Character Review

Stanislaus Katczinsky

He was known as Kat and as the wise old soul among the young soldiers. The other men around him see him as a cool headed soldier, even in the face of adversity.  He once suggests shooting a young wounded soldier to end his suffer because the man will pass away regardless.  He is most definitely Baumer’s closest friend out in the front lines.  Kat as he is nicknamed in the book becomes Paul's closest and most intimate friend.  The two seemingly always know to look to each other for guidance and comradeship while on the front lines.   Baumer thinks Kat possesses a stronger sense of danger than do the rest of the soldiers.  Baumer also regards him as a scavenger for food.  Whether it is the lobster that he brought to the troops or the night that him and Baumer got the goose and prepared it, he also had a sense to scavenger the area for food.  Kat proved to be a voice for all his friends, and also like a father figure.  At one instance in the book the men are hit with poison gas and Kat yells to the men, “Gas! Pass it on” at this instance you can see that he is looking out for all that are with him.  You can just tell that he wanted the best for his fellow soldiers, at another instance after the battalion took heavy losses he secures the extra rations that were to be for the diseased men, and has them dished out to his fellow soldiers.  He just wanted the best for his fellow soldiers.  He displays the German trait of always having a keen nose for finding and enjoying remarkable food, no matter where he may find himself.  At the end of the book one can realize how close Paul and Kat were.  Paul carried at disabled Kat all the way to the infirmary.  When the pair arrives at the infirmary his beloved best friend, Kat, is dead.  This really shakes up Paul, which is another instance of how much these two soldiers cared for one another.  Kat was beloved by Paul so much that Paul felt that without his friend that he could hardly carry on fighting and was killed than shortly after.     

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. N.p.: Propyläen Verlag, 1929. Print.