The theft of Kemmerich's watch and boots

When people hear the word war, it is usually a bad image that pops up in their heads, especially for all soldiers. Seeing their friends die several horrible deaths, living in camps with a very low standard, some captured by the enemy with a very high chance of death. The story “All Quiet On the Western Front” is arguably realistic and includes many details that many would not have imagined, the theft. The ‘spoils of war’ is shown through the theft of Kemmerich’s watch and boots in the story. This scene was done by a man named Muller, who plans on stealing both Kemmerich’s watch and boots. To Kemmerich, the watch and boots most probably are very valuable towards him. Muller’s plan to steal something vital symbolizes the greediness which shows the truth of an individual during a wartime situation. Muller is selfish and egotistic as all wars are basically "give and take”. The similarity between these two events is that everyone is fighting for themselves. Everyone thinks about themselves and acts in a selfish way in order to stay alive during the war. The difference between these two events is that the watch was actually stolen before Kemmerich died while Muller actually waited until Kemmerich to die before taking the boots. This is noteworthy because Kemmerich could still use the boots when he was alive, but he could have not used his watch which made him miserable until his death. The moral with these two events might offer is that war can ruin anyone’s spirits and can make people sacrifice their belongings in order to survive.