The Pressures of War in Journeys End :: R.C. Sherriff Journeys End War Essays

The Pressures of War in Journeys EndThe first gear human race War provoked many different reactions in the people stirred by it, particularly the soldiers, which Sherriff seeks toexplore in Journeys End. He uses Hibbert to fork out the way in whichsome soldiers reacted, but which was frowned upon by only others, and wherefore presents the opposite view of Stanhope, who, despite being thestereotypical perfect soldier, still has his mo handsts of idolize andself-doubt.Cl archeozoic, both the officers and the men involved in World War I livedin conditions of extraordinary hardship. The men refer to the poorfood, the rough dormancy conditions and the rats, of which on that point areabout two million, according to Hardy. on that point is also a torturousroutine of inspections, patrols, raids and duty in early hours of themorning. The men also have to cope with the ever-present shadow ofdeath. In the background, there is a constant rumble of guns and heavyartillery, although it is t he silence which affects the men more, asthey do not know what is happening - it is more of a threat than theguns.Most of the men, although Hibbert is the significant exception, arebrave and dutiful, but their methods of heading with the challenge ofwarfare vary according to their temperaments. The play opens with a intercourse between Hardy and Osborne, in which they seek to blockout the atrocities occurring all around them by concentrating onseemingly mundane, irrelevant things, such as earwig racing. Theextraordinary type of morbid humour which situations such as the FirstWorld War seem to provoke shows through whilst they are discussing thecomparatively serious matter of the bombing which they are under.OSBORNE Do much wrongfulness?HARDY Awful. A dug-out got blown up and came down in the mens room tea.They were frightfully annoyed.OSBORNE I know. Theres nothing worse than dirt in your tea.Clearly, there are many things worse than dirt in your tea, and onewould expect an adjec tive that was rather stronger than annoyed todescribe the mens reaction to the fact that they were being bombed.Osborne tries to correct things in perspective and see the beauty insituations to cope with the compel he is under. He tells Raleigh toalways think of it like that, if you can. have in mind of it all as - asromantic. It helps. Osborne epitomises a certain type of cultivatedmiddle-class reticence and self-possession. Like Stanhope and Raleigh,he attended private school, which taught him the conventional andtypical English values, which can be summed up in the stylestiff-upper-lip. He maintains an apparent steady clam in the face of