As Himmelstoss comes into the room expecting to be saluted, but instead, the group does nothing to acknowledge his presence.  Tjaden insults and disrespects Himmelstoss, so he reports him to the Orderly.  Tjaden is likely to get 5 days in a jail cell, which means time away from the front.  
	When Himmelstoss first comes into the room, he expects his soldiers to treat him with respect, and to salute him.  When this does not happen, he shows fear, and doesn't know what to do.  He resorts to being openly hostile towards the soldiers, and Tjaden fights back.  The author, Erich Maria Remarque, is indicating that at the front lines, the only thing that's important is surviving, and the rules become insignificant.  She shows that the soldiers are now standing up for themselves against their commanding officer, whereas in the beginning of the novel, they followed orders without second guessing their commanding officer.
	Remarque uses irony by showing how the worst possible punishment Tjaden can receive, is not bad compared to not being punished. It is ironic that his punishment is actually a reward: time away from the front.  The author is contrasting the so-called punishment of the German army, to the horror of the front lines, thereby also amplifying how terrible the front lines really are, if they'd rather have prison.
	The author uses metaphors to describe how Tjaden and Himmelstoss are feeling, for instance, when Remarque says Himmelstoss begins to “boil.”  There is another metaphor when Remarque says that Himmelstoss is a raging book of army regulations.  In both of these instances of metaphors, they describe how angry he is.
	Remarque has a generally cheerful tone in this section, this is evident because of the way she described everybody laughing, and mocking Himmelstoss.  She is able to add humour to the otherwise grim novel.