The Setting of the Scene in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff

The Setting of the Scene in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff

The first thing that the reader notices is the stage directions at the

beginning of the play. This sets the scene and we are prepared as to

what is going to happen later on in the play. It hints that the

majority of the play will take place in a small, claustrophobic,

enclosed area. This hints that the soldiers are bored in the mundane

trench. The room, which we see, is dark and gloomy with several

lighted candles. These lighted candles signify that for the men during

the war the night merges with the day and therefore the men's

behavioural patterns are irregular. A calendar is situated upon one of

the bare walls and it symbolises how slowly the time passes for the

men who are entrapped within the trench. During the war propaganda

played a major part in the recruitment of men who thought that they

were to come back alive to England as heroes. This idea is repeatedly

brought up throughout the play. At the beginning we see the trenches

as dirty which is not the perceived view back at home.

The first two characters that we, the reader meets are Osborne and

Hardy. As we see them the first thing that we notice is the difference

in the pair's moods. Hardy is singing a happy song about women;

'One and two, it's with Maud and Lou; three and four, two girls more;'

We later find out in the conversation between the two officers that

Hardy has been in the trenches for his six day shift and he is now

being relieved of duty for six days by the unhappy Osborne. As the

conversation takes place we realise that the war is now part of

Hardy's everyday mundane job. We notice this when he talks in a

relaxed manner and tells Osborne to 'Have a drink'. This shows how the

men involved in the war have to cope and have to get on with their

lives. During the conversation between them they introduce the points