Stanhope and Raleigh in R.C. Sherriff's "Journey's End" Journey’s End is a well received play written in 1928, by R.C Sherriff. The play is set in a trench system, which were used during most of the Great War. In the play we get an insight into a fascinating relationship between a Junior officer, Raleigh, and the commanding officer, Stanhope. The relationship shows us some effects of the war and it has many ups and down which are well portrayed. During this essay I will comment about the ever changing relationship between young Raleigh and Stanhope. Commanding officer Stanhope is the company commander and is therefore under constant pressure, as he had to make tactical decisions and is also responsible for the welfare for a number of officers. Stanhope is considered as one of the best infantry commanders, ‘ He’s a long way the best company commander we’ve got’, Osborne (Pg 4). Stanhope forms a strong bond the officers, he is seen as hard working and passionate, ‘His commanded this company for a year – in and out of the front line. He’s never had a rest. Other men come over here and go home again ill, young Stanhope goes on sticking it, mouth in, mouth out’, Osborne (pg6). Stanhope particularly forms a strong bond with Officer Osborne, Stanhope has been involved in war activities since the war started and we see that during this time Stanhope has grown a close relationship with Osborne, and sees him as an ‘Uncle-figure’. Numerous times we see that Stanhope refers to Osborne as, ‘Uncle’. The character of Stanhope also shows the dread and stress of war, we learn of commander Stanhope drinking vice, often he is reduced to endless bottles of whisky to revert from the stress of war, it shows how badly men were affected. His problem with drinking is seen to a large extent, the reason why the relationship between himself and Raleigh is never stable and is continually changing. His drinking problem is highlighted throughout the play, ‘ Drinking as a fish as usual’, (pg 4). He is seen as a workaholic, ‘ I’ve seen him on his back all day with trench fever – then on duty all night’, (pg 6) and it seems as of he is not coping well at all, ‘ Lost control of himself; and the he – sort of - came to – and cried’, (pg 6). Raleigh is a young officer, drafted out from England into commander Stanhope’s infantry. Raleigh is a very inexperienced soldier, having just been transported from England and the prospect of being one of Stanhope’s officers is a momentous boost to his fragile confidence.
In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming was drawn to enlist by his boyhood dreams. His highly romanticized notion of war was eclectic, borrowing from various classical and medieval sources. Nevertheless, his exalted, almost deified, conception of the life of a soldier at rest and in combat began to deflate before the even the ink had dried on his enlistment signature. Soon the army ceased to possess any personal characteristics Henry had once envisioned, becoming an unthinking, dispas...
Robert Ross’ is introduced to characters with varying outlooks on the world, based on their own social and economic backgrounds. The soldiers around Robert Ross differ greatly,...
Here at the Chelsea Naval Hospital, the influx of patients arriving home from the war inflicted with "battle wounds and mustard gas burns," has created a shortage of physicians and it is becoming increasingly difficult to fight this influenza. Even our own physicians are falling ill from the disease and dying within hours of its onset. Today I received a letter from Dr. Roy, a friend and fellow physician at Camp Devens, who describes a similar situation:
Erich Maria Remarque's classic war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, deals with the many ways in which World War I affected people's lives, both the lives of soldiers on the front lines and the lives of people on the homefront. One of the most profound effects the war had was the way it made the soldiers see human life. Constant killing and death became a part of a soldier's daily life, and soldiers fighting on all sides of the war became accustomed to it. The atrocities and frequent deaths that the soldiers dealt with desensitized them to the reality of the vast quantities of people dying daily. The title character of the novel, Paul Bäumer, and his friends experience the devaluation of human life firsthand, and from these experiences they become stronger and learn to live as if every day were their last.
During the war, twice as many men died from disease and wound infection as died from a bullet in the battlefield; this was due to unsanitary and crowded conditions at the campsites. Clara cared ...
In his book, My Fellow Soldiers, Andrew Carroll tells the story of World War I through the eyes of the American participants. He uses quotes, personal letters and diaries, from an array of characters, to depict a day in the life of a WWI warrior. Though, he narrows his focus on the untold story of General John J. Pershing, a US army leader. He uniquely talks about the General's vulnerable and emotional side. "Pershing was notoriously strong-willed, to the point of seeming cold, rigid, and humorless, almost more machine than man" (p.XVIII). Pershing is commonly recognized for his accomplishments during the war and remembered for his sternness. He was "…especially unforgiving when it came to matters of discipline" (p. XVIII). Nicknamed "Black Jack" due to his mercilessness towards his soldiers, in this book, Pershing is portrayed as a General with much determination and devotion to his troops, family, and close friends.
In document thirteen, we encounter a letter written by a young English soldier fighting the Germans from the woods. He starts his letter by explaining how once again he was forced to be out in the trenches for forty-eight consecutive hours. The letter, addressed to his parents, illustrates how devastating it can be for a young man out at war. When he asked for time alone they told him to take a group of men with him and after a bit of difficulty they finally let him go off on his own. While he is out on a stroll he comes across a German trench and kills an officer, he does the same thing the next day. By the end of the letter he simply defines the experience as awful.
In “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Erich Maria Remarque tells the a story of six young German men who volunteer as soldiers in World War I. Remarque himself fought in World War I, but because of injuries that he sustained in battle, he was forced to withdraw from the war zone. He spent the rest of the war in the hospital, where he reflected upon the true nature of war. The novel is told from the viewpoint of one young soldier named Paul Baumer. Through the character of Baumer, Remarque portrays his innocence, childhood, and glory; it also portrays his horror, fears, and experiences in the war.
While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing future, reducing the quality of his life.
As a physician and a solider, John McCrae insisted in sleeping in tents like the regular soldiers did, rather than in officers’ huts. His health began to decline to pneumonia. Through living through the...
War has a definite effect on the mentality of a soldier, so much so that many result in insanity during or after the leave of combat. Timothy Findley’s The Wars, portrays the “stupidity, futility and the horror of the terrible losses of the First World War, describing war as an image of the worst that can be within a man” (Anne Nothof Interview). Findley portrays mental aspects as well as physical, that lead to Robert Ross’ demises, specifically, the conditions of war, overall aspect of war taking someone’s life and the feeling of loneliness and silence.
War can be as damaging to the human body as it is to the mind. In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, this idea that war causes psychological disorders is represented throughout the book through the main character, Paul Baumer. This book follows the lives of young soldiers in World War I. Together, these men create powerful bonds. They go through terrifying experiences that continue to strengthen their bonds, but also destroy their mental state. Through Paul’s eyes, Remarque shows the devastation that war has on the mind.
Paul, a character in “All Quiet on the Western Front”, stated that, “Modern trench warfare demands knowledge and experience; a man must have a feeling… for the ground” (Remarque), demonstrating how the battle field experience of soldiers in this war was different than past ones, since trenches being used on such a large scale was an unprecedented event.. Within trenches, a host of possible diseases, such as trench foot, were possible, due to the proximity of the soldiers. In addition, this war had the highest number of fatalities of any war up to this point in time, playing a part in the severe psychological scarring that the men in the war received. Otto Dix’s painting “Self Portrait of a Gunner”, illustrated one year after the his pre-war portrait, portrays Dix with much darker colors, and a less visible face. This obvious change in color and mood of the paintings of Dix’s pre war and post war paintings demonstrates how the war had changed him for the
During the Vietnam War, the first platoon (approximately forty men) was lead by a young officer named William Calley. Young Calley was drafted into the US Army after high school, but it did not take long for him to adjust to being in the army, with a quick transition to the lifestyle of the military, he wanted to make it his career. In high school, Calley was a kind, likable and “regular” high school student, he seemed to be a normal teenager, having interest in things that other boys his age typically had. He was never observed acting in a cruel or brutal way. In Vietnam, Calley was under direct order of company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, whom he saw as a role model, he looked up to Medina. (Detzer 127).
The Great War, as World War I is often referred to, as promising a chance for young men to become, heroes. However, the reality of conflict harshly ruined this vision. Men were sent into muddy trenches where they anticipated death for weeks and months at a time. With the endless shelling saw even the most enduring soldiers worn down to insanity. The soldiers in Regeneration are characterized as being no different to the women with in the patriarchal society as men where reliant on orders from their leaders, soldiers therefore came to personify the submissive role that women had long been forced to oppress in patriarchal societies like that of early 20th century England. In Regeneration, Dr. Rivers connects war neuroses to the hysteria that often disturbed the women during this time; trenches diminished the men to be powerless, while strictly forbidden social roles have had the same effect on women. In both cases, these prolonged positions of involuntary obligation play a large role in triggering