The Theft of Kemmerich's Watch and Boots

     The theft of Kemmerich's watch and Mueller's plan for his boots show that even if he does find his watch and keep his boots, his friends have already identified that he is going to die soon, so what would be the point of leaving them with him. This tells us that the war desensitizes people to death, and for example, the doctor in charge of keeping Kemmerich alive has also admitted that Kemmerich cannot be saved and that it would be the 20th death that day. With all of this death, the friends aren't as bothered by Kemmerich's death as they probably should be. These two situations are similar because both items were taken with the same reasoning, of it being more useful to the person who took it. These situations are different, though, because the watch was stolen by a complete stranger while the boots were taken by Mueller, Kemmerich's friend. This can be used to argue that throughout the war, these people have undergone a change in morality which led them to be more conservative about resources and less honorable. Instead of having Kemmerich die and have his belongings taken by more people, why not take his belongings to benefit his friends. If this situation was present without a war, the Mueller and the others would have acted more honorable in front of Kemmerich due to them not undergone this change in morality.