All Quiet on the Western Front, otherwise known as “the greatest war novel of all time,” is a notably bitter book.
“By the animal instinct that is awakened in us we are led and protected. It is not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure, less fallible, than consciousness. One cannot explain it….
Muller, in this passage, sounds very cold hearted: he asks his friends when his comrade would probably die.
It is blind killing, without any reasons whatsoever, that matters; it is the soldiers’ paramount responsibility to simply kill the enemies.
Thus, the soldiers becoming the living dead–a soul without a soul.
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