Chapter Four Summary & Overview- September 28

Main Characters in Chapter Four:

Paul Bäumer

Stanislaus Katczinsky

Detering

Albert Kropp (short appearance)

Chapter Four Summary and Overview:

In chapter four of the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul Bäumer and the Second Company are required to lay wire down at the front of the line.  As the truck is driving toward the front they pass a house where geese are heard. Paul and Kat talk about going back later and getting the geese to feast on. Kat explains to the recruits how to distinguish which guns are firing by listening to the blasts. He announces that he feels that there will be a bombardment later in the night because the English began firing an hour earlier than usual.  

Kat’s prediction that they would be bombarded was correct resulting in everyone scurrying around to take cover. Paul tries to put a recruit’s helmet back on the recruit’s head, but the boy cowers under Paul’s arm, and Paul places the helmet on his back instead to protect it from shell pieces. After the shelling decreases and things slow down, the recruit notices that he had gone to the bathroom in his pants and Paul tries to comfort him by saying many soldiers experience this problem at first, and tells the boy to take off his underwear and throw them away.

Then the men hear the wounded horses shrieking. Detering is particularly horrified because he is a farmer and loves horses. After the wounded men are gathered, those in charge of shooting the wounded animals do their job. Detering declares with disgust that using horses in war is wrong.

Toward the end of the chapter Paul climbs out and sees a soldier not wearing his mask who appears to be okay. Paul tears his mask off and gulps fresh air when the shelling has stopped. Paul notices the recruit who defecated in his pants earlier, laying on the ground with his hip a mess of flesh and bone splinters at the joint. Kat and Paul know that he will not survive his wounds. Kat and Paul were considering shooting him before the misery of his wound begins to bother him. They weren't able to end the wounded's life before other soldiers emerged from their holes.