Storm of Steel

by

Ernst Jünger

Steel Symbol Analysis

Steel Symbol Icon

Steel symbolizes the emergence of mechanized warfare during World War I, particularly the heightened destructiveness and lethality that such warfare creates. As an incredibly durable metal, steel was used to create many of the technologies and equipment that set World War I apart as a distinctly modern war—one that was unprecedented in terms of its scale and detached style of warfare. In August 1916, Jünger is impressed when he sees a soldier wearing a steel helmet for the first time, and the soldier’s appearance symbolically heralds a harsher phase of the war, in which shell splinters and shrapnel cause death and disfiguring injuries. Near the war’s end, Jünger refers to the British “storm of steel” as an overwhelming force of both weaponry and manpower that ultimately overcomes German resources. Thus, steel comes to represent the cold, unfeeling reality of the war and the dizzying “storm” of the modern battlefield.

Steel Quotes in Storm of Steel

The Storm of Steel quotes below all refer to the symbol of Steel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Manliness and Duty Theme Icon
).
Guillemont Quotes

He was the first German soldier I saw in a steel helmet, and he straightaway struck me as the denizen of a new and far harsher world. […] The impassive features under the rim of the steel helmet and the monotonous voice accompanied by the noise of the battle made a ghostly impression on us. A few days had put their stamp on the runner, who was to escort us into the realm of flame, setting him inexpressibly apart from us.

“If a man falls, he’s left to lie. No one can help. No one knows if he’ll return alive. Every day we’re attacked, but they won’t get through. Everyone knows this is about life and death.”

Nothing was left in this voice but equanimity, apathy; fire had burned everything else out of it. It’s men like that that you need for fighting.

Related Characters: Ernst Jünger (speaker)
Related Symbols: Steel
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Langemarck Quotes

My steel helmet pulled down over my brow, staring at the road, whose stones shot sparks when iron fragments flew off them, I chewed my pipe and tried to talk myself into feeling brave. Curious thoughts flashed through my brain. For instance, I thought hard about a French popular novel called Le vautour de la Sierra that had fallen into my hands in Cambrai. Several times I murmured a phrase of Ariosto’s: ‘A great heart feels no dread of approaching death, whenever it may come, so long as it be honourable.’ That produced a pleasant kind of intoxication, of the sort that one experiences, maybe, on a rollercoaster. When the shells briefly abated, I heard fragments of the lovely song of ‘The Black Whale at Askalon’ coming from the man next to me, and I thought my friend Kius must have gone mad. But everyone has his own particular idiosyncratic method.

Related Characters: Ernst Jünger (speaker)
Related Symbols: Steel
Page Number: 171
Explanation and Analysis:
The Great Battle Quotes

Suddenly there was a deafening crash on the edge of the trench. I got a blow on the skull, and fell forward unconscious. When I came round, I was dangling head down over the breech of a heavy machine-gun, staring down at a pool of blood that was growing alarmingly fast on the floor of the trench. The blood was running down so unstoppably that I lost all hope. As my escort assured me he could see no brains, I took courage, picked myself up, and trotted on. That was what I got for being so foolish as to go into battle without a steel helmet. In spite of my twofold haemorrhage, I was terribly excited, and told everyone I passed in the trench that they should hurry to the line, and join the battle.

Related Characters: Ernst Jünger (speaker)
Related Symbols: Steel
Page Number: 252
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Storm of Steel LitChart as a printable PDF.
Storm of Steel PDF

Steel Symbol Timeline in Storm of Steel

The timeline below shows where the symbol Steel appears in Storm of Steel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Guillemont
Manliness and Duty Theme Icon
Modern Warfare Theme Icon
...of Combles. The runner is the first German soldier Jünger has ever seen wearing a steel helmet, and right away, this signals the beginning of a harsher war. As the man... (full context)
The Great Battle
Manliness and Duty Theme Icon
The Complex Reality of War Theme Icon
...calmly continues on his way, figuring that’s what he gets for neglecting to wear a steel helmet. “In spite of my twofold haemhorrage,” he recalls, “I was terribly excited.” (full context)
British Gains
Modern Warfare Theme Icon
Foreigners, Enemies, and Empathy Theme Icon
...They’re gratefully relieved a short time later. Jünger calls the enemy’s attacks a “storm of steel” that is only strengthening, thanks to draftees (like the New Zealanders) from all over the... (full context)
My Last Assault
Modern Warfare Theme Icon
The company moves through the rubble-strewn village toward its castle grounds. Jünger puts on a steel helmet he finds lying on the ground. He calls this advance “our last storm,” remembering... (full context)