All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front Paul Baumer leaves for the western front a young boy, but as All Quiet on the Western Front goes on, Paul becomes more of a soulless soldier. Multiple events while fighting for Germany caused Paul to become this way. He began pushing away his family, friends, everyone, everything. This was a technique he used to survive. He cut off all emotions to become the best possible soldier he could be. When Paul and his friends signed up to go overseas, and fight for Germany, they had the idea planted in their heads that their actions were actions of patriotism. They never stopped to think about the opposite side of the spectrum. Training gave the boys a chance to start to realize that enlisting in the war was no joke. The boys didn't fully understand how brutal and violent the war was until they were out, fighting in total war. One of the first events that began to change Paul from a naive boy to an old veteran was when one of his friends from before the war, Kemmerich, was dying in the hospital after his leg had been amputated. Paul barely shed a tear when he left the hospital after seeing Kemmerich; an event that would break any other person outside of this war down. Baumer leaves the hospital after Kemmerich's death with only his well-kept boots. Not too long after the death of Kemmerich, Paul received a leave of seventeen days, and he makes his way home. Paul finds out upon arriving home that his mother is suffering and dying from cancer. Due to the war, Paul shows no emotion towards this news. Baumer shows no emotion towards anyone or anything when he's on leave. All he thinks about is the war. The war has completely consumed him. The war is his life one hundred percent of the time, and it would seem that he has no control over this mental state. I would consider it obsession. Paul has nothing to contribute to family conversations. He feels as though none of them, or anyone else for that matter, will understand what he's gone