Stanislaus Katczinsky

Stanislaus Katczinsky from be beginning looks to be a father figure. In the beginning he seems to have a positive or at least a not-defeated view of the war stating it would not be such a bad war if only they could get some sleep. He is described as the leader of the group. A man who is “shrewd, cunning and hard bitten...” with “a remarkable nose for dirty weather, good food and soft jobs.”(pg03). Later it is said that he has to have a sixth sense for finding supplies. During most of the hard times he and his comrades go through he is the one to find something to cheer up his comrades, most of the time it is either food or somewhere to sleep. Though the story behind it is not mentioned in the novel it is said his greatest accomplishment in the area would be to finds a few crates of lobster for the men. At one time while being bombarded and running low on food there are multiple attempts to get food to the front. Then it is stated “Finally Kat tries, and even he reappears without accomplishing anything” (pg107) Food great necessity in the book and because of this Kat is a great friend to have. One such occasion when they were going hunger he and Paul go and steal geese to eat and use the feathers for a pillow. However it is not just good times for Kat. He seems to also have to make hard decisions in order to protect his younger followers. One such example would be when after rescuing a soldier and he realizes that the soldier is going to die, he asks the hard question to end it for him so as to keep the young soldier from suffering.

Most of the time Kat has a veteran like position to him. Where most of the men in the story are somewhere near 18 or 19 years old Kat is 40.  Most of the time the narrator seems to talk about the older soldiers in jealous nature. He and his friends were thrown into the fray at a young age with no life experience to help them after the war and little to cling onto to keep sane such as a wife or children. However Kat often gives helpful advice and is shown to be like a sort of wise elder to listen to and respect even though he does not out rank them. Other times he seems to be in a daze. One such time is when he is talking about men getting literally getting blown out of their clothes by mortars. He is killed in the end by a stray piece of shrapnel to the back of his head as he was being carried by Paul back to the medical area in order to treat his leg. He is the last of the group to die besides the narrator Paul, and was probably Paul’s closest friend. After Kat dies the book skips some time to when Paul is sent to rest for inhaling some poison gas which to me is a sign that Paul has given into depression and most likely does not care too much about the time after Kat dies.