Compare the ways Michael Herr in 'Dispatches' and Pat Barker in 'Regeneration' show the effect of war.

As a mainly fictional book about the effect of The First World War the characters in 'Regeneration' are not merely individuals but represent some of the millions who were affected by the war. The characters provide an insight into the minds of those who were really there. More strangely this is also true of 'Dispatches' as brief, unnamed characters are used to show the broader effects of the war. Herr provides the reader with a glimpse of a marine described as 'one of those soldiers' in an extreme state of exhaustion 'where no amount of sleep will ever give him the kind of rest he needs'. Referring to him as 'one of those soldiers' shows how commonly Herr saw men in a similarly exhausted state. One 'boy' symbolises the horror of Vietnam as upon realising that a shrapnel injury meant the end of his tour 'couldn't stop smiling' as 'tears ran down into his ears'. The sheer joy of this character is indicative of the attitude of many towards the war. However Vietnam also exhilarated many soldiers and correspondents. One marine believed that 'there was no place in the world as fine as Vietnam' and that he would return for a fourth tour 'as soon as he possibly could'.

Barker is less interested in presenting such a balanced view as in 'Regeneration' there is no reference to any enjoyment on the front. The characters desire to leave the war is consciously masked by a sense of duty and fear of being accused of cowardice. This is shown as Rivers sees that Prior is "ashamed" of "wanting to stay alive". The complexity of the characters in both books reflects the complexity of the conflicts and the reactions to them. The character of Rivers is the prime example of this as his views on the war and the significance of his own role fluctuates throughout the novel. Herr, despite his criticism of many war commanders, also presents the complexity of the people behind the orders. Colonel David Lownds is described as being 'deceptively complicated' as the entire Vietnam situation was. Lownds was criticised for being ignorant, 'distracted' and 'stupid'. But Herr points out that he was also courageous in battle and cautious with the lives of his men. Complicated characters help stop the reader developing an over-simplified image of the conflicts and their effect. Regeneration is a character-based novel as Barker shows the effect of the war solely through characters such as Prior, Burns and Willard. The patient characters are slowly developed and their experiences gradually revealed, Prior can't initially speak for example, to allow the effect of the war to be more clearly understood by the reader. During the novel a glimpse into the earlier lives of certain characters is revealed to allow the reader to empathise with the characters and see the degeneration that has occurred. For instance Burns is referred to as once being a 'cheerful and likable young man', now a 'prematurely aged man', 'a fossilized schoolboy'. Emphasising what the characters were once like more effectively shows the dramatic effect of the war. Herr also uses character to show how war has the power to change a person beyond recognition. One marine is said to have sent an enemy's ear to his girlfriend and 'could not understand why she had stopped writing to him'. This surreal story demonstrates how detached from reality and desensitised to death people can sometimes become to cope with war. In 'Dispatches' Herr's characters are fleeting but the reader does not feel detached from those involved because of the range of experience relayed. It is the common experience of all that Herr expertly conveys. Strongly defined characters in 'Regeneration' allowed Barker to personalise the effect of war and heighten the readers' emotive response. The relatively small number of characters allows the reader to focus on select individuals and understand the nuances of their condition. Because of this dialogue is extremely important in 'Regeneration' as it allows the characters to communicate with the reader, which is vital in such a character led novel.

In 'Regeneration' dialogue is the primary device used to introduce and develop the characters and to show the effect of the war. The character of Dr. Rivers has extensive conversations with all of the hospital characters and almost always in his professional role. However, much of these conversations consist of relaxed, personal dialogue such as when Prior says "You must be tired". These natural comments develop a realistic relationship between Rivers and the patients, which help the reader to more easily relate to both and prevent the novel from being overly concerned with psychological theories. The true effects of the war on characters such as Prior are almost always revealed during such conversations. For example, the extent of Prior's problem with nightmares is only truly shown when the character says, "I've actually woken up once or twice and wondered whether there was any point going on". The character of Prior also perfectly describes the feeling of alienation that was a common consequence of the war when he says "Yesterday, at the seaside, I felt as if I came from another planet". Herr uses dialogue in exactly the same way as a marine reveals "I just can't hack it back in the world". The fact that this information is spoken by the characters allows the reader to more easily understand and sympathise with their situation. Because Herr uses dialogue extensively and in such a pivotal way it is important that it is realistic. The characters are developed gradually through dialogue as their experiences are slowly revealed to the reader. The fact that Prior's "traumatic experience" (spoken by Rivers) is only articulated by Prior during hypnosis and following many previous conversations with Rivers illustrates this point. As a result characters have a strongly defined personality and therefore make a greater impact on the reader. Barker also tries to make the dialogue realistic through including typical mannerisms such as 'He glanced round quickly' and "Rivers dragged his hand down across his eyes". Justine Picardie wrote: 'what gives the novel its authenticity is Pat Barker's impressive ability to capture her characters' voices'. However I believe that Barker's use of italics in dialogue, although intended to have the opposite effect, at times damages the realism of the novel. There are examples where the technique successfully reflects the changing tone and emphasis used during speech such as when Prior says "I'm not blaming you" but Barker uses the technique so regularly that it hampers the reader's ability to create a natural and realistic mental impression of the dialogue. As a result I found the natural flow of the dialogue to be forced, which distracted me from the actual thoughts and emotions expressed. Unlike 'Regeneration' the autobiographical format of Michael Herr's book and the limited use of dialogue mean that almost absolute accuracy is assumed where the dialogue is concerned. Herr's memory and dramatic or political intentions are likely to have led to alterations in the dialogue but that has not reduced the realism in my opinion. This is partly because Herr includes swear words and writes phonetically where strong accents are involved as in "Boo-sheeit! I ain't never gettin' hit in Vietnam" (Mayhew-Marine). Colloquial language such as 'Grunts' and 'Dinks' is also used to add realism. Because the direct voice of marines in particular is not often heard in 'Dispatches' when Herr uses direct dialogue it is especially effective. As the book develops the reader feels Herr's admiration for the marines as tragic and heroic stories are recounted. The respect and amazement evoked by the Marines, which is the key consequence of many of Herr's experiences, is cemented by the use of dialogue to show the kindnesses that Herr received despite their hardships. This is epitomised when an unnamed marine, who'd previously been wounded, while being literally leaned on by Herr warned "Be careful, mister. Please be careful". This provides a personal story to add to the generalisations Herr had previously made and illustrates the brief personal bonds that could be formed between strangers, which is one of the positive effects of war. Dialogue is a key device used by both authors to develop characters and show the effect of war. Barker uses dialogue extensively and to great effect but without the very immediate impact of Herr's more sparing use of dialogue. Despite the difference in the emphasis placed on dialogue it seems that both authors realise its importance in personalising the effect on the characters. As a result the dialogue has enhanced the characters and the effect of war has been well communicated.

Herr adds to his distinct characterisation through the creation of highly visual settings. Herr's extensive use of imagery in his descriptions adds to the reader's involvement with the characters and Herr own war experience. The most striking description is that of Saigon as the city struggles to survive the war. Herr explains that 'sitting in Saigon was like sitting inside the folded petals of a poisonous flower'. The image of a folded flower makes Saigon seem safe and secluded, as it was compared with other regions, but the fact that it is poisonous reminds you of the dangers. Herr also uses the metaphor 'every action...fed back into town on a karmic wire' to explain that while based in the city there was still a connection to wherever the war is fought. Such imagery provides the reader with a sense of what Saigon was like and allows the reader to understand Herr's experience. Significantly, Herr uses imagery to show the literal effect on a soldiers' appearance, one marine has 'all of the youth sucked out of the eyes, the colour drawn from the skin, cold white lips'. The description generates the image of a ghostly, corpse-like figure, which shows his suffering and is symbolic of how close to death all soldiers were. Barker also uses shocking imagery to show the horrific effect of war. Barker's description reads, 'Burns on his knees...retching up the last ounce of bile...His body seemed to have become merely the skin-and-bone casing for his tormented alimentary canal'. This horrible image gives the reader a lasting and graphic picture of how a man can be reduced to almost nothing by war. It is one of the few very shocking images in the novel, which makes it very effective. To show the long-lasting effects of war both authors use imagery to present disturbing dreams. In 'Regeneration' Sassoon talks of dreams involving "Men with half their faces shot off, crawling across the floor", Herr describes a very similar dream that includes 'a field that was crowded with dead'. These images make it clear that the memories of war continue to haunt them and to show the psychological effect of the experience. Herr is conscious of the power of images in a war that is so horrific and so widely publicised. He describes marines relaxing on China Beach, 'playing like kids...asleep, half in the water and half in the sand'. But Herr forces the reader to re-evaluate this innocent image as he says 'you knew better, but they were Marines, and there was something terrible about seeing them there, limp in the wash of the tide'. This statement immediately turns the image into one of sadness and foreboding. The most important use of imagery in Regeneration is during Burns' breakdown in his hometown. During a storm Rivers searched for Burns, 'It was so wet, so cold, so evil-smelling, that he thought perhaps the tide had reached its height and was now falling. At first he could see nothing, but then the moon came out from behind a bank of cloud, and he saw Burns huddled against he moat wall'. Here Barker uses pathetic fallacy as the storm and the tide reflect the turbulent state of Burns' mind and the feeling of impending danger. The fact that Burns is 'huddled' against the wall shows his feelings of fear and complete helplessness. The repetition of the word 'so' create a steady rhythm that reflects the character's footsteps and the rain, which also helps build the tension before Burns is found. Barker uses imagery at select times to more vividly show the effect of the war on the characters. In contrast, Herr uses the technique more often to give the reader a truer impression of the Vietnam experience and fully realise its effect. Francis Bacon of the Washington Post believes Herr 'brought to this book the ear of a musician and the eye of a painter'. Although this response is slightly triumphant it does articulate the Herr's highly successful use of descriptive language. Because of the poetic language used by Herr 'Dispatches' sometimes feels like a novel. Both authors use descriptive language to evoke strong images and provide the reader with a graphic and layered sense of the situation as well as the feelings generated. This creates a fuller experience for the reader, almost incomprehensibly full in 'Dispatches'.

As I have shown, the two books use various techniques to varying degrees as the authors show the shocking effect of two equally shocking wars. Their success is reflected in the critical praise the books received. Catherine Pepinster in 'Time Out' magazine believes Pat Barker's novel is a 'vivid evocation of the agony of the First World War' and Robert Stone feels Dispatches 'may be the best journal about war, about any war, that any writer has ever accomplished'. It could be said that the books are equally effective in showing the effect of war but I believe that the significant differences mean that most readers will respond very differently to each book. This is because the two books provide very different reading experiences, which is due to the differences in setting and structure. 'Regeneration' is deliberately detached from the frontline of the war by the confined and perfectly safe space (Craiglockhart War Hospital) in which most of the book takes place. This is contrasted by the erratic nature of Vietnam warfare and the constant sense of unease and fear caused by Herr's narrative and almost random structure. The authors use the same techniques to convey the effect of war but tailor those techniques to suit the specific style and structure of their books, which leads to the decisive difference in the reading experience. I feel that 'Regeneration' is flawed in its presentation of the effect of war because, although interesting, concentrating solely on the psychological consequences is too restrictive. Importantly, 'Dispatches' presents the physical, emotional and psychological effect of living and fighting in Vietnam from a highly personal perspective. As an individual reader I found this compelling and believe Herr's overwhelming account brings the reader closer to understanding the true effect of war.

WORD COUNT: 3,500

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

'Dispatches': Michael Herr.

'Regeneration': Pat Barker.

www.amazon.com.

Page 1 of 9 David Whitehead