All Quiet on the Western Front

The men head back to the front, passing a schoolhouse along the way with coffins stacked against it. The men debate who the coffins are for, and this image foreshadows what’s to come—a long chapter that graphically portrays the horrors of trench warfare. While in the trenches, the men quickly lose their spirits because they estimate the extent of the weaponry the enemy is bringing in and because some of the men in the trench are wounded by shells that have misfired from their own side. Paul discusses luck and chance, which he explains as the cause for staying alive while war rages all around. While in the trenches, the men must be on the lookout for rats that steal their bread. Paul describes the war against the rats within the trench and the ways the men devise ridding themselves of the rodents.

A gas attack takes place at night, but what really concerns the men is all the movement behind the enemy lines. They are nervous and have growing anxiety at the accumulation of arms on the other side, which they can hear. Finally, a bombardment commences, and Paul describes some of the carnage, including a man who has been lucky to escape alive but now is shell-shocked. The company experiences the interminable bombardment (lasting 3 days), during which food is scarce. The men are becoming famished and are losing their grip. A new recruit panics and tries to run out of the trench. Kat and Paul attempt to prevent him from leaving because it will be certain death if he does, and they end up having to give him a beating.

The enemy finally begins the combat attack, and the men in the trenches all come out and respond with weaponry of their own. This includes machine guns and grenades. Paul records the horror of the fighting in gruesome detail. As the combat concludes for that day, Paul is given watch duty and soberly reflects on how his life is forever changed. He shares his memories of quiet things and scenes that he cannot experience at the front.

Back in the trenches the next day, the men hear a man screaming in anguish and pain and try to determine where he is. Ultimately, they realize that they cannot help him. More descriptions of carnage and gruesome details of the front ensue. This includes a tangent where Paul speaks about the new recruits who are at the front entirely unprepared and are killed in high numbers. Himmelstoss appears in a trench before Paul and Paul kicks him and curses him to get out; finally he does when the counterattack commences. At the end of the long deployment at the front, Paul’s company, which was once 150 men, is now only 32.