Journey's End By RC Sheriff

1233 Words3 Pages

What methods does Sheriff use to encourage you to feel sympathy for Raleigh at different points in the play? Journey’s End, the play written by Sherriff during post-World War I, tells the story of a company serving under the British Empire in the north of France, near the Belgium border, in the city of St. Quentin. The setting of the play is March 28, 1918, towards the end of the war. The playwright wishes to portray his message of antiwar through this play. By telling the story of Jimmy Raleigh and his tragic experience through war. Raleigh’s naivety and wish to become the hero he saw in “Stanhope” caused a sense of sympathy for the character, as it was what led him to join the war. At the beginning of the play, Sherriff portrays the character …show more content…

Their excitement and naivete soon gave way to despair, fear, and sorrow as they faced reality. He confronts Stanhope in Raleigh, demonstrating his change. With Osborne lying there, how am I supposed to sit down and eat that?" Raleigh's unstable mental state is depicted in this moment, and the audience can see the image of Raleigh's mind at that monument, as well as the guilt and grief he is experiencing, because he is questioning both his superior officer and his friend. This scene highlights the impact losing a significant person can have on an individual, as Raleigh did. Consequently, the audience felt sorry for Raleigh. grows even further in the future. Shortly after, the audience sees another example of the effect of Osborne’s death through Stanhope’s character when he breaks down in front of Raleigh. When this occurs, Raleigh begins to understand the heavy emotional load that soldiers must carry, and they “do not eat and drink because they do not care about the dead or wounded, but to alleviate the sorrow." This quote gives Raleigh the perspective of every soldier that is there because, at the moment, Raleigh is confused as to why the other officers do not seem to care, but he discovers that they experience the same pain and care as deeply as Osborne, but they had to learn how to deal with this emotional distress and move on. The audience can feel sympathy for Raleigh, …show more content…

When Raleigh recounts his personal experience, he uses various examples from his school life that do not truly translate to the real world, showing his innocence. An example of this is when Raleigh says, “It happened once before—I got kicked in just the same place at Rugger.” This is just after Raleigh was hit by a shell and has a massive wound in his back, which means he's about to die. The loss of his life creates further sympathy as it is from a young person dying, but it also reminds us of his naivety as he is still talking about school when he's about to die, as less than two weeks ago he was in school. This waste of life and the futility of war also creates

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