All Quiet on the Western Front: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Paul travels back to the frontlines to rejoin his regiment, and is pleased to find Tjaden, Müller, Kat, and Kropp all alive and well.

The regiment cleans up its equipment in anticipation of a visit from the Kaiser. When the Kaiser arrives to inspect the troops, Paul is underwhelmed by his appearance. Tjaden muses that despite the Kaiser’s prestige, he goes to the latrine just the same as other men. When the other men pressure his position, Tjaden plays dumb, and the others unwittingly outline the uselessness of the war. Paul is noncommittal, and notices that Tjaden is pleased to have triumphed in an argument against the more patriotic volunteer soldiers.

Despite rumors of being moved to Russia, the regiment is sent up to the front line. On their way up, they pass a landscape of craters and shattered trees. Some of the trees hold dead soldiers, and in one of them, Paul sees a legless, naked corpse.

Paul volunteers to go on a patrol to assess the strength of the enemy’s position. A bomb lands near him and catches him off guard; he is gripped with terror of being alone and helpless in the dark.

After some time spent paralyzed in his hiding place, Paul hears the voices of the other German soldiers on patrol, and finds them deeply comforting. The presence of his comrades rescues Paul from the brink of loneliness and darkness, and he reflects on his closeness with and reliance on these men.

A bombardment begins, and Paul realizes that an enemy charge will soon follow. He pretends to be dead, and spreads himself out in the muddy water in a shell-hole. The enemy charge is repulsed by the Germans, and a wave of retreating men runs past Paul, but one stumbles onto him. Paul, without thinking, immediately begins stabbing at the man. He then retreats to another side of the hole and watches the man agonize. Paul becomes nauseated by his bloody hands, and sees in the dying man’s eyes a powerful and primal fear. He comforts the man, gives him water from the puddle, and bandages his wounds.

The dying enemy soldier gurgles for hours. It is the first time Paul has killed anyone with his hands, and he has never before seen the destruction he has inflicted up close. In the afternoon, the man dies. Disturbed by the silence, Paul begins to talk to the body. He speaks of his sympathy for the man’s situation, and confesses that he had no real desire to kill—for Paul, killing is no longer an abstraction, and is instead a very real act. He retrieves the dead soldier’s pocketbook. In it, he finds letters, as well as portraits of a woman and little girl. He finds that he has killed a printer named Gérard Duval, and out of an optimistic hope to correspond with Duval’s family, jots the man’s address down before returning the notebook.

The sunset comes, and Paul senses his time to escape. His desire to live flares and he quickly forgets about the dead man. He sneaks towards his line, and worries that his comrades may not recognize him and fire upon him. Finally, he comes across Kat and Albert, who have come out with a stretcher to look for him. He tells the men what has happened, but neglects to mention the dead printer.

The next morning, Paul can no longer keep the man he has killed a secret. He tells Kat and Albert what he has done, and they reassure him. Paul decides that he was only speaking nonsense in the shell-hole. They watch as a sergeant enthusiastically snipes at enemy soldiers, treating the affair as a game. The men conclude that Paul has no reason to lose sleep over what he has done.