chapter 9 - hand to hand combat

This chapter really made me think about what we discussed in class about shooting someone from a distance and forgetting about it or being in hand to hand combat and seeing and remembering what you have actually done. On page 216 paul was hiding inside a water filled hole when a french soldier stumbled across paul and paul immediately took out his knife and stabbed the french soldier and put dirt in his mouth to keep him quiet.

by the time morning had come paul was trying to convince himself the french man was dead but he wasn't the man was trembling in fear. At this point paul had realized what he had done and felt terrible about it. He did the best he could to save him but it was no use he had died. he searched his pockets and found what seemed to be a picture of his wife and young daughter and two french notes. He apologized to the man asking for forgiveness although he was dead. As night begins to set in paul tries to forget about the french man and finds his way back to his tench, when he arrives his friends welcome him back. So as you can see the mood was depressing in this part of the chapter but understand why we talked about the difference between shooting someone from a distance and forgetting about it or being in hand to hand combat and seeing and remembering what you have actually done. Anyone else have any opinions?