Franz Kemmerich summary of AQOTWF

Character Analysis:

Franz Kemmerich

Franz Kemmerich is one of Paul Baumer’s classmates and comrades in the war.  After suffering a non severe wound early in the book All Quiet on The Western Front, Kemmerich should be ok.  This wound was not life threatening until Franz contracts gangrene, which made it a life threatening situation very fast.  Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition.  It is caused through an infection or injury , and a large amount of body tissue dies.  When gangrene occurs, the result is normally amputation.  In Franz Kemmerich’s situation his leg had to be amputated.  The death of Franz Kemmerich occurs in Chapter Two, and marks the first encounter of what life is like in the war.  It is an eye open to both fellow soldiers of Franz’s in the war and also to the readers.  After Franz’s death we watch how the rest of the soldiers react and how his death makes the war feel so real right form the beginning.  Franz Kemmerich sets the tone for reactions of AQOTWF early on in the book.