Reading Testament of Youth and All Quiet on the Western Front back-to-back provides an interesting look into the lives of both the people at the Homefront (although particularly nurses) and the soldiers that are fighting. Doing this allowed me to understand Roland better because of Paul’s description of what it is like to be at the front, fighting, and how difficult it is to come back. Reading these side-by-side made me think about the ways in which war brings soldier together. In Testament of Youth, Brittain discusses that she is close to some of the nurses, but on the whole her descriptions show a life of her working, going home to eat and sleep, and coming back again. The strain of nursing does not seem to bring the nurses together. However, in All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul often discusses how close he feels to his fellow soldiers. One passage in particular struck me because he says that they are closer than lovers: “I am no longer a shuddering speck of existence, alone in the darkness;--I belong to them and they to me; we all share the same fear and the same life, we are nearer than lovers, in a simpler, a harder way; I could bury my face in them, in these voices, these words that have saved me and will stand by me” (212). The intimacy of the soldiers struck me because, for whatever reason, it is not what I expected. I expected comradery and friendship and most especially reliance since the person next to you in battle could be the reason you survive. However, while it was unexpected, it makes sense because of the reliance I expected. They are not only reliant upon each other to stay alive, they are also reliant upon each other to remind them that they are not alone, physically and mentally. This is what Paul means when he says “we all share the same fear and the same life.” No one at the Homefront can understand this because they haven’t gone through it, but these people next to him know exactly what he means. This could also be why the nurses in Testament of Youth do not have the same kind of friendships. While they are together and experience difficult things together, they do not have to rely on one another in the same way.