Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Storm of Steel, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Manliness and Duty
Modern Warfare
Suffering and Death
Foreigners, Enemies, and Empathy
The Complex Reality of War
Summary
Analysis
On their way to the front lines of the big offensive in late March, the men lose their way in the boggy landscape. Suddenly, a shell explodes in their midst. Instinctively, Jünger wants to flee the horrifying scene, but he returns to tend to his suffering men. Some of his most beloved men, gravely injured, cling to Jünger and call his name, but he has to leave them in the care of the stretcher-bearer. “Moments like that,” he observes, “are not easily shaken off.”
Jünger and his few remaining men wander the trenches in confusion for several hours, finally taking shelter in some cubby-holes meant for munitions. After being reunited with others from his battalion the next morning, he decides that he will never again entrust his men to any guide he hasn’t chosen himself.
The offensive has an discouraging beginning, thanks to incompetent guidance that costs the company dearly, but the men finally make their way to the line.
Themes
Depressed from the disastrous events, Jünger dreads being summoned to the front line again, but he goes. Shortly before the next morning’s attack, it’s announced that the Kaiser and Hindenburg are on the battle’s scene of operations, and everyone applauds. Right on time, a thunderous barrage is unleashed, silencing the enemy artillery. Though the men’s spirits begin to rise, the eventual shellfire is sobering, and Schmidt is killed.
In light of such a visceral, personal loss, the appearance of Kaiser Wilhelm (the German emperor) and General Hindenburg (commander of the German army) seems almost like a visit from another world, at best an irrelevance to what’s actually happening on the front lines.
Themes
When the moment for the attack comes, the men are eager, and Jünger feels confident that they have the strength to strike a decisive blow against the enemy. The moment feels historic. As masses of men begin charging toward enemy lines, Jünger feels overcome by rage and the desire to kill. He comments that an outsider might have thought the sobbing men were all “ecstatically happy.”
The attack exemplifies many of the dynamics of warfare—a certain bloodthirstiness, fueled by grief at the loss of friends, as well as a state akin to ecstasy at such a climactic moment.
Themes
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Though no one opposes them as they leap into the British trench, they’re soon met by machine-gun fire. As he penetrates deeper into the trench, Jünger finds himself alone. He soon encounters a lone British soldier. Jünger feels a cold relief at finally confronting an enemy face to face, but to his surprise, the man suddenly pulls out a photograph of himself with his family. Jünger lets him go and later dreams of the man, hoping he got to rejoin his loved ones.
In light of the emotions just expressed, this is one of the most surprising moments in Jünger’s narrative. The preceding moments have created the expectation that Jünger will brutally kill the first enemy he finds, yet he shows mercy instead—another example of the uncategorizable impact of battle on the human psyche.
Themes
Jünger’s memories of the attack fade in and out. He does recall killing a British machine gunner, and soon after, masses of British and German collide with one another, shooting at point-blank range—something he’s never witnessed in the war before. Before long, the British are on the run, and the Germans keep shooting, knowing they’ve gained the upper hand. By this time, there’s no need for formal leadership; all the Germans charge onward as one. As Jünger takes out another determined British machine-gun nest, he casually observes that the vigorous exercise seems to have gotten rid of his nagging cold.
In contrast to the virtual stalemate of trench warfare, this battle erupts into face-to-face firefights. Jünger and his men triumphantly rout the British, and Jünger is back to his wryly observant self, having regained his sense of purpose.
Themes
After a brief moment of refreshment with the other surviving officers, Jünger and the rest continue their advance, receiving many British surrenders and shooting those who resist. Jünger forces himself to look closely at one young British soldier he has shot. Over the years, sorrow and regret haunt his dreams of this boy.
There’s a certain fierceness about this phase of the battle, yet Jünger’s humanity isn’t completely effaced even here, as he humanizes and even regrets those he kills. Empathy and ferocity sometimes appear side by side even on the battlefield, further complicating the soldiers’ roles.
Themes
The men have little opportunity to rest. Early the next day, they’re ordered to storm the nearby village of Vracourt. One of Jünger’s former drill instructors is killed. Eventually, it’s decided that the position is sufficiently secure, so Jünger hunkers in a crater to enjoy some English jam and pull on some Scottish woolen socks. Later in the day, however, there are signs of a strong British counterattack. After nightfall, Jünger and his men get in an intense firefight with some scrappy Scottish highlanders.
In a characteristic move, Jünger happily savors some small luxuries (plunder from the enemy) even in the midst of the battlefield. This is another example of the strange proximity between cultures created by war, as well as the frequent blend of suffering and small pleasures.
Themes
At one point, Jünger flings his rifle aside and plunges into the enemy line with his bare fists—forgetting that he’s wearing an English coat he’d nabbed from a captured trench. After scattering the Scots, Jünger is chatting with Kius when they both notice he is bleeding from the chest—likely shot by a German who mistook him for English. He starts carefully making his way back for medical attention.
After the strains of recent days, as well as his steadily growing boldness over the course of the war, Jünger’s foolhardy plunge into the line is not surprising; he is carried away by the complex emotions of battle. In this moment, it costs him.
Themes
Suddenly, as he’s making his way across a trench, Jünger gets a blow on the skull and, when he comes to, he sees an alarming flow of blood beneath him. His companion assures Jünger that he sees no brains, so Jünger calmly continues on his way, figuring that’s what he gets for neglecting to wear a steel helmet. “In spite of my twofold haemhorrage,” he recalls, “I was terribly excited.”
Jünger’s calmness in the face of his double injury—as well as his keenness to keep fighting despite everything—is a perfect encapsulation of his character. Even though he is severely wounded, he is still more concerned with his duty as a soldier than with his own personal safety.
Themes
Jünger is transported to a field hospital, where he finds that his orderly, Vinke, has made sure that Jünger’s baggage is waiting for him. He remarks that Vinke taught him about “the stolidity and decency of the common people.” While healing in Germany, he learns that his faithful Schultz had fallen in the fighting. Before long, he also gathers that, despite the tremendous effort made in the offensive, Germany is actually losing the war.
Jünger finally gets some relief from the strains of battle. He again recognizes the variety of faithfulness displayed by soldiers—even Vinke’s dutiful conscientiousness is worthy of mention. Despite the offensive and his immense personal effort, however, Jünger recognizes the bigger picture.
Themes
