Journey's End: the Horror of War
Journey’s End: The Horror of War
RC Sheriff uses many ways to emphasize just how horrible life at the front, through characters’ behaviour, sounds shown in the performance directions, general themes explored throughout the play, etc. The following essay will describe mainly how the character’s behaviour is affected by the war, and will begin by explaining this, and will also describe how RC Sheriff uses stage directions to highlight these points, as well as to dramatize the play a little. Quotes will be set out as follows: “quote” (character, page number).
The character who seems to be the most affected by the war, is clearly Stanhope, who drinks to try and rid himself of the fear he feels inside. For this reason, he is considered, by some, to be a drunkard, and a “freak show exhibit, who gets payed a bottle of whisky simply to satisfy the morbid curiosity of people to be seen drinking it” (Osborne, pg. 5). This is not only showing how the war affects Stanhope, but is also one of the main story lines of the play. His rather serious drinking problem can be seen to affect his overall behaviour in the play, especially towards those characters more inferior in military standing.When under the influence of alcohol, Stanhope’s humanity is brought to light, making Mason, in particular, very much afraid of him, as well as showing that he can, occasionally, be humorous:
For example, his treatment of Mason is seen in how he beckons him: “Hi! Mason!” (Stanhope, throughout) and the way he shouts at him, both loudly and quietly: “Why wasn’t it packed, Mason?” (Stanhope, pg.19). Mason reacts to this by stuttering and generally acting in a depressed sort of way in the presence of Stanhope. Mason’s strong fear of Stanhope is also shown by the fact that, when Mason had got apricots instead of pineapple chunks, he asks Osborne for advise: “Only I thought I’d tell you, sir, so as the captain (Stanhope) wouldn’t blame me” (Mason, pg. 17) and also in some of the stage
RC Sheriff uses many ways to emphasize just how horrible life at the front, through characters’ behaviour, sounds shown in the performance directions, general themes explored throughout the play, etc. The following essay will describe mainly how the character’s behaviour is affected by the war, and will begin by explaining this, and will also describe how RC Sheriff uses stage directions to highlight these points, as well as to dramatize the play a little. Quotes will be set out as follows: “quote” (character, page number).
The character who seems to be the most affected by the war, is clearly Stanhope, who drinks to try and rid himself of the fear he feels inside. For this reason, he is considered, by some, to be a drunkard, and a “freak show exhibit, who gets payed a bottle of whisky simply to satisfy the morbid curiosity of people to be seen drinking it” (Osborne, pg. 5). This is not only showing how the war affects Stanhope, but is also one of the main story lines of the play. His rather serious drinking problem can be seen to affect his overall behaviour in the play, especially towards those characters more inferior in military standing.When under the influence of alcohol, Stanhope’s humanity is brought to light, making Mason, in particular, very much afraid of him, as well as showing that he can, occasionally, be humorous:
For example, his treatment of Mason is seen in how he beckons him: “Hi! Mason!” (Stanhope, throughout) and the way he shouts at him, both loudly and quietly: “Why wasn’t it packed, Mason?” (Stanhope, pg.19). Mason reacts to this by stuttering and generally acting in a depressed sort of way in the presence of Stanhope. Mason’s strong fear of Stanhope is also shown by the fact that, when Mason had got apricots instead of pineapple chunks, he asks Osborne for advise: “Only I thought I’d tell you, sir, so as the captain (Stanhope) wouldn’t blame me” (Mason, pg. 17) and also in some of the stage