Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres)’s Timeline and Summary
- Paul listens to a lecture about the righteousness of the war. Inspired, he and his friends decide to enlist.
- At boot camp, the sadistic drill instructor Himmelstoss puts Paul through the ringer.
- Paul devises some fitting payback, involving a saber and a couple whacks against the behind.
- Paul and friends are sent to the Western Front to join the 2nd Company. There he meets Kat, Tjaden, Westhus, and Detering.
- The young men receive their first assignment, stringing barbed wire on the line. During a bombardment, Paul witnesses Behm's death, the first of many to come.
- 2nd Company is sent to the Front where they endure a week's worth of nonstop bombardment.
- Paul suffers greatly from the stress and seeing his friend Kemmerick injured by shrapnel.
- 2nd Company defends the line against an enemy offensive. After a bloody battle, no territory changes hands.
- Relieved from the Front, the 2nd Company enjoys some quality eats behind the line.
- Paul and his friends visit Kemmerick in the hospital, and Paul watches the young man die.
- During the next offensive, Paul is injured and seeks cover in a crater. A French soldier leaps into the same crater and Paul stabs him.
- Suppressed by crossfire, Paul spends the night and next day with the slowly dying soldier. He tries to help him, but the soldier ultimately dies. Guilt-ridden, Paul begs the corpse for forgiveness.
- Paul returns to the 2nd Company and Kat comforts his depressed friend.
- The 2nd Company is again relieved from the Front. While bathing in the river, Paul and his friends entice some French women with the promise of food.
- Under the cover of darkness, Paul, Albert, and Leer cross the river and spend the night with the French girls.
- While marching to the Front, Paul and Albert are injured by a bombardment. They are sent to a Catholic field hospital for treatment.
- Paul recovers and is sent home on leave while Albert stays behind in the hospital.
- Once home, Paul learns that the German populace is completely ignorant about the conditions of the war.
- Visiting his old classroom, Paul tries to tell Kantorek and his students the truth about war but is called a coward for his efforts.
- Paul's mother visits him the night before he is to return to the Front and worries over his safety.
- Paul rejoins the 2nd Company. Of the old war dogs, only Kat and Tjaden remain. The others have been either killed or injured and replaced with baby-faced recruits.
- Paul finds Kat searching for food. He is confessing that Kat's the only thing he has left when an airplane drops a bomb nearby, injuring Kat.
- Paul carries Kat to the med tent, but the orderly informs him that Kat's already dead.
- Disillusioned with the world, Paul returns to the Front. He sees a butterfly just beyond his gunners nest.
- Trying to catch it, Paul's shot dead.