Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Overview… soldier in the Great War. Paul Bäumer never expected to be grimacing through hours of shelling when his school teacher suggested he join the German Army at the outset of World War I. Commiserating with schoolmates and fellow soldiers, young Paul endures the terrors and banalities of life in the trenches at the cusp of his adult life. Fighting battle after battle without gaining any ground, Paul and his fellow soldiers search for meaning in a world that has fallen apart.
Personality… wistful and self-aware. Paul is uncomfortable with the horrible acts of war he is forced to commit during battle. He is constantly on edge as a result of the ever-present threat of shelling, and finds it almost impossible to be comfortable even when visiting his family in his village. An introspective young man, Paul makes many wise observations about life but rarely shares them outside of the trenches.
Get to Know him in...
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A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I. Together with several other young German soldiers, he experiences the horrors of war, such evil of which he had not conceived of when signing up to fight. They eventually become sad, tormented, and confused of their purpose.
