In this section of the book, Paul finally understands what the war is about
             and why he is there. But he learned this grim reality after a traumatizing event. He begins
             to see the devastation and agony the war brings accompanied with its empty heart.
             After being reassigned to a flank that is brought in whenever the battle
             plans go wrong, Paul prepares for battle. But he is reassured knowing his faithful
             comrades, Kat and Albert, are at his side. But Kat and Albert can't assist him with his
             mind struggle for the company of his mother. While conversing with Kat and Albert,
             Paul's hunger can be contained no longer and he pulls out his mother's potato-cakes. Paul
             pauses for a minute and pictures his mother in front of a hot stove with a broken heart.
             Paul's thought of this brings him to tears, but he must push this to the depths of his heart
             in preparation for the arrival of the Kaiser.
             The soldiers spirits are lifted after being handed new equipment that
             shunned their old ones. Paul and his comrades begin to converse of the war and the
             Kaiser's arrival which erupts into a debate of who is the enemy and who is the good guy.
             They regard that both sides are defending their homes and their fatherland so it stands to
             reason of who is committing wrong doing. This debate then strikes up an argument of
             how the war could have been avoided, but Tjaden clears the air with the view that the war
             will bear peace for future generations.
             Following the inspection of camp by the Kaiser, the soldiers become
             enraged after finding out that the new equipment was only a front for the Kaiser's
             inspection. Paul feels safety after hearing he and his flank will be going to Russia because
             of rumors going around camp, but he discovers that it was actually a rumor. He will just
             be going through the forest, up the line once again. In the forest is w...