All Quiet On The Western Front Tjaden Character Analysis

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Tjaden, a character from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, is a young, cunning soldier in World War I who symbolizes the coward who uses humor to ease his fear. With the largest appetite out of all his friends and a resentment towards his training officer, Himmelstoss, Tjaden shows the least amount of concern about the war. However, Tjaden has a weakness: “Tjaden wets the bed, he does it at night in his sleep” (45). This fault in Tjaden’s playful character could show the true fear he is covering up with his humor. Tjaden is a young man and has the right to be afraid, but with his confident personality, he is unwilling to show his terror. Therefore, his bed-wetting is his way to show his vulnerability. To add to his confident