After the beginning of Chapter Four, Paul thinks about the Earth, and how when a soldier hits the dirt the earth is their only friend and their mother. The company soon reaches their destination, however, and set up an encampment: they drive stakes into the ground and unroll barbed wire around it. The entire group then tries to sleep, but due to various conditions, such as coldness from the sea and being in the middle of a warzone, they don't get much sleep. Then, after Paul wakes up in the middle of the night, a bombardment starts and their encampment starts taking hits. Everyone has to move, and one soldier is terrified by the bombardment. Once the bombardment had let up, he came around and realized he had defecated his pants.
If I was in the middle of a warzone, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep even if I popped a sleeping pill. I would probably desert the army if I had the chance, and I probably would desert the army even if I didn't have the chance during the first bombardment. Of course, I would also probably be unable to make it through military basic training to get into the front line. It seems incredible that anyone could join the army at that age and even remain able to think or care about anyone else. One's greatest escapades happen around that age, and escapades are rather hard to come by when either a superior officer is breathing down your neck or another army threatens to blow your head off of it.
Paul's thoughts about the earth are essentially about death. As I mentioned earlier, this novel has lots of existential moments. He could be wondering any number of things about death. Why would he relate it to a "friend" and "mother"? Those are both reassuring images. Why would death be welcome to him at this point?
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