A Comparison of the Techniques Employed in Portraying the Horror of War in Regeneration and Journey's End

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A Comparison of the Techniques Employed in Portraying the Horror of War in Regeneration and Journey's End "I chose the First World War because it's come to stand in for other wars… It's come to stand for the pain of all wars." Pat Barker wrote "Regeneration" in the 1990's and R.C. Sherriff "Journey's End" in 1927, the quote is from Barker and illustrates the magnitude of the effect of the First World War, and expresses the appeal of the subject. Both works use different techniques in their portrayal of horror, and their effectiveness will be examined in turn. The authors chose different formats with one being a novel the other a play, thus giving them contrasting ways of conveying soldiers' experiences of war. In "Regeneration", Barker begins by exploring the character of Sassoon and through opening her novel with the declaration immediately demonstrates the adverse affect that war can have on rational young men. Karin Westman states "When Sassoon asks the public to make use of their imagination, he is asking them to imagine the horrors of the war, to conceive monstrous images, in order to comprehend its destructive force." Barker utilises the factual document to validate the anti-war stance of the novel. Sassoon has found that the horror of war has lead to the disintegration of his men and has morale shattering qualities stating, "I have seen and endured the suffering of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust." As a man, we later learn, who has won the Military cross, we come to realise that he is certainly no coward, and his reasons for his de... ... middle of paper ... ... war as expressively as Barker due to the constraints of the stage and the era he was writing in. Barker, through graphic descriptions, vivid imagery and symbolism enables the reader to envisage the destructive effect of the war, especially on young men such as Burns who had their youth taken away from them. Barkers' motives for this bold portrayal lie firmly in her anti-war beliefs and strong political opinions, however as Peter Kemp in the Sunday Times admires she manages to present a great deal of trauma "without a tremor of sensationalism or sentimentality." It is the varied range of techniques she employs that make "Regeneration" a triumphant portrayal of horror in the First World War. Barker forces the reader to consider the impact of war and how the horrendous nature of the combat affected millions of lives.

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