Sam Dean

All Quiet On The Western front Socratic Ideas

“Tough times never last, but tough people do”

-Robert H. Schuller

    During our Socratic seminar on chapter three, I would like to discuss what happens behind the scenes during that war. The author tells us a lot about all sorts of games these soldiers play and jokes and pranks these soldiers make, they seem to make war much more fun then it seems (besides the fighting part). In chapter three, I believe it is mentioned a little bit about the older soldiers who know more about what they were doing teasing and messing with the “infants” who were really only two years younger than them. I find the adventures of these soldiers interesting and a little funny (again besides the death and fighting parts). There are many funny parts to this story, but there is also some very brutal parts to it. I would like to talk about those funny and messing around parts and how the soldiers use them to avoid thinking about the very bad parts. Some of those times would be when their friend would be dying right in front of them which was mentioned in the book. “It grows dark. Kemmerich’s face changes colour, it lifts from the pillow and is so pale that it gleams. The mouth moves slightly. I draw near to him. He whispers: “If you find my watch, send it home——.” This is one of the moments when a friend (or in even better words a comrade) is dying. This explains the sadness to the war. I have learned that those soldiers have managed to find happiness during hard times and that is what I would like to talk about during class.