All Quiet on the Western Front: Character analysis

All Quiet on the Western Front

Characters:

Paul Baumer- Narrator of story.

Kat- One of Paul’s closest friends throughout his time on the front lines. He is much older than Paul and has a family at home. He always finds food and is very resourceful. Paul speaks very highly of him and makes him seem very wise.

Kropp- Paul’s classmate and close friend throughout the war.

Muller- Paul’s classmate and a main guy in the novel. Muller likes to ask the guys about their post war plans a lot.

Tjaden- One of Paul’s friends in his unit. Tjaden is one of the main characters in the novel. He has a deep resentment for Himmelstoss.

Detering- One of Paul’s closest friends in the war. He has a young family and farm at home and often longs to return there and leave the frontlines.

Kantorek- A schoolmaster at Paul’s high school. He puts an enormous amount of pressure on Paul and his classmates to enlist during the war. Using words such as “coward” in his normal vocabulary.

Himmelstoss- A non commissioned training officer. Ranking officer over Paul and his friends in training camp. He makes their lives a living hell throughout camp, then tries to befriend them once he is sent to the frontlines to fight.

Franz Kemmerich- introduced in the first chapters of the book. He has lost his leg and is dying. One of Paul’s good friends from his childhood. Paul must write to his mother and send his condolences after his death.

Joseph Behm- He is the first of Paul’s classmates to die in the war.

Paul Baumer

I am Paul Baumer, a German soldier on the frontlines in World War One. I was once a caring, loving, young man who enjoyed writing poetry and spending time with my family. Now I am a hardened war veteran. I have witnessed death and destruction beyond anything I ever thought possible. So much so that I have learned to turn off my feelings and emotions I once had before the war. I no longer am a young poet wanting to spend time with my loving family. I am a battle hardened soldier wanting nothing but to stay alive and make it through this war.

I do not know what to think of this awful war anymore. I know I hate it, but I do not know what I will do with myself when it is over. It is all that I know. I am scared for the uncertainty of my future after the war, if I make it out alive…