How does the presence of the Japanese soldier threaten the unity of Sergeant Mitchem's men?

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Miles Kershaw

English Coursework Essay -

How does the presence of the Japanese soldier threaten the unity of Sergeant Mitchem’s men?

The play is set in the Malayan Jungle during the Japanese advance on Singapore in 1942. Seven British soldiers have different power due to the ranking hierarchy and they have different attitudes to one another. Sergeant Mitchem is the leader of the soldiers. He is a responsible and good leader which is evident due to him stopping many quarrels among his men and making decisions. For example, when Corporal Johnston and Private Bamforth are having an argument, Mitchem stops the argument by saying ‘Right. Pack it in. Both of you’. Next we have Corporal Johnstone, who is second in power to Sergeant Mitchem.  It is obvious that Johnstone does not have the respect that Mitchem has. This is because Bamforth has many arguments with him and does not follow his orders efficiently. One example of a quarrel between the two is when Johnstone tells Bamforth to ‘Get your pack on!’ Bamforth then responds saying ‘you going to inspect us, corp.?’ The next highest in the hierarchy is L/Corporal Macleish. He is a Scotsman and has regular arguments with Bamforth. In one argument Bamforth called Macleish a ‘Scotch Haggis’. Macleish responds telling Bamforth to ‘Watch your mouth’. However this only encourages Bamforth to continue by saying ‘Aw, come off it, son. Where I come from it’s just a name’. Then we have the four Privates. Private Whitaker operates the radio and is very shy. However, at the near end of the play Whitaker shoots the Japanese soldier because he advanced on him. Private Evans is a Welshman and is just as pathetic as Whitaker. When Corporal Johnstone tells him to kill the prisoner as soon as he is captured using the bayonet of the gun, Evans steps back and says ‘I…..I can’t do it, Corp’. Private Bamforth is the rebel of the group of soldiers. He is cowardly about war and racist about the enemy. For example, he calls the enemy ‘the invading army of the rising sun’. He is disrespectful and rude to some of the other soldiers in the play, even soldiers of a higher rank than him. He calls Corporal Johnstone a ‘nit’ and a ‘Welsh Burk’, he calls Macleish a ‘Scotch Haggis’ and he calls Evans a ‘Taff’. Bamforth’s attitudes to war are cowardly, he tells the patrol that if a war started near them he would be 'off like a whippet' and he tells them that he would ‘get in a wog rowing boat’. Bamforth tries to demoralize the troops and an example of this is when he tells Evans that his girlfriend is probably up in the mountains with a big yank. He sings near the start of the play with lyrics that sum up his rebellious attitude and his sense of humour. Finally we have Private Smith, a minor part in the play but also an important one whose lines give us a summary of what is happening in the play. He attempts to break up arguments with Bamforth and other soldiers but they ignore him due to his low rank. Bamforth enjoys bullying people who can not stick up for themselves such as Private Whitaker. Thus, before the Japanese soldier is captured, we have a rather bad impression of Private Bamforth.

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When Bamforth spotted the Japanese soldier he says ‘He’s lighting up a fag. Well, the crafty old Nip’. This shows that Bamforth had a pre-determined attitude to any Japanese soldier which is why he used a racist word to describe him. When the Japanese soldier is captured, after Smith refuses to kill him with his bayonet, Bamforth offered to kill him himself by saying ‘Here. Give me a hold. It’s only the same as carving up a pig. Hold him still’. Johnstone also has a bad initial reaction of the Japanese soldier ‘I’ve had enough of him – he ...

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