Book Discussion

On Monday during class we discussed, the soldiers view towards authority. We also discussed how the novel is a core piece of German Literature. One topic we talked about was how intellectual the postman is, we had said that his job was not very intellectually challenging, and how he turns power hungry, so he goes in the military to get some form of authority. Germans either defy or embrace authority and the government. Many soldiers did not have an identity after the war, they were so young when they joined they only had the identity of childhood before the war, and after the war, returning home as men, they could only relate to the military. We discussed the "lost" generation, and how you can shape your identity whether it be through god, business, success, or something else. Many of the soldiers had a hard time shaping a new civillian identity after the war.
On Wednesday during class we had to take part in and watch or listen to other groups discussing the main points of chapter 9. I think this exercise gave us a deeper understanding of what was really going on in the book, an specifically the significant changes to the main character during the chapter.