(55-56 All Quiet on the Western Front).
This transformation happens in both novels and soon we begin to see the actions of the characters in both novels reflecting their psychological change.
After being in war for a certain amount of time it is obvious that it will begin to take a toll on person both mind and body. In All Quiet on the Western Front they refer to themselves as animals, partly because of the way they act in battle and partly because of the way in which they live. Rat infested trenches, constant mud, always wet, and dead bodies are a common sight. All of these physical conditions will inevitably have an effect psychologically. With each person losing a friend each day the men's priorities turn from winning the war to simply surviving the war:.
Just as we turn into animals when we go up to the line so we turn into wags and loafers when we are resting We want to live at any price; so we cannot burden ourselves with feelings which, though they may be ornamental enough in peacetime, would be out of place here. Kemmerich is dead, Haie Westhus is dying Martens has no legs anymore, Meyer is dead, Max is dead, Beyer is dead, Hammerling is dead it is a dammable business, but what has it to do with us now - we live. (124-125 All Quiet on the Western Front).
This quotation also shows how the narrator is becoming more and more desensitized by the war. When he says "but what has it to do with us now - we live" in reference to his fallen friends it seems as if he doesn't care about the loss, almost as if he just shrugged of the death of his friends. In Catch 22 Yossarian is beginning to lose his mind a little. He has been so frightened for so long that we begin to see the fear begin to turn him insane as he slowly realizes the likely end. By being confronted daily with death, the war has not hardened Yossarian to fear; instead it has made him much more aware of the value and fragility of life:.