Paul, the group, and other men are in a dug-out: what I assume to be a building built in a hole in the ground but not actually under it. Shells are falling; two land directly on the dug-out, but the explosions are light and the dug-out survives. Then the shells begin to fall behind them, and they get out of the dug-out. The advancing enemy front is almost upon them, and the group repeats a process of lobbing grenades and running.
I can't help but notice the newer the recruits the more I can relate to them. I would certainly be claustrophobic in a small semi-underground building with shells landing directly on it, and I certainly wouldn't be in any fit shape to lob grenades, which weigh more or less the same as a bowling ball, sixty feet or even thirty, let alone seventy-five. Of course, I've already died eight or nine times.
Paul comments on how they weren't attacking the enemy as they ran, they were in a more barbaric, more primitive state. Their only goal was to defend themselves from the enemy fire, which they did quite well.
I think if I was in a situation where there was a direct threat to my own life and I had the capability to destroy as much of the threat as possible, I would act on that capability to the best of my abilities in a way similar to what Paul calls defense against annihilation. I don't think I would be capable of killing my own father, but I've never been in a situation where there was a direct threat to my life in the manner the soldiers were dealing with - and had dealt with many times.
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