[Music] in Chapter seven of All Quiet on the Western Front Paul's company has taken back to the field Depot to be reorganized they need over 100 reinforcements corporal Hamish das approaches Paul and his comrades and tells them he's taking the place of the cook and gives them sugar and butter Paul reflects on the lies that the war news tells about what good spirits the troops are in he suspects that after the war is over the feeling's they've repressed so deeply will rise to the surface and only then will they be able to deal with them the men go swimming one evening and flirt with a group of French women on the other side of the canal jadon finds a loaf of bread to share with them but the soldiers are forbidden to cross to the other side of the canal without a pass they make a plan to meet them after dark at the Women's nearby house and later the men swim back across the canal with bread cigarettes and sausages to share with the women Paul spends time with a brunette kissing and holding her that feels only yearning and misery the next day Paul's given a pass to go on leave for 17 days he's grateful but he worries about who might die while he's gone Paul takes to train to his hometown and walks to his childhood home seeing his sister he's overcome with emotion it begins to cry but pulls himself together to see his mother who's ill Paul lies to her saying that fighting on the front lines is not so bad Paul encounters an army major who buries him for not following proper saluting protocol and the major orders him to double march in the street this encounter ruins Paul's evening Paul imagined his lead would be better and wishes he could be like the people going about their everyday lives and jobs seemingly untouched by the war Paul goes to visit a friend who informs him that their old teacher can Turek has been called up as a low-ranking soldier later Paul knows that before he goes back he must visit France Kemmer exceed somehow he died Paul lives and tells her that her son was shot and died instantly she doesn't believe him and begs Paul to tell her the truth but Paul decides he'll never tell her and pities her for not understanding that dead means dead the anguish is not worth wasting on a single life this chapter serves to highlight the drastic differences between a soldier's life on the frontlines and his life on leave Paul seems to be aware of his own attempts at psychologically distancing himself from the trauma he has witnessed but it's getting harder to cope with what he's seen the soldiers encounter with the young French woman shows how the concept of the enemy is abstract at best - Paul and his comrades they're just women who seem interested in them Paul's returned to his hometown on leave shows how much he's changed since the war began his entire identity has been reshaped by being a soldier you