Relationships between men, and the strengthening of bonds, is incredibly important in war literature. This is because men's relationships strengthen greatly during stressful situations and war is the most stressful situation a man can be in. The First World War was a brutal war which killed millions of men and is the main theme of Journey's End and Regeneration. Journey's End is a play set wholly in an officer's dugout during the First World War, while Regeneration focuses on mental patients living in mental-asylum Craiglockhart, during the First World War.
These are two different settings that revolve around the same time period as each other but the relationships …show more content…
Evidence of Rivers' avuncular nature is the fact that he wishes the most for the best for the men he is caring for; for example, when Burns collapses on the beach near his home and Rivers "[holds] him, coaxing, rocking" Burns. This is very similar to Osbourne's treatment of Stanhope under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol ("Osbounre [fumbled] the blanket around Stanhope"). Rivers is also similar to Osbourne as he defends Prior during his conversation with Prior's father, when he says "[Mrs Prior] seems to have succeeded" when Mr Prior says of how she tried to make Prior more "succssessful". Prior's father, who is rude and obnoxious towards Rivers, during their conversation, but doesn't react physically. This conversation is very similar to Osbourne's conversation with Hardy, the commander of the regiment that Stanhope's regiment is relieving. Hardy talks about Stanhope's drinking in a negative way ("drinking like a fish, as usual?") and tells Osbourne that Osbourne should be the company commander, rather than Stanhope. His reasons why he believes Osbourne should be the new company commander are unclear but, like Rivers with Prior, Osbourne defends Stanhope. Sherriff and Barker know that a relatable paternal character would be a person that defends the people that they care for to their faces, but an …show more content…
This varies wildly from Stanhope's encouragement methods towards Hibbert, to fight with the men in the trenches, as he draws a loaded gun on Hibbert, threatening to kill him where he stood and shoot him "between the eyes". Stanhope handles situations with an iron-fist, while Osbourne handles situations with a velvet-glove, and both compliment each other as a great commanders because of these aspects. It could be argued that Sherriff is attempting to represent the two extremes in command in stressful situations during the war: the brutal and courageous, and the kind and