Valentin Laher
A member of the returned company whose presence helps preserve the group's shared language after demobilization.
To remain connected to the men whose experience needs no translation.
The book
At a glance
- Returned soldier
- Ernst's company
- Valentin Laher
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeLaher belongs to the wider circle that survived the march home.
His role is collective: he helps show a company becoming a loose group of civilian individuals.
How the book draws them
- Company survivorHe shares the group's front-line past.
- Familiar presenceRecognition matters in a strange civilian world.
- Part of the chorusGroup scenes carry his importance.
- Dispersing futurePeace gradually separates the survivors.
Laher survives the central events and belongs to the wider group scattered by postwar life.
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