Paul and his friends have missed their whole childhood and didn’t know what they had to go back to. They realized that the older men had their families and jobs. Since they entered the war during the turning point from childhood to adulthood their experiences are limited to the war. They are unfamiliar with certain aspects of life and only know things that involve a day-to-day fight for survival and remaining mentally stable. Paul …showed first 75 words of 375 total…

…showed last 75 words of 375 total…never before entered their minds. Their minds became traumatized and in the end numb to the things they did and saw. The theme of the book seemed to be that wars are misinterpreted and that the actually horrors and warfare that happened are never known until they are experienced. Survival is what they were fighting for everyday, which in turn is survival for the country. Acquiring food, shelter, clothing, and gunfire was essential to surviving.