Tools of Characterization

Characterization in All Quiet on the Western Front

Actions

Actions tell us volumes about the characters in All Quiet on the Western Front. A really great example is the differences between Kat and Himmelstoss. Both are teachers to the young men of 2nd Company, but their actions characterize them as very different men.

When the men are told they'll be dispatched to the Western Front, Himmelstoss forces them to lie in the mud, ruining their leave. The act shows cruelty and a lust for the power—as a military man, he's a far cry from the happy-go-lucky postman we meet in the opening scene.

Compare this to the hardened-yet-kindly Kat. Although Kat has to be rough sometimes, he does so for the good of others, such as when he punches a soldier to prevent him from running from the dugout. Kat also puts himself at risk to bring food back for his men: an action that will eventually cost him his life.

Finally, the young soldiers of 2nd Company show us their characters through their actions, and we watch them develop from young men to soldiers. When Behm dies, the young men act scared and make rookie mistakes that put their lives at risk. Later, the same young men learn to accept death as a daily routine. (Ugh.)

Speech and Dialogue

Speech and dialogue also clue us in to character. Kantorek's speech may be moving and brimming with patriotic metaphors, but he doesn't know anything about the reality of war. Beneath his speech, we find a character who's ignorant and ill-informed—two qualities not preferable in a teacher.

Let's also consider Paul's father and his friends. Their speech clues us in to the fact that they're clueless, specifically their habit of not shutting up long enough to listen to Paul. You'd think someone fresh from the Front might know a thing or two about the war, right?

Again, we turn to Kat for our counterexample. Unlike Kantorek, Kat's knowledgeable and forthright, and his speech tells us as much. The advice he provides his soldiers gives them better odds of surviving the Front, and he won't lie to his men to make himself look good.

He even tells one of the young soldiers,

KAT: It's all right, boy. Get up. Here. Never mind. It's happened to better men than you, and it's happened to me. When we come back, I'll get you all some nice clean underwear.

And you know anybody who admits to soiling himself is telling the 100% truth.

Food

Food shifts characterization in All Quiet. When food's scarce on the Front, the soldiers are worried, on edge, and become more animalistic in their actions. A perfect example is the scene where the starving soldiers frantically murder a horde of rats to protect their bread.

But when food becomes abundant, they become more human and less animalistic. Any of the scenes where the 2nd Company is dismissed behind the lines show us this. We see Paul and his friends laugh, sing, and even think about finding girls to spend some quality time with.