Ranking Systems

Towards the end of the novel the boy finds himself being surrounded by many people who live their lives based on how the are ranked. This ranking system is usually based on previous jobs in your family or how successful you were in the army. The boys friend and mentor Mitka was a very recognizable man for his achievements on the battle field. As stated in the book "On the military ladder one's position was determined by rank and function in the regiment." It also described the roles of Soviet men, "In the Soviet world a man was related according to others opinion of him, not according to his own." There were many different ranking systems in this book and the following website gives an explanation of why some of these systems took place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_status