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

The Pressures of War in Journeys EndThe beginning(a) World War provoked numerous different reactions in the people affected by it, particularly the soldiers, which Sherriff inferks toexplore in Journeys End. He uses Hibbert to show the way in whichsome soldiers reacted, but which was frowned upon by all others, andthen presents the antagonist view of Stanhope, who, despite being thestereotypical perfect soldier, still has his moments of fear andself-doubt.Clearly, both the officers and the men involved in World War I livedin conditions of singular hardship. The men refer to the poorfood, the rough sleeping conditions and the rats, of which there areab verboten two million, according to Hardy. There 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 growl of guns and heavyartillery, although it is the 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, are brazen and dutiful, but their methods of coping with the challenge ofwarfare vary according to their temperaments. The play opens with aconversation 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 therelatively serious matter of the bombing which they are under.OSBORNE Do much damage? portly Awful. A dug-out got blown up and came down in the mens 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 adjective that was rather stronger than annoyed tode scribe the mens reaction to the fact that they were being bombed.Osborne tries to put things in perspective and see the beauty insituations to cope with the pressure he is under. He tells Raleigh toalways think of it like that, if you can. Think 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 traditional andtypical English values, which can be summed up in the phrasestiff-upper-lip. He maintains an apparent steady clam in the face of