Who is Kantorek and why is he important?

Kantorek is an old schoolmaster of Paul, who is the narrator in Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Kantorek encourages his students to join the German army through propaganda. Paul feels Kantorek misled them and gave them no useful skills or information to use during their time in the war.

Why was All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque banned?

Erich Maria Remarque’s famed 1928 novel All Quiet on the Western Front was deemed degenerate, or anti-German, and banned in Germany with the rise of the Nazi Party. In 1933, Nazis began burning copies of the novel publicly as a form of censorship, or banning things that offend someone on moral or political grounds.

Why does Muller wish Kantorek were there?

Why does Muller wish Kantorek were there? So that he could show him how it really was on the front. What different attitudes about war were held by the “poor and simple” and those who were “better off”?

What happened to Kantorek in All Quiet on the Western Front?

What has happened to Kantorek? He has been called up as a territorial. Mittlestaedt rules over him and pays him back for all of the degrading that Kantorek did to him in school.

What does Paul learn about Kantorek?

“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 …

Did Kantorek abuse his position?

Lesson Summary Just as Kantorek abused his power over the young men of Germany, so Mittlestadt gets revenge by using his power to abuse Kantorek.

What message does All Quiet on the Western Front communicate about war?

The Horror of War The overriding theme of All Quiet on the Western Front is the terrible brutality of war, which informs every scene in the novel.

Why did Erich Maria Remarque change his name?

The spelling of his last name was changed to Remarque when he published All Quiet on the Western Front in honor of his French ancestors and in order to dissociate himself from his earlier novel Die Traumbude.

How does the schoolmaster Kantorek refer to his former students?

The schoolmaster Kantorek refers to his former students as “Iron Youth.” Paul and Kropp scoff at the term Kantorek uses because it is incongruent with what the young soldiers have become. The word “iron” conjures up images of strength and durability, while the word “youth” conjures up images of innocence and life.

Who is Kantorek And why does Kropp feel angry towards him?

Who is Kantorek and why does Kropp feel angry toward him? Kantorek was one of the boys’ very strict school teachers. Kropp feels angry towards Kantorek because he has called him and his friends the “Iron Youth”.

How did the boys feel about Kantorek?

What was Kantorek position of authority?

Kantorek is an “assigned” authority figure, or one that has been given his power through a position. It is odd that the boys, Paul in particular, excuse his disregard for the horrid deaths war brings to soldiers.

How does Kantorek feel about the war?

Kantorek comes to represent the dangers of blind nationalism. Propaganda swept up Kantorek and convinced him the war was good and just. Kantorek, having a measure of authority, passed this fervor on to his subordinates, who in turn marched off to their deaths.

What does Kantorek encourage his students to do about the war?

6. What did Kantorek encourage his students to do about the war? Avoid it at all costs. Fight if conscripted; otherwise live at peace.

Why does Erich Maria Remarque have a female middle name?

His mother died while he was in the hospital. In a tribute to her, he replaced his middle name, Paul, with hers, Maria. By the war’s end, he had become a strong opponent of back-line patriots who did not understand the evils of war, and frequently came into conflict with leaders in his town about the war’s outcome.

Who is Leer in all quiet?

Leer is an intelligent soldier in Bäumer’s company, and one of his classmates. He is very popular with women; when he and his comrades meet three French women, he is the first to seduce one of them. Bäumer describes Leer’s ability to attract women by saying “Leer is an old hand at the game”.

How do the men feel when Kantorek tells them in the letter he writes to Kropp that they are the Iron Youth?

Kropp tells them that Kantorek’s letter calls his former students the “Iron Youth,” a title that makes the men smile bitterly. Paul says that while most of them are under twenty years of age, they do not feel young or strong anymore. Their horrific experiences in the war have made them old before their time.

Who is Kantorek How do the soldiers feel about Kantorek Why?

Kantorek was one of the boys’ very strict school teachers. Kropp feels angry towards Kantorek because he has called him and his friends the “Iron Youth”.

Why did Remarque change his name?

During this era, Remarque evolved his pseudonym, replacing his middle name, Paul, with Maria. Partly to distance himself from his sophomoric first novel, The Dream-Den, published in 1920, he adopted the spelling of his last name used by his great-grandfather, Johannes Adam Remarque.

What did Kantorek the teacher encourage his students to do about the war?

What did Kantorek encourage his students to do about the war? Avoid it at all costs. Fight if conscripted; otherwise live at peace.