What commentary do Oldroyd and Birch provide regarding Katherine’s revolt against patriarchal society?

To put it simply, through Oldroyd (visual) and Birch (rhetorical) decisions and changes what do the authors wish to say and are they successful in doing so? Consider: what drives Katherine? Is she sympathetic? What power dynamics does the film criticize? How does the film reject typical representations of the male and female genders?

Discuss the role of education and miseducation in the novel, be it in school, at basic training, or on the battlefield.

Education is a central theme in Remarque’s novel. This novel is suffused with the sense that the younger generation has been misled and tricked by the older generation into fighting a war with no purpose. Discuss the role of education and miseducation in the novel, be it in school, at basic training, or on the battlefield. One way to handle could be to contrast the teachers and parents with Kat, but this is only one possibility. Another might be to look at the hostility that Paul and his friends feel, not for the French, but for the Germans who have pushed them into this conflict