Closer than Brothers As the Scottish actor Jack Lowden once said, “If you speak to any soldier, even now, they say they are fighting for their friends. It always ends up that they 're fighting for the man next to them.” Soldiers become extremely close to “the man next to them” during the destruction and harsh conditions of war, and this is prominently displayed all throughout Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Narrator and protagonist Paul Bäumer, along with his comrades, including Tjaden, Müller, Albert Kropp, Franz Kemmerich, Haie Westhus, and Detering, constantly support one another while out on the front, in the hospital, and throughout the war. Most of them went to the same school before enlisting, but their bonds grew and strengthened during the war, as conveyed by them often referring to each other as if they were brothers. The leader of their small group, Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky, acts as a mentor and father figure to them, but especially to Paul. They all have to deal with the chaos and brutality of war, many mental and physical challenges, along with many losses, but they have the support of their comrades to help them through it. In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque exhibits that in the hardships of war, the bonds between soldiers are extremely prevalent, and comradeship and brotherhood become stronger and more important. The card game Skat is an important motif in the novel that helps to support the theme of brotherhood and