AQWF 1

Feet

Many believe that by looking into another’s eyes, it is possible to see their past experiences; however it also appears that one’s life story can be displayed through something much less expected—their feet. Throughout the first chapter of All Quiet on the Western Front, the motif of one’s feet and its deeply seeded meaning is obviously present, revealing, in a sense, that our life stories are told by our feet and their condition.

Although only a chapter into the novel, drastic changes are occurring to soldiers and their bodies—more specifically their feet; fellow soldiers also seem to know each other’s conditions of their feet quite precisely. If one has nice boots, and unharmed feet, he most likely has a hint of coward in him—not daring to put his life in danger. A dear friend to many, Kemmerich was severely injured while stuck in no man’s land—a place in which everyone is vulnerable, and accepting to the fact that death is coming their way. When visited, Kemmerich told his friends that, “I have such a damned pain in my foot”(14). Although he once did have a pain in his foot—a bump in his journey of life—his leg is now amputated, Kemmerich completely oblivious to this fact. With one foot gone, half of his life’s journey is an unanswerable question, leaving his future up for grabs. Because half of his story has been eliminated, and his body is nothing but useless, he is left with no option, but the inevitable. It seems necessary for him to return home, only to strengthen his other leg and foot, in hopes of rebuilding his broken life.