All Alone on the Western Front?

All Alone on the Western Front?

Espirt de corps is a feeling of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty shared by the members of a particular group. The young soldiers witness this strong feeling though being trained and witnessing the horrors of the war. Paul Baumer suggests that the most important thing that arouse out of the war was comradeship. Understandable since most of their young lives have been taken away from them so they can sit watch their brothers of war die. There are many examples in the text that display the concept of the men experiencing the espirt de corps. In the beginning of chapter 2 the men begin to realize that their plans for the future are non-existent as their fate is unknown. The men were taken away for what “We had fancied our tasks would be different, only to find we were trained for heroism as though we were circus-ponies,” (page 22) broadcasting the idea that the men have been compelled into thinking that war is something to glorify when really it was for display, and is purely cruel. These men have nothing in war, so when they train and experience deadly situations a form of brotherhood is created between them. As all the men are trained, fed and killed the same way there is a sense of common loyalty between them. All men have felt that “[their] early life [had been] cut off from the moment we got here,” where as other older soldiers have families of their own. One example of comradeship is in chapter 4 when a recruit seeks comfort in Paul during the bombardment “He looks up, pushed the helmet off and like a child creeps under my arm, his head close to my breast… I let him be,” (page 61) showing how even when everyone is afraid the men are still looking out for each other. Not only has the war connected them through their rough training with Himmelstoss, but through the loss of their innocence. The men now have similar thoughts on the death of friends and the things they have to do in war. Basically they need to be cold-blooded. From lying with dead bodies to deciding its best to shoot a fellow recruit to put him out of his misery, the soldiers have to feel this difficulty together. Espirt de corps is an important part of the book due to showing the one good thing that comes out of a horrible war.