Harold Krebs who is the heroine of the novel, is a young soldier who finds it challenging to calibrate to his life at home after the World War. Harold at first felt unable to communicate about his time in the war, however, when he does decide to talk about the war, he realises that no one is interested in hearing what he has to say about the war.
Paul Baumer is an innocent and an inexperienced soldier when he was recruited, he was a kind and empathetic person, but the effects of war taught himself to detach his own feelings. After the war, Paul believed that all of the inquiries and compliments are devoid of any understanding of what life is truly like on the front lines of battle. He no longer perceives life as it once was. The past of his youth and his present selves are separated by an unseen wall.
Both of the soldiers were similar as they experienced a detachment from reality when they came back home after the war and could no longer go back to their previous lives. Yet both are different, Paul felt pitiful for the french and german soldiers that were getting harmed and killed while Harold gained a liking for the war.