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
About a month later, Jünger rejoins his regiment at the Somme, and he is quartered with a family in Brancourt, including a loudly cursing wife and a beautiful young daughter. Jünger is assigned as a scouting officer, and he regrets having to leave behind the “family” of his company on the eve of battle. The scout troop travels to the village of Liéramont. From here, the scouts must reconnoiter the situation on the front each night, test communications, and report back regarding the need for any reinforcements. Jünger is assigned to the area just to the left of the woods of St-Pierre-Vaast.
Jünger enjoys his encounters with local people, taking care to include them in his narrative of the war and showing his fundamental regard for them. Even though his scouting duties take him off the front lines, to his regret—since camaraderie is central to his experience of the war—he’s not insulated from the dangers of battle.
Themes
The scouting duty has its dangers. There’s heavy artillery fire in the area at night, and once, Jünger gets lost and nearly drowns in a swamp. Once he escapes, Jünger soon notices an “oniony smell” and hears the cry of “Gas!” It’s phosgene. Soon he’s stumbling through the woods, his gas mask misted over, wandering past other lost troops.
On his second scouting attempt, Jünger finds himself on the edge of an empty, shell-cratered field, and before he can decide his next steps, he is shot through both legs by a sniper’s bullet. He crawls back through the woods and then hobbles to the medic station. Along the way, a happenstance chat with a former commander delays Jünger just long enough to prevent him from being hit by a nearby shell explosion. He observes, “It is hard to see these things as completely random.”
Jünger’s description of his latest injury is classic Jünger—an example of his much-vaunted manliness. He walks all the way to the medic station after having been shot, even taking the time to talk with a friend, and offers brief commentary on the coincidence of the delay.
Themes
In the following days, he’s brought to the military hospital in Valenciennes. During this hospitalization, Jünger suffers “an attack of the glooms.” He is especially saddened that he was unable to join his regiment in attacking the woods of St-Pierre-Vaast, an event which won the regiment many medals. He rejoins his troop after about two weeks, but before he reaches the division, he survives his train being bombed.
This is perhaps the first time in Jünger’s memoir that he admits to having any strongly negative emotions about warfare—and, in this case, it has mostly to do with the fact that he was kept from fighting while injured. This shows Jünger’s commitment to his men and to his personal sense of duty.
Themes
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Jünger can’t yet march, so he works as an observation officer on a hillside, watching the front line through a periscope. This post gives him the opportunity to appreciate the breakdown squad, a group who enters shell-holes to repair communications wires under the most dangerous conditions.
Jünger’s admiration for the breakdown squad shows that, despite his own remarkable strength and courage, he appreciates different varieties of courage than those displayed on the front lines of battle.
Themes
In December, Jünger takes command of the 2nd Company. The regiment enjoys four weeks of rest and holiday parties in Fresnoy. Only five men remain from the 2nd Company as it was constituted one year ago at Monchy. During this time, he’s summoned to divisional headquarters to receive an Iron Cross First Class, since, the General tells him, “you have a habit of getting yourself wounded.”
The war has exacted a tremendous toll on Jünger’s unit over the past year. He enjoys life as much as he can while off the front lines. The Iron Cross First Class was awarded for German military service from the late 19th century through the end of World War II, bestowed without regard for the recipient’s rank.
Themes
