All Quiet on the Western Front is a deep and multifaceted story that, at first glance, is nothing more than a war story. Examining it more closely, however, reveals great insight into the mind of a soldier, manifested in the character of Paul Baumer. Throughout the story, Baumer struggles to find himself as his views on war evolve and mature. He comes to understand that what once was and could have been, has been crushed by drill and combat. Baumer's change of view on war being an evil done to society is manifested in two events: his two weeks of vacation and the stabbing of the French soldier. This solidifies his belief that war is not heroic but steals the lives of innocent people, not simply through death but, more importantly, emotionally and mentally. Above all, these events strengthen his beliefs and feelings about the war. During his two-week leave from the front, Baumer discovers how life on the front has transformed him from his youth into a person he no longer recognizes. As he returns home, he begins to feel more and more alienated the farther he gets from the front. When he returns home, he realizes that nothing is familiar to him. He has difficulty speaking to his family and, when he puts on civilian clothes for the first time since his return, he doesn't seem to recognize himself in the mirror. This is significant, as it symbolizes how he developed a soldier's mentality that completely changed him mentally. Later, Baumer meets several others in town who engage him with questions about the front. They ask him about the front, expecting heroic stories that support their perspective of the war. When Baumer gives his account, they reject it. They simply see him as a worker who can't grasp the f... middle of paper... starts to think critically about the world around him. This rings true, as every time he is away from the trenches and his comrades, he analyzes the war and its reality more. As soon as he returns to his comrades in the trench, he is pulled back. Baumer glimpses the beliefs he has developed through events like these, but the trenches crush higher thinking and as such, to survive and stay sane. on the battlefield, he must go back and not think about them. At first Baumer views the war with a rather nationalistic attitude, as if war were a necessary evil. Through the events he describes, however, these views transform into a clear-eyed view of the war as a senseless struggle and a burden imposed on good men, like his schoolmates, by those in power and supported by those like his school teacher, who know nothing of the reality of it.