Character Analysis: Paul Duval

There are many images in the novel that I can visualize in my head that linger in my thoughts. Then way Paul reacts when he stabs the opposing soldier in the trenches genuinely stuck in my head for the remainder of the novel and I continue to think about it when reviewing the novel. The way Paul apologizes and is so sympathetic to an opposing soldier shows how much war has made him realize that they are fighting against people who are stuck in the same heart-aching and scary position as them. Paul quickly realizes once Gerard Duval, the opposing soldier, dies that Duval now has essentially abandoned his whole life back home for a war. Thus, Paul promises to Duval that he will fight against the war, in hopes that other families will not end
up being in the same situation Duval’s family has to experience once they learn of Gerard’s death. The way Paul reacted during the scene left an impression on me. For a young soldier to take into consideration the life of an opposing soldier is very inspiring to me.