Here's one of my favorite quotes from the middle of the book:
"The blast of hand-grenades impinges powerfully on our arms and legs; crouching like cats we run on, overwhelmed by this wave that bears us along, that fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs, into murderers, into God only knows what devils; this wave that multiplies our strength with fear and madness and greed of life, seeking and fighting for nothing but our deliverance. If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him."
This happened in the middle of the book, before he's all alone. It shows how much war changes someone.
At this point in war, it doesn't even look like hatred for the other side. Of course, fathers aren't usually hated, so if your father happened to be out there in the field, you wouldn't stop to think about who you're about to kill? It isn't at all about hatred , it just became a game of survival. These were sane men, just like anyone else, and they've been forced to become what no one wants to be. When I'm reading this book, I can't help but get caught up in all the pain that Paul and his friends have to go through. Once you're there, it is no turning back. It's really hard for war veterans to forget things like this. I get all these negative emotions from reading the book, and I can't imagine what it would be like to actually be there.
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I really like the quote that you chose, and I agree with what you siad: "it isn't at all about hatred, it just became a game of survival. In addition to what you said, I think that now that Paul is in the war, he realizes what he has to do to save himself and I think that if you were in that position, you would do anything to save yourself. I think that in war there is no right or wrong, just as long as you defeat your "enemy" and that state of mind led Paul to beleive that it doesn't matter who you are, just as long as you are still alive, you have to obey the commands that you are given and if you do not, then there is a good chance that you will not see another day.
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