Themes
Camaraderie is illustrated a lot throughout the novel. Kat is usually the one to help the others out. He finds straw for the beds to make it more confortable, he finds food for the men too. The way they look out for each other shows how much they care for one another. In chapter 10 they have to guard a village, while Kat and Paul patrol the village they find food for the group. "In a short time we have collected a dozen eggs and two pounds of fairly fresh butter...no doubt about it, two real young pigs" (233).
The Corrupting Effect of Power plays a small but important role in the novel. Power can effect how a person acts and how people feel about them. It can make the people feel afraid other than respect the person or people in power. Power can change a man. He can be a mailman but with power and can seek out revenge or just pleasure on making other people do what he wants them to do. "For instance, if you train a dog to eat potatoes and then afterwards put a piece of meat in front of him, he'll snap at it, it's his nature"(43). In chapter 7 when Paul comes back home for a while he is walking when a Major furiously makes him march for not saluting him, "You think you can bring your front-line manners here... twenty paces backwards, double march" (163).