sec
... front. The people encouraged their sons and friends to join the army. They thought it would be easy for them and that they were doing it for ?The Good of the Country?. They strongly encouraged their children to go die, ?No one had the vaguest idea what we were in for... were beside themselves with joy? (page 11). The parents of these kids thought it would be easy for them, to sit out there, shoot a few guns and come home. They didn?t know of the horror that these kids had to go through mentally, watching their friends dying slowly, Watching them suffer. Most of all they didn?t prepare them for war. Their whole life they encouraged them to learn and study hard. To read those books and become a smart young man. It turned out that in the front all of that information became useless ?Rubbish? to them. Worst of all the person who encouraged Paul and his friends to join the army was their schoolmaster Kantorek. Kantorek thought education was the most important thing in the world and it would be invaluable to them in life. But then he sent them into the army, where all of his work went to waste, all of the information he taught useless to Paul and his friends. Paul and his friends needed a different kind of education in the field. They needed to be street smart. Know how to deal with new situations they had never been in before. Know how to deal with their problems. Know how to light a cigarette in the rain or stay alive when they are behind enemy lines. Things that will ultimately decide whether they live or die, ?We remember... in the ribs? (page 85). Once Paul saw that everything he had done with his family was useless, he noticed he didn?t belong in a small village anymore. Paul believes that he doesn?t belong in a small town anymore. He thinks that it isn?t the right place for him to be. It is so different from what he?s used to in the army. That suits him, a small village doesn?t. The lifestyle in a small village is very different from the front. There is absolutely nothing in common. In the town where his family lives they feel relaxed. They never have to worry about the front and how people are dying. They have no idea how hard it is for Paul and his friends to be on the front line. Paul now knows this isn?t his place to be, ?I bite into my pillow?come on leave? (page 185). The most annoying thing to Paul is that the people don?t worry about the war. They have no care of it while Paul is fighting for his life, to protect these farmers. Everything they do seems worthless to Paul. None of their actions help Paul and his friends on the front. These people are simple people. Their daily routine is going to their job, coming home and sleeping. Their greatest joy in to ask the soldiers what it?s like on the front when they come on leave. They don?t understand that Paul can?t talk about this though. By not thinking about it, it allows Paul to not go insane. If he never thinks about all the killing and death, he won?t be depressed by it. ?But I cannot get on with?quite clear to us?? (Page 165). Now that Paul knows he doesn?t belong here he knows he can find refuge with his real family, in the army. Paul now knows that his real family is in the army and not his birth town. His birth town doesn?t seem right to him. His family only raised him from childhood. They helped him survive since he was a baby, and he was grateful for that, but they didn?t seem like his real family. They didn?t raise him to be a man. They raised him to learn and study, thing that are...