E.M.Remarque "Läänerindel Muutuseta"
uncompromising," characteristics that recall the worried Caesar's remarks about Cassius in
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. / He thinks too much.
Such men are dangerous" (I.ii.195196). Napoleon also springs to mind as a historical model
for Kantorek.
The inclusion of a seemingly anachronistic literary type--the scheming or dangerous
diminutive man--may seem out of place in a modern novel. Yet this quality of Kantorek
arguably reflects the espousal of dated ideas by an older generation of leaders who betray
their followers with manipulations, ignorance, and lies. "While they taught that duty to one's
country is the greatest thing," Paul writes in Chapter One, "we already knew that death-throes
are stronger." As schoolboys, Paul and his friends believed that Kantorek was an enlightened
man whose authority derived from his wisdom; as soldiers, they quickly learn to see through
annaabi.ee 
