“Journey’s End” by R.C Sherriff Essay

journeyings End is a play about British soldiers in World War One, and the set up the struggle has on them, both physically and workforcetally. The play explores many aspects of war life, including friendship, alcoholism, class boundaries and the lifestyle of the men in the impingees. This essay explores how the play shows the set up of war on those involved, looking at use of dialogue, lighting, hold and other key dramatic devices. The essay will mainly focus on Act 3, conniption 2 of the play, but relevant quotes from other scenes in journeyings End will besides be use to help illustrate points.Stanhope, the Commander of the company, is a prime lawsuit of how the war do many intelligent, able young men. The audience knows Stanhope is a uncorrupted officer and is well respected from earliest dialogue in the play. For example, in Act 1 aspect 1, Osborne says, Hes a prospicient way the best company commander weve got, and Hardy agrees.Stanhope is besides a humorous ma n, and rear get under ones skin on very well with his fellow officers. For example, at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 2, he has all the men in stitches, relating tales of mischief with women.However, he appears to only be in a good mood when he has been beverage, which he does a crew. We know this because in the very first scene of Journeys End, Hardy discusses Stanhopes swallow habits with Osborne, saying, I never did see a youngster determine away the whisky he does. One of the main effects of the war on Stanhope is his drinking. He drinks for Dutch courage on the battlefield, and in Act 1 he confesses this to Osborne, saying If I went up those steps into the front line without being doped up with whisky Id go thin-skinned with fright. This quote tells the audience that Stanhope has cut to depend upon drinking to help him cope, and certainly has nigh tolerant of alcohol problem. The excessive drinking also greatly affects his temper, and he has fierce mood swings throughou t the play. An example of one of these mood heightens is the contrast between hisjolly, merry demeanour at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 2, and the undiluted rage he expresses later on in the scene when he confronts capital of North Carolina about his failure to attend dinner. These changes in his demeanour are shown by the changes in tone and deal of his voice throughout Act 3 Scene 2. At the start of his confrontation with capital of North Carolina, he speaks in a fairly mild, controlled tone of voice. Silence is indicated by the stage directions to create tension, for example in that respect is concealment except for the the rumble of the guns, creates a distinct impression of awkwardness and fraught tension. The use of silence also contrasts strongly with the way Stanhope yells angrily at Raleigh later on in the scene. These well(p) devices both grab the audiences attention, and show them incisively how enraged Stanhope is.Even the sight of Raleigh appears to crossness Sta nhope. This is because Stanhope was at school with him, and is engaged to his sister. Stanhope is paranoid that Raleigh will tell his sister about his drinking habit, and seeing a familiar face from the outside world has rattled him because he is so utilise to the routine of war. After Osborne, whom he was very close to, is killed during a raid, the men do not openly grieve, but try and act normally to keep their morale up, and have a dinner with cigars and champagne to celebrate the successful raid. Raleigh refuses to go to dinner, which greatly angers Stanhope. By the end of Act 3 Scene 2, Stanhope is absolutely livid with fury. The last line he shouts For Gods sake, get out is hence followed by silence, which is a very effective device in grabbing the audiences attention and creating a mood of fear and apprehension. Overall, Act 3 Scene 2 is most effective in display an audience just how much of an impact the war has had on Stanhope and his personality.Raleigh is another chara cter who is greatly effected by war, but, un wish well Stanhope who has been been in the trenches a long time, Raleigh is very inexperienced, which makes him appear exceedingly naive and vulnerable. Raleighs first reaction upon entering the trenches (Act 1) is that of surprise. He has been expecting more noise and excitement, and says to Osborne, How awfully quiet it isTo begin with, Raleigh is very eager to go out and fight, but Osbornes expiryafter the raid has a big effect on him. He cannot understand how the men can sit, eating fine food and drinking champagne ,when one of their closest companions has been killed. However, Raleigh does not pass that the reason why they are doing this is to try and help themselves to forget the tragedy that has occurred, and to boost morale amongst the men. Raleigh has misunders withald the situation, and only realises his error at the end of Act 3 Scene 2, when Stanhope shouts, You think theres no limit to what a man can bear? Raleigh trie s to apologise, but Stanhope is too incensed with rage to listen.By the end of that particular scene, even though Raleigh has only been at war for a week, he is already a changed person. His short battle experience has erased whatever kinky expectations he has had before, and he now knows about the harsh realities of life in the trenches. We know this because of his obvious change in mood and personality- by Act 3 Scene 2 he says a lot less than he has beforehand, and stage directions tell us at one point, Raleigh speaks in a low, halting voice. R.C Sherriff has chosen to alter his speech and tone of voice to show the audience intelligibly how the raid has affected Stanhope as a person.Osborne is a character who is very much aware of the realities of trench warfare, as the oldest and one of the most experienced officers in the Company. In Act 1 the stage directions strike Osborne as hard as nails- physically and emotionally strong. He is a father figure out for the other officer s, and is affectionately known as Uncle. Osborne is also a loyal and caring friend. The audience knows this because in Act 1 he defends Stanhope to Hardy, who is criticising the Commanders drinking patterns. He also puts Stanhope to bed when he is drunk, which shows that he has a caring nature. He and Stanhope are extremely good friends- the war has brought them very close. talk throughout the play shows that Osborne tends to use short sentences, such as Oh?, and I see. He is more of a listener than a talker, and that comes across in the conversations he has with other characters. It is quite possible that he has always been a quiet man, but the war could have causedhim to become even quieter and more withdrawn.In Act 3 Scene 1, before he goes out during the raid, Osborne gives Stanhope his watch and ring with a earn to give to his wife, just in case anything should happen to him. Stanhope reassures him, Youre coming back, old man , and the deuce men laugh as they go their separate ways. However, neither of them really know if Osborne will come back alive or not, and this fear and uncertainty is another effect the war has on the men and their lives.Throughout the play, lighting is used to set the mood and display to the audience as realistically as possible what it was like for the men living(a) in the dugouts. There is little light for most of the play, just dim yellowish candles. On the very first page of the play, lighting is described in some detail. Phrases such as, A pale glimmer of moonlight, and the misty grey parapet give the mentation of a gloomy, shadowy atmosphere. The lack of light must have affected the mens horse sense of time and place. In the play, Trotter keeps a calendar so he can tell what sidereal day it is, and how long it is until the raid. However, in Act 3 Scene 2, the stage directions say, The dugout is lit quite festively with an uncommon amount of candles. At the beginning of this scene, the lighting reflects the bright, joll y mood of the men, and contrasts strongly with that of the previous scene.The sounds and support used in this scene are also very different to that of Act 3 Scene 1. The sound of laughter replaces the sound of heavy guns, which lightens the mood and relieves tension considerably. There are empty champagne bottles on the table, which shows they have been enjoying themselves. The food described in this scene (roast chicken), is very different to the food the men ravage in earlier scenes. In Act One, when Osborne asks what flavour soup they are having, Mason replies, Its yellow soup sir. Most of the officers came from upper/middle class public school backgrounds, so quite a big effect on them would be having to eat small portions of revolting, non- nutritious food. It would also be a major change for many of the men not having washing facilities, and having to survive in appalling living conditions. Many men would have suffered from acute boredomwhen nothing was going on, so many (li ke Stanhope) reverted to drinking or smoking heavily just for something to do. The war affected all the men involved in so many different ways, but obviously the main effect was that so many of them preoccupied their lives in battle.At the end of the play, Osborne and Raleigh have both been killed but Stanhope lives. The deaths of Raleigh and Osborne show that war is indiscriminate, and death can occur at anytime to anyone, regardless of age or experience. Raleigh is a young, inexperienced newcomer, and Osborne is an experienced senior officer, but they both die within a few days.Journeys End shows the effects of the war on the men involved very realistically, using dramatic devices such as sound, dialogue, props and lighting very effectively. It paints a clear picture in the readers mind of what it was like in the trenches, and how the men were affected by battle.