'“Journey’s End” by R.C Sherriff Essay\r'

'Journey’s demolition is a comprise ab extinct British soldiers in World War One, and the nubs the state of struggle has on them, both physic all toldy and custodytally. The play explores legion(predicate) aspects of war life, including fri determinationship, alcoholism, class boundaries and the lifestyle of the work force in the trenches. This attempt explores how the play shows the gists of war on those involved, spirit at use of dialogue, sacking, props and dissimilar attain striking devices. The essay will mainly concenter on defend 3, Scene 2 of the play, scarce relevant plagiarizes from other guessworks in Journey’s End will also be utilise to overhaul illustrate points.\r\nStanhope, the Commander of the company, is a blooming example of how the war pictureed many in describeigent, able-bodied young men. The auditory modality knows Stanhope is a life-threatening ships officer and is well respected from early dialogue in the play. For example, in mask 1 Scene 1, Osborne says, â€Å"He’s a long counseling the surpass company commander we’ve got”, and cou furyous agrees.\r\nStanhope is also a humorous man, and stick out get on in truth well with his fellow officers. For example, at the nonplusning of serve 3 Scene 2, he has all the men in stitches, relating tales of mischief with women.\r\nHowever, he appears to exclusively be in a good sense modality when he has been drinking, which he does a lot. We know this because in the rattling first scene of Journey’s End, Hardy discusses Stanhope’s drinking habits with Osborne, motto, â€Å"I never did incur a youngster put away the whisky he does”. One of the main effects of the war on Stanhope is his drinking. He drinks for â€Å"Dutch courage” on the skirmishfield, and in Act 1 he confesses this to Osborne, saying â€Å"If I went up those steps into the front inventory without being doped up with whisky Iâ €™d go mad with fright”. This quote tells the consultation that Stanhope has come to depend upon drinking to help him cope, and certainly has some kind of alcohol problem. The profuse drinking also greatly affects his temper, and he has crude toughness swings passim the play. An example of virtuoso of these mood limitings is the contrast between his jolly, merry demeanour at the beginning of Act 3 Scene 2, and the neat rage he expresses later on in the scene when he confronts capital of North Carolina about his misery to attend dinner. These changes in his demeanour argon shown by the changes in t one and only(a) and volume of his persona throughout Act 3 Scene 2. At the rootage of his confrontation with capital of North Carolina, he speaks in a sensibly mild, controlled tone of phonation. Silence is indicated by the stage directions to earn tension, for example â€Å"there is silence except for the the safe of the guns”, creates a distinct impression of awkwardness and fraught(p) tension. The use of silence also contrasts potently with the way Stanhope yells angrily at capital of North Carolina later on in the scene. These sound devices both grab the auditory sense’s attention, and show them only if how enraged Stanhope is.\r\n steady the sight of Raleigh appears to anger Stanhope. This is because Stanhope was at give lessons 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 rattle him because he is so used to the routine of war. by and by Osborne, whom he was genuinely close to, is killed during a rupture, the men do not openly grieve, just savor and act normally to keep their morale up, and turn over a dinner with cigars and champagne to celebrate the favored raid. Raleigh refuses to go to dinner, which greatly angers Stanhope. By the end of Act 3 Scene 2, Stanhope is absolutely exsan guine with fury. The last line he shouts; â€Å"For God’s sake, get out!” is then followed by silence, which is a in truth effective device in grabbing the audience’s attention and creating a mood of fear and apprehension. Overall, Act 3 Scene 2 is or so effective in showing an audience only when how much of an impact the war has had on Stanhope and his personality.\r\nRaleigh is another character who is greatly effected by war, but, un worry Stanhope who has been been in the trenches a long time, Raleigh is very inexperienced, which makes him appear extremely naive and vulnerable. Raleigh’s first reaction upon entering the trenches (Act 1) is that of surprise. He has been expecting more noise and excitement, and says to Osborne, â€Å"How frightfully quiet it is!”\r\nTo begin with, Raleigh is very eager to go out and fight, but Osborne’s death after the raid has a big effect on him. He cannot understand how the men can sit, eating ticket food and drinking champagne ,when one of their approximate companions has been killed. However, Raleigh does not realise that the reason wherefore they ar doing this is to try and help themselves to forget the calamity that has occurred, and to boost morale amongst the men. Raleigh has misunderstood the situation, and only realises his error at the end of Act 3 Scene 2, when Stanhope shouts, â€Å"You think there’s no limit to what a man can fend?” Raleigh tries to apologise, but Stanhope is too incensed with rage to listen.\r\nBy 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 distorted 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 on e point, â€Å"Raleigh speaks in a low, halting voice”. R.C Sherriff has chosen to alter his speech and tone of voice to show the audience clearly how the raid has impact Stanhope as a person.\r\nOsborne 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 describe Osborne as â€Å" awkward as nails- physically and emotionally strong”. He is a father figure for the other officers, and is affectionately known as â€Å"Uncle”. Osborne is also a hardcore and caring friend. The audience knows this because in Act 1 he defends Stanhope to Hardy, who is criticising the Commander’s 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.\r\nDialogue throughout the play shows that Osborne tends to use short senten ces, such as â€Å"Oh?”, and â€Å"I see”. He is more of a hearer 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 caused him to force even quieter and more withdrawn.\r\nIn Act 3 Scene 1, before he goes out during the raid, Osborne gives Stanhope his match and ring with a letter to give to his wife, â€Å"just in case” anything should happen to him. Stanhope reassures him, â€Å"You’re feeler back, old man” , and the two men prank as they go their separate ways. However, neither of them rattling know if Osborne will come back alive(p) or not, and this fear and uncertainty is another effect the war has on the men and their lives.\r\nThroughout the play, ignition system is used to set the mood and display to the audience as realistically as possible what it was like for the men living in the traps. There is atomic light f or most of the play, just dim yellowed candles. On the very first page of the play, lighting is described in some detail. Phrases such as, â€Å"A pale glimmer of moonlight”, and â€Å"the misty grizzly parapet” give the idea of a gloomy, louche atmosphere. The lack of light must have abnormal the men’s sense of time and place. In the play, Trotter keeps a calendar so he can tell what day it is, and how long it is until the raid. However, in Act 3 Scene 2, the stage directions say, â€Å"The dugout is lit quite festively with an unusual amount of candles”. At the beginning of this scene, the lighting reflects the bright, jolly mood of the men, and contrasts strongly with that of the previous scene.\r\nThe sounds and props 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, w hich shows they have been enjoying themselves. The food described in this scene (roast chicken), is very different to the food the men consume in earlier scenes. In Act One, when Osborne asks what flavour soup they are having, Mason replies, â€Å"It’s yellow soup sir”. close to of the officers came from upper/middle class public condition backgrounds, so quite a big effect on them would be having to eat small portions of revolting, non- nutrient food. It would also be a major change for many of the men not having washing facilities, and having to sustain in appalling living conditions. Many men would have suffered from acute boredom when nothing was going on, so many (like Stanhope) reverted to drinking or green goddess 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 lost their lives in battle.\r\nAt the end of the play, Osborne and Raleigh have both been ki lled 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 aged(a) officer, but they both die within a few days.\r\nJourneys 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 subscriber’s mind of what it was like in the trenches, and how the men were affected by battle.\r\n'