, Baumer, once again, realizes the impossibility, and, in this case, even the danger,of trying torelate the reality of the war via language. There is nothing he likes more than just hearing about it. I realize he does not know that a mancannot talk of such things; I would do it willingly, but it is too dangerous for me to put these thingsinto words. I am afraid they might then become gigantic and I be no longer able to master them. (Remarque, All Quiet VII. 146)Again, Baumer notes the impossibility of making the experience of war meaningful within a verbal context:thewar is too big, the words describing it would have to be correspondingly immense and, with their symbolicsize,might become uncontrollable and, hence, meaningless.While with his father, Baumer meets other men who are certain that they know how to fight and win thewar.Ultimately, Baumer says of his father and of these men that "they talk too much for me ... Theyunderstand ofcourse, they agree, they may even feel it so too, but only with words, only with words" (Remarque, AllQuiet VII.149). Baumer is driven away from the older men because he understands that the words of his fathersgenerationare meaningless in that they do not reflect the realities of the world and of the war as Baumer has cometounderstand them.Also during his leave, Baumer visits the mother of a fallen comrade, Kemmerich. As he did with his ownmother,he lies, this time in an attempt to shield her from the details of her sons lingering death. Moreover,in thisconversation, we see Baumer rejecting yet another one of the traditional societys foundations: religiousorthodoxy. He assures Kemmerichs mother that her son "died immediately. He felt absolutely nothing atall. Hisface was quite calm" (Remarque, All Quiet VII. 160). Frau Kemmerich doesnt believe him, or, at least,choosesnot to. She asks him to swear "by everything that is sacred to" him (that is, to God, as far as she isconcerned)that what h...
