How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I become faint, all at once I cannot do any more. I won't revile any more, it is senseless, I could drop down and never rise up again. (2.53)
Paul realizes the need to suppress his body's emotional and physical reaction to the horrible things he's sees. He won't be able to survive if he continues to react in such a way.
Quote #2
My limbs move supplely, I feel my joints strong, I breathe the air deeply. The night lives, I live. I feel a hunger, greater than comes from the belly alone. (2.58)
What kind of hunger does Paul refer to here? He seems very physically alive at this moment, but not necessarily emotionally alive.
Quote #3
The question revives, more particularly as he hears there's no more beer in the canteen. "It's not only Himmelstoss, there are lots of them. As sure as they get a stripe or a star they become different men, just as though they'd swallowed concrete." (3.54)
The lust for power makes certain authority figures less human.