A group of new recruits arrive to strengthen the company and Paul's friend Kat prepares a beef and bean stew that impresses them. Kat says that if all men in an army, including officers, were paid the same salary and given the same food, wars would end immediately. Kropp, another former classmate of Paul's, says there should be no armies; argues that a nation's leaders should instead work out their disagreements with the clubs. They discuss how petty and insignificant people become powerful and arrogant during war, and Tjaden, a member of Paul's company, announces that the cruel Corporal Himmelstoss has come to fight at the front. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay At night, the men undertake a harrowing mission to lay barbed wire on the front. Beaten by artillery, they hide in a cemetery, where the force of the bombardment brings buried corpses out of their graves, while groups of living men fall dead around them. After this gruesome event, the surviving soldiers return to their camp, where they kill the lice and think about what they will do when the war ends. Some men have tentative plans, but all seem to believe the war will never end. Paul fears that if the war ends he won't know what to do. Himmelstoss arrives at the front; when the men see him, Tjaden insults him. The men's lieutenant gives them a light punishment but also lectures Himmelstoss on the futility of saluting at the front. Paul and Kat find a house with a goose and roast it for dinner, enjoying a rare and good meal. The company is involved in a bloody battle with a group of charging Allied infantrymen. Men are torn to pieces, limbs are severed from torsos, and giant rats gnaw at the dead and wounded. Paul feels he must become an animal in battle, trusting only his instincts to keep him alive. After the battle, only thirty-two of the eighty men are still alive. The men are given a brief respite in a field depot. Paul and some of his friends go for a swim, which ends with a meeting with a group of French girls. Paul desperately wants to regain his innocence with a girl, but feels it is impossible to do so. Paul receives seventeen days off and returns home to see his family. He feels uncomfortable and oppressed in his hometown, unable to discuss his traumatic experiences with anyone. He learns that his mother is dying of cancer and that Kantorek has been conscripted as a soldier, from which he derives a certain cold satisfaction. He visits Kemmerich's mother and tells her, falsely, that her son's death was instantaneous and painless. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay At the end of his discharge, Paul spends some time in a training camp near a group of Russian prisoners of war. Paul believes that the Russians are people just like him, not subhuman enemies, and wonders how war can make enemies of people who hold no grudges against each other.