerges to discover a maskless soldier unharmed. He removes his mask, breathing in fresh air, and sees a recruit severely wounded in his hip—the same one who had earlier soiled himself. Paul and Kat realize his wounds are fatal. Kat suggests they should mercifully kill him before his pain intensifies. However, before they can act, other soldiers begin to surface.
chapter 5
Paul outlines the grueling life on the front, including lice infestation. Tjaden tries to exterminate them using a heat-based method, while Haie humorously claims his lice are hospital-sourced. Himmelstoss's arrival confirms the circulating gossip about his punishment for abusing recruits. The soldiers engage in a hypothetical discussion about life after war. While Kat pines for his family, others dream of women, alcohol, and revenge on Himmelstoss. Tjaden disrespects Himmelstoss, causing a conflict. Himmelstoss, backed by the sergeant-major, seeks to discipline Tjaden. The soldiers remain loyal to Tjaden, refusing to reveal his whereabouts. They also vow to make life miserable for Himmelstoss. Later, Tjaden and Kropp face trial for insubordination. They expose Himmelstoss's misconduct during training, resulting in lenient punishments for themselves and a stern lecture for Himmelstoss. Paul and his comrades spend time with the disciplined soldiers in their makeshift jail, engaging in card games. In the evening, Paul and Kat bribe a driver to escort them to a house with geese. Paul manages to kill a resisting goose amidst chaos. They hurriedly cook the goose in fear of getting caught, saving the feathers for pillows. This shared experience strengthens Paul's bond with Kat. The remaining goose meat is saved for Tjaden and Kropp.
chapter 6
Returning to the front line ahead of schedule, the Second Company passes a bombed schoolhouse surrounded by fresh coffins, reminding them of their own mortality. They arrive at the front, disheartened by the improved enemy artillery and their own faulty weaponry. Stuck waiting, Paul shares an account of narrowly escaping death twice by switching dugouts. The soldiers battle rats for food, while hoarding their supplies of cheese, rum, and ammunition. The sight of a worried Kat, known for his intuition, unsettles Paul. Before long, the enemy's bombs rain down. Despite their hunger, no food can be delivered. One new recruit loses his nerve and tries to abandon post, only to be disciplined by Kat and Paul. A direct hit on the dugout causes three more recruits to break down, one fleeing and meeting his end from an incoming shell. The assault finally arrives. Paul and his comrades repel the French attackers, their pent-up fear fuels a ruthless slaughter. They seize as much food as they can from the enemy lines, before retreating to consume their spoils, noting the superior quality of the enemy's provisions. On watch duty, Paul reflects on his lost youth, feeling numb and indifferent to his nostalgic memories. In the following days, as casualties pile up, the recruits bear the brunt due to their lack of training. During a skirmish, Paul finds Himmelstoss feigning injury in a dugout. Despite Paul's efforts, Himmelstoss only moves after a lieutenant intervenes. The seasoned soldiers try to pass on their wisdom to the rookies during lulls in the fighting, but it falls on deaf ears. After Haie receives a deadly wound, the Second Company is relieved, with only thirty-two out of the initial 150 men left standing.
chapter 7
The Second Company relocates to a depot where Himmelstoss, having witnessed the war's horrors, attempts to reconcile with his men. His generosity wins over most, including Tjaden. During their time away from battle, the soldiers, including Paul, continue to joke, albeit with a bitter undertone. While swimming, Paul, Leer, and Kropp interact with three women. Despite language barriers, they establish a bond, and even risk crossing a canal to spend time with them, hoping to find a semblance of their lost innocence. Paul is granted a brief leave only to return to the front within six weeks. His attempts to share this with one of the women are met with indifference. Upon reaching home, he finds his family struggling with hunger and his mother battling cancer. His home feels alien to him and he guards his war experiences from his family. In response to an incident with an irate major, Paul begins to wear civilian clothes to avoid any military-related conflicts. Tremors from passing trams remind him of shell explosions. He yearns for his lost childhood, but his identity as a soldier remains predominant. A classmate, Mittelstaedt, tells Paul about Kantorek's conscription. Kantorek, their former schoolmaster, had once pressured a boy named Joseph to enlist. Mittelstaedt believes this action led to Joseph's premature death and now, in a twist of fate, he enjoys subjecting Kantorek to humiliation. As his leave nears its end, Paul witnesses his mother's growing sorrow. He visits Kemmerich's mother and lies about her son's death to ease her pain. On his last night, he observes his mother's suffering and yearns for both of them to find peace. In retrospect, he regrets coming home as it only served to heighten their mutual pain.
chapter 8
Paul arrives at a training camp that houses a prison for captive Russian soldiers. The prisoners, living in squalor, rely on the Germans' trash to survive. Paul finds it hard to believe that these individuals, with their honest features, are his enemies. Despite enduring starvation and widespread dysentery, their spirits remain unbroken, evoking images of homeliness in Paul's mind. The prisoners' plight deeply affects Paul, but he shoves these thoughts aside to maintain his sanity. He gives them his cigarettes, and is touched when a violin-playing prisoner performs for him. Paul's father and sister visit him before his return to the front lines. Their interaction is strained as they struggle to find topics of conversation besides their mother's illness. She's in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment, the cost of which his father was too afraid to inquire about. Before parting, they give Paul jam and potato cakes prepared by his ailing mother. Struggling with his emotions, Paul considers giving the food to the prisoners, but ultimately keeps them due to their sentimental value, only parting with two of the cakes.
chapter 9
On Paul's return to the battlefield, he reunites with his comrades, Kat, Müller, Tjaden, and Kropp, unharmed. He shares his food with them, and they await the anticipated visit of the kaiser. They tidy up their surroundings and are given new attire for his visit. However, their encounter with the kaiser is underwhelming, leading to a discussion about how the war could have been avoided if only a handful of leaders had opposed it. After his visit, their new clothes are confiscated. Paul bravely ventures into No Man’s Land for an intelligence gathering mission. He becomes disoriented and ends up in a shell hole for protection when an attack commences. An enemy soldier lands in the same hole and is promptly stabbed by Paul. He's unable to leave the hole since it's still daylight out, and he realizes the French soldier he stabbed is still breathing. Paul does his best to attend to the soldier's injury, but the man takes hours to die, marking the first time Paul has killed in close combat, a deeply distressing experience for him. Conversing with the now-dead soldier, Paul uncovers a photo of a woman and a child. He reads as much as he can from the letters in the soldier's pocket, each word deepening his guilt. He learns the soldier was Gérard Duval, a printer. Paul copies down his details with a plan to send money to his family, but at nightfall, his survival instincts take over. He knows he won't fulfill this promise. He returns to his trench and later confesses to his friends about the distressing ordeal. His friends, Kat and Kropp, redirect his attention to their snipers who seem to enjoy killing, highlighting the fact that he had no other option but to kill or be killed.
chapter 10
Paul and his comrades, including Tjaden, Müller, Kropp, Detering, and Kat, safeguard a supply dump in an uninhabited village. They seize the chance to eat, sleep and enjoy comforts like a mahogany bed, mattresses, and blankets in a concrete shelter. They find and cook eggs, butter, fresh vegetables and two pigs, with Paul making pancakes amid a bombing raid. Post meal, they enjoy cigars and cigarettes, indulge in coffee and cognac, and feed a wandering cat. This opulent feast, however, results in digestive troubles throughout the night. For the following three weeks, they live comfortably, taking the bed, armchairs, and cat with them when relocated. During yet another evacuation, Kropp and Paul sustain injuries from a shell, with Kropp deciding to end his life if his leg is amputated. After bribing a sergeant-major, both wounded comrades share a ride to the hospital. Kropp's fever escalates, necessitating his leg amputation. Meanwhile, Paul grapples with the brutal realities of war in the hospital, where casualties are routine. He is introspective, pondering the fate of his generation post war. Another soldier, Lewandowski, eager for his wife's visit after two years, develops a fever. Nonetheless, he consummates their reunion in his bed, with fellow patients providing distractions and guarding against intruders. His wife shares her food gifts with everyone. Paul's recovery is steady, despite the shortage of cloth bandages. Kropp, less chatty after his amputation, is thought to have contemplated suicide. As Paul readies to return home, he finds the farewell with his weak mother even more heartrending than before.
chapter 11
The war persists and the German troop's morale dwindles. Paul and his fellows lose track of time; war becomes a lethal disease, dictating their thoughts and actions. Their past lives lose relevance and they form a single identity as soldiers, their bonds tightening like those of death row prisoners. Paul realizes that survival equates to a perpetual evasion of death. The soldiers shrink to pure instinct, their only shield against the constant threat of death. This lets them endure the horrific trench warfare without going insane, but the war gradually exhausts them. Detering, reminded of home by a blossoming cherry tree, deserts the army but is caught and disappears. Müller is shot, dying in painful agony. His boots, once Kemmerich's, are passed to Paul. The Germans' situation worsens, their food and weaponry deteriorate, and their enemies' artillery improve. New, untrained recruits join, and injured men are sent back to the front lines before healing. Leer succumbs to a thigh injury. Despite evident defeat, they fight on, rumors of the war ending filling them with dread. Kat is injured while scavenging food. Paul carries him to the dressing station as Kat bleeds profusely. Upon reaching the station, Paul discovers Kat was fatally hit in the head by shell shrapnel. Paul's last companion in the army is dead.
chapter 12
As 1918 draws to a close, Paul remains the last surviving member of his school friends who enlisted together. The war is still ongoing, but with America joining in, Germany's loss is inevitable. The harsh conditions endured by the German troops and citizens suggest a potential uprising if the war doesn't conclude soon. Paul is granted a two-week leave after being exposed to poisonous gas. Despite a strong yearning to go home, he's terrified as he lacks direction in life. He's apprehensive that his generation will return home as mere husks, devoid of their human essence. He struggles with the idea, hoping that some part of them can survive the relentless attacks, but feels his own existence has been irreversibly damaged. Finally, in October of 1918, Paul's life ends on an unusually calm day. The only note in the military report that day is: “All quiet on the Western Front.” Paul's face at his death reflects a sense of relief, "as though almost glad the end had come."
