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 found that civilian life was too alien for him. He saw how easy it was to find comfort, warmth, and food. People took advantage of this and didn't know how hard it was to sometimes cope with not having these things and even if they were acquired it was with a fight. When he was home he also realized that he will never be the same again because of the war and that his childhood and prewar boy was dead and never to be seen again with no trace of memories whatsoever. Except for maybe that it was taken away by the war but that would be part of his "adulthood." When he is pressured to recount his brave patriotic experiences in the war he doesn't feel as though they were this. Putting these thoughts constantly hurt what he had left of his mental well being. Thinking about these supposedly heroic tales reminded him of his traumatic experiences and how numb he had become to death.Something I noticed was when Paul and his friends talked about enemies they talked about their own fellow men. They as thought the figures of authority brought their suffering and hunger. They came into this war being told that they will show honor and glory to their country. When they got there they experienced things that had 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 i...