A good soldier needs good teaching, so should army officers be nicer, or are difficult and stern officers needed in times like war? Discipline is what differentiates great soldiers from the bad, and discipline is created by putting your mind and your body through tough challenges. However, after having someone put you through challenge after challenge after challenge paired with unnecessary teasing, it is only natural for resentment to build. 

In the novel All Quiet On the Western Front, Paul and his crew plot to punish their officer Himmelstoss for his history of excessive disciplining and mocking. While Himmelstoss is drunk on his way home from the bar, Paul and his fellow soldiers wrap him in a bed sheet and nearly beat him to death. Are they not all on the same team? Are they not all fighting for the same country? If Himmelstoss had been less harsh, Paul and his friends wouldn’t have so much hatred towards him. Officers should take the role of being tough on their soldiers to discipline them and prepare them for the suffering to come but there is a limit. Soldiers are some of the toughest people on earth but they are still people. And no person needs to be teased or punished for ridiculous things when they are already at their limit. Officers should let go of their pride and be the strong, instructional role models they are meant to be.