"All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque

The Unforgotten Leader
In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, a major referred to as Himmelstoss mistreats soldiers. Himmelstoss is commanding troops during World War I for the German Army. He is said to be strict and gives unreasonable orders. He fought in the war once and couldn't relate to the soldiers until he had those experiences. Throughout the novel Himmelstoss is cruel, power hungry, and a coward.
Himmelstoss is extremely cruel through out the story by making the soldiers' lives much more difficult and harder to cope with. For example, Tjaden, a young soldier, is having a friendly conversation with Himmelstoss until Himmelstoss becomes outraged when Tjaden refuses to follow Himmelstoss' orders, " 'I'll have you court-martialled,' storms Himmelstoss" (83). …