A large part of the first two chapters of the book All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is how the training has taken an effect on the soldiers. As we talked about in class, the training devalues all of the soldiers into a all time low. The experience horrifying things just so that the army can get them all at the same level. Once they reach there, they have a feeling of unity, as they have all been through this together. After that, they are all raised up together, feeling even a stronger bond between each other. These events in the story help describe the beating down of the soldiers to this all time low. While being beaten down, Müller has learned how to somewhat compensate over the loss of a friend. When Kemmerich falls ill and dies, he does not feel the sense of respect to leave his boots on him, for he is more focused on his own survival. The watch was a valuable possession for Kemmerich as he cared about it, yet he was ill. It may not be extremely useful to Müller, but it has more use in his hands than in Kemmerich's. Through the beat down, soldiers feel the urge to do anything to help them survive and in this case, it was taking the boots and watch. These events show the impact and to what degree of that beat down. It shows that the training intensifies your will to stay alive more than anything, and that it can happen through cruel events. It does a exemplary job telling us that the beat down is so strong, there is no hesitation to steal from a dead man. These events portray what these soldiers have went through so far.
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