Journey’s End is a play written in 1928, ten years after the war finally ended, it was based on the authors real life experiences and is very serious about the happenings of war. Blackadder however was written in 1989 and has a very sarcastic edge, making the viewer forget that the subject matter of the sitcom was a real event.
It soon becomes apparent to the reader that all of the men, in Journey’s End, are struggling to cope with the war, and that they all have their own way of coping, Trotter, an officer in the company, tries to find ways to make the time pass away quicker, ‘draw a hundred and forty-little circles’ each circle represents one of the hours that they have to spend there, he also breaks the hours down into minutes and announces ‘that doesn’t sound so bad’ when he calculates that they have already done twenty of them. To the reader however, this may seem odd as the number was large, ‘eight thousand six ‘undred and forty minutes’, it may seem that he is making the time longer rather than shorter. This is Trotters way of coping with the war, breaking it down into sections of time and ticking them off as it passes.
It is obvious that Captain Stanhope, the protagonist in Journey’s End struggles to cope with the realities of war from the beginning of the play when a minor character remarks ‘I never did see a youngster put away the whiskey he does’. This clearly shows that Stanhope is well known for his drinking and many of the men accept it as his way of coping with the war and the effects it has had on him. Osbourne, a man Stanhope calls ‘uncle’ defends him saying, ‘…the best company commander we’ve got’. Through this it becomes clear why the men have so easily accepted his drinking, because he has spent so long in th...
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...pe threatens to shoot him for deserting Hibbert breaks down because he has no way out. He spills all his pent up emotions, ‘I’ve hated and loathed it’, and even begins to cry. Although Hibbert does not really have neuralgia it is clear that he is having a mental breakdown during this scene, ‘every sound…makes me all — cold and sick’. This is one of the biggest emotional revelation in the play, with Hibbert telling Stanhope how he really feels about the war, showing just how much it has affected him because usually the men kept a stiff upper-lip and did not show any emotion at all.
There is also a mention of the war driving a man ‘mad’ in Blackadder, in the final scene of Blackadder when they are about to go over the top. Captain Blackadder says, ‘who would have noticed another madman around ‘ere’. The sombre mood of the sitcom at that point helps to illustrate the
Capturing the realities of war is not everyone's cup of tea. One has to be feel the emotions that inspire vivid imagery in words. True war stories can be written based off of true events that have occurred and bring out emotions in the poets who witness them. Brian Turner, author of 2000 lbs, stated in an interview that while in Iraq, he felt “very isolated from the relevance of what felt like a prior life”(poemoftheweek.com). Its seems like a split from life at home to a warzone with conflicting feelings. He began capturing his experiences of the war in the form of poetry. Brian Turner turned his Iraq war experience and his masters degree in literature and poetry into an opportunity to oppose the resolution of conflict through war. Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam Warr veteran who struggled with PTSD and Turner’s opinions in his story, “2000 lbs,” share similarities with “How To Tell A True War Story”. Turner’s poem 2000 lbs describes a suicide
“How nice- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive” (Vonnegut 181).
To what extent does the 'Blackadder Goes Forth' series give an accurate impression of life on the western front?
Timothy Findley pieced The Wars together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. When putting a puzzle together, a person must start off on the outside and work his/her way in, slowly adding piece upon piece until a clear overall picture is seen. Readers have to realize that the themes, characters, and setting within this book operate like puzzle pieces; they each weave themselves within the story and within each other. Their connections are the bonds that hold the book together, and one of the bonds at this puzzle's core is madness. To understand how madness appears to play a major role in the events of the war, we have to know the characters that are mad, the characters that are believed to be mad and how madness affects masculinity.
As the story begin Sergeant X is an confident and uplifting man , but it’s towards the middle and end of the story that we see him disassociate from his surroundings and people that like him. For example in the story while everyone was down on the first floor he was up stair on the second smoking and drinking alone separating himself from the rest and using alcohol to numb his pain (J.D Salinger). When an individual chooses to isolate themselves from their surroundings and people, they become lonely and pained and they would use anything to numb the pain. For Sergeant X he begins to separate himself from everyone as he is at war.There is also a sense that Sergeant X is isolated from those around him. Despite being in England with sixty other soldiers, at no stage of the story does X socialize with any of his fellow soldiers . Even when he does socialize, for example with Clay, he doesn’t enjoy his company (J.D Salinger). This shows a great deal of disassociation and how the build up of isolation can affect you as a person without
Create a list of O'Brien's criteria of how to tell a true war story and give an example of each criteria in outline form.
It is apparent that during war time emotions are checked at the door and ones whole psyche is altered. It is very difficult to say what the root causes of this are due to the many variables that take play in war, from death of civilians to the death of friends. However, in "Enemies" and "Friends" we see a great development among characters that would not be seen anywhere else. Although relying on each other to survive, manipulation, and physical and emotional struggle are used by characters to fight there own inter psychological wars. Thus, the ultimate response to these factors is the loss and gain of maturity among Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk.
Released in 1999, Saving Private Ryan shocked the United States. Devastatingly realistic, and never pulling a punch, Steven Spielberg's World War II film has gone down in history, winning multiple awards, and receiving praise from all around the world. Tom Hanks' superb acting, coupled with Spielberg's artistic sense in regards to film making, unleashed a powerhouse of a cinematic experience. The film could not have hit theaters during a better time. The World War II veterans were reaching their last years, and a majority of the nation's youth had no idea what a sacrifice these brave men made. Depicting the brutalities of war in a realistic way, Saving Private Ryan is a new found war classic that brought different people together, recognized the heroism of our WWII vets, and set a new standard for war epics.
In "The Soldier", Brooke's firm patriotism towards England is shown through two different points of view--the octet illustrating what will happen when he dies in battle and the sestet describing the afterlife. He believes that if he should be remembered for anything, it would be that he is English. He even goes as far as stating that "In that rich earth a richer dust concealed," meaning that if he were to die on a foreign land, its soil would be made better because a piece of England would be buried along with him. The entire poem glorifies England as Brooke incorporates it into a sonnet, includes various forms of imagery, and also develops his admiration towards his country by describing it through positive connotation.
Captain William Farnsworth Cook was an honorable man who stuck to his word and defended what he loved as anyone should at any costs. He carried his granddaughter from the middle of nowhere all the way to Bush Hill and stood by her side when she recovered from the deadly yellow fever and protected her to the best of his ability even when at death’s door.
Every war will have those who support the war and those who are against the war. In 1965, those who were against the Vietnam War made their views known by many forms of protesting such as forming organizations, rallying, and anti-war protest music. Anti-war protest music was an opportunity to put people’s perspectives into song to hopefully spread their message. Buffy Sainte-Marie wrote the song “Universal Soldier” in 1962 and her message was that “Universal Soldier is about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all” (Boulanger). The song “Universal Soldier” was used as a protest anthem during the Vietnam War and attempts to untangle one of the paradoxes of life that war never leads to peace through examining a soldier that is representative of every soldier in every nation.
Looking around the mole infested, rodent plague house now riddle with bullets holes, the more I realize how lucky I’m to be alive. One day before the war broke out, one of Megan’s friend and allies in the Scorpio gang warn her about the impending war and who the gangs targeted. If it wasn’t for that warning I along with many others who hustle the streets of Springfield would be among the dead. No matter how much I pleaded with my aunt to leave the house which was situated right in the middle of the battle zone she refuses. When I argue the point that her death would be certain if she stayed, she would bark back at me with a bold face look, “Death does not scare me it quakes at my very presence and flee. I’m invincible.” Her response was obviously hindered by the
The audience is able to see an insight into the effect on the characters’ from trench warfare on their psyches – Freudian theory that questions the different part of the mind/psyche, less graphically than a newer version of the World War One. Modern critics (John Stokes and Tony Howard) argue that ‘Vietnam transformed’ the British citizens ‘regarded wars past and present’. Firstly, ‘Journey’s End’ was mostly applied to reduce or relieve possible signs of worry or hysteria. A key character, Hibbert, is commonly used by Sheriff to show the implications that war could have on grown men. He explains to Stanhope that he can no longer cope with the war and then approaches Stanhope wanting to “go sick”. This could be argued as perfectly acceptable due to his current mental state later presented with modern critics and audiences in conjunction with this. However, it does not fit the theme of masculinity to audiences at the time the play was first performed. Sheriff uses a descriptive language to describe the mental state, Hibbert, who stands with lowered head and eyes “tightly screwed up”, “Hibbert stands quivering in front of Stanhope” and this presents the audience with the surreal implications it had to the soldiers’ mental capability and state. But, Stanhope was still
To conclude, a variety of techniques has been used to present how setting explores issues of World War One in both pieces of Literature. In my opinion, even though both texts are different genres, I find that ‘Journey’s End’ is most effective to showing how setting explores issue in the war. This is because it is firsthand due to Sheriff being a captain in the First World War. In addition to that, it also has more of a realistic opinion of war when in contrast to ‘’Regeneration’.
Theme is a literary element used in literature and has inspired many poets, playwrights, and authors. The themes of love and war are featured in literature, and inspire authors to write wartime romances that highlight these two themes. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms deals with the collective themes in the human experience such as love and the reality of war. A Farewell to Arms is narrated from the perspective of Fredric Henry, an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and pertains to his experiences in the war. The novel also highlights the passionate relationship between Henry and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse in Italy. Henry’s insight into the war and his intense love for Catherine emphasize that love and war are the predominant themes in the novel and these themes contribute to bringing out the implicit and explicit meaning of the novel. Being a part of the Italian army, Henry is closely involved with the war and has developed an aversion to the war. Henry’s association with the war has also made him realise that war is inglorious and the sacrifices made in war are meaningless. Specifically, Henry wants the war to end because he is disillusioned by the war and knows that war is not as glorious as it is made up to be. The state of affairs and the grim reality of the war lead Henry towards an ardent desire for a peaceful life, and as a result Henry repudiates his fellow soldiers at the warfront. Henry’s desertion of the war is also related to his passionate love for Catherine. Henry’s love for Catherine is progressive and ironic. This love develops gradually in “stages”: Henry’s attempt at pretending love for Catherine towards the beginning of the novel, his gradually developing love for her, and finally, Henry’s impas...