50 pages • 1 hour read
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
After a furlough, Jünger sets up an observation post in the village of Fresnoy, under heavy firing. That night, he sleeps through an artillery barrage:
I had the impression, that night, of hearing a few dull crashing sounds and of Knigge [Jünger’s assistant] calling to me, but I was so fast asleep that I merely mumbled, ‘Oh, let them shoot!’ and turned over on my side, even though the room was as thick with dust as a chalk mill (132).
From his observation post, Jünger watches aerial battles: “Also during these days, there was a whole series of dogfights, which almost inevitably ended with defeat for the British” (133). Anytime Jünger is outside the bomb shelter, he is in danger of being killed:
I left the village at a gallop, as heavy shells had begun to fall. When I was about three hundred yards away, I stopped to watch the clouds thrown up by the spurting explosions […] When a few clusters of small shells began to fall on the narrow footpaths linking Arleux and Fresnoy, I decided I’d seen enough, and cleared the field to avoid being ‘a little bit killed’, as the current expression in the 2nd company had it (134).
Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: