The theft of Kemmerich's watch and boots

                      The infamous concept of the 'spoils of war' is demonstrated through the theft of Kemmerich's watch and boots in the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front", this is all done by a man named Mueller who plans on stealing both Kemmerich's watch and boots. Mueller's plan for stealing something vital which are Kemmerich's items symbolize the greediness and inhumanity stored within the truth of one individual's mindset during a wartime situation. Even though the story is strictly focused on the horror's of World War One (The Great War), this can still be lucidly visible in modern day conflicts. Relating back to plot, Mueller focuses on being selfish and stingy as all wars are "give and take". In other words no one is watching you when they are in the middle of a battlefield therefore hinting his opportunity to do what is unjust by taking away someone's priced possession. The protagonists (boys) no longer have any time left on Earth, thus foreshadowing their death which associates back to the fact that no one is surveying you in the middle of war.  On a deeper perspective of the situation, Mueller plans on keeping Kemmerich's boots which represents the cruelty of his actions upon others. On the other hand of the spectrum, Mueller commandeers Kemmerich's watch which informs the reader that even as a man is dying others think of their own profit. This makes the two different as one represents the decaying morality of soldiers and the other introduces selfishness and greed. While Mueller plans on stealing Kemmerich's boots, there is a callous regard for the life of a dying soldier explicitly shown through the novel. It introduces the ever most critical idea on how war and any war in general corrupts the minds of involved individuals and takes the humanity aspect away from them, almost as if they lost their sense of true emotion. The theft of Kemmerich's boots and watch declares a literary view on how the Great War turned men into organic robots with no sense of feelings what so ever, specifically in the sense of maintaining their survival capabilities.