Paul Baumer (Protagonist of All Quiet On The Western Front)

Paul Baumer enlists as a young man with his schoolmates in the German Army at the start of World War I. He goes off to war as a patriot supporting the actions of Germany. Soon afterwards, he experiences the true horror that is war. For example, he wittnesses the deaths of his comrades and experiences extreme hunger. Realizing that war is not a fruiful experience like he had thought, he begins to detest the idea of war. In the beginning, Paul was a care free student, eager to support his country beside his friends. When in the war, death begins to surround him and, gradually, his only care becomes surviving. His life is constantly threatend by dangerous feelings which he must surpress. Ideas of home and his past life before the war are quickly realized to be harmful to someone who is consantly being shot at day in and day out. In the end, he finds the war to have taken everything away from him.