Beamer 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 “ hole 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 topped 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 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, Commerce, was dying In the hospital after his leg had been amputated.
Paul barely shed a tear when he left the hospital after seeing Chimer; an event that would break any other person outside of this war down.
Beamer leaves the hospital after Chimer’s death with only his well-kept boots. Not too long after the death of Chimer, 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. Beamer 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 through and what he still has to go through. Paul no longer cares to socialize with others and does not seem to care at all for the life he used to live. The final, most important event that changes Paul from a young boy to an old veteran is the death of a French soldier, George. Paul was in what they call “ no man’s land” to obtain information about the French.
At one point, Paul Jumps Into a trench to protect himself and plays dead.
While down In the trench, a French soldier jumps down, and in that moment, Paul kills the soldier hand-etc:-hand. This Is deferent for Paul. All of the killing Paul was involved with before this moment was at a distance. Watching a man fall to the ground and die Is far different than killing a man In hand- to-hand combat.
Beamer looked Into the French soldier’s eyes and saw fear, fear of Paul. He laid In the trench for hours with this soldier. For the first time since Paul has entered combat, he shows emotion. He searches the now dead soldiers pockets and finds pictures of what he believes to be his family.
The guilt drives Paul Insane, as he thinks of how similar this French soldier Is to himself. Young men like Paul had no past before entering the war, and therefore had Knives, Jobs and children to take their minds off the horrific scenes of total war. At the end of the story, Paul was content when he died. He would’ve found that his life ended Just the way he wanted it to.
If Paul hadn’t died, he would’ve driven himself insane. His life would’ve been a mess. He’d continue to cut off his emotions and push away friends and family. Paul Bummer’s innocence was taken in the war, and he never would’ve gotten it back had he survived.