All Quiet on the Western Front - Chapter 7 Overview

Return to the Field Depot

• Paul's company returns to the field depot for reorganization.
• Requires over 100 reinforcements.
• Corporal Hamish Das replaces the cook and distributes sugar and butter to the men.

Reflection on War News

• Paul reflects on misleading war news about soldiers' spirits.
• He anticipates post-war emotional repercussions for the soldiers.

Evening Swim and French Women

• Soldiers swim in the canal and flirt with French women.
• Jadon finds a loaf of bread to share with the women.
• Soldiers forbidden to cross the canal without a pass.
• Plan to meet the women after dark.
• Soldiers swim back with bread, cigarettes, and sausages to share.
• Paul spends time with a brunette, feeling only yearning and misery.

Paul's Leave

• Paul gets a 17-day leave pass.
• Feels gratitude and worry about comrades dying in his absence.

Return Home

• Takes a train to his hometown.
• Emotional reunion with his sister and ill mother.
• Lies to his mother about the front lines' conditions.
• Encounter with an army major results in punishment for improper saluting.
• Paul feels evening ruined and wishes for a normal life.

Visit to a Friend

• Learns that old teacher, Kantorek, is now a low-ranking soldier.

Visiting Franz Kemmerich's Mother

• Paul informs her about her son's death.
• Lies that Franz died instantly; she doesn't believe him.
• Paul decides not to reveal the harsh truth, pities her for her ignorance.

Key Themes

• Contrast between life at the front and on leave.
• Psychological distancing and coping with trauma.
• Abstractness of the enemy (French women as people, not enemies).
• Identity reshaping due to being a soldier.