“How did you – get here?”
By this comment we can tell already that Stanhope is not very pleased that Raleigh is in his regiment. Soon after this, there is a silence meaning that it is not easy for the two to communicate with each other.
The conflict first arises during the conversation between Osborne and Stanhope. At this stage we get to know how Stanhope feels about Raleigh’s arrival. There are many sources of conflict, one of them being Raleigh’s hero worshipping. Raleigh’s hero worshipping puts Stanhope under pressure. We know this because Stanhope says:
“As long as the hero’s a hero.”
This tells us that Stanhope knows that he’s Raleigh’s hero and he thinks he has to keep on being Raleigh’s hero by acting dutiful. We also get to know that Stanhope is very annoyed and agitated that Raleigh has come to his regiment as he starts talking about the number of other divisions and battalions there are, he says:
“We’ll say fifty divisions. That’s hundred and fifty brigades – four hundred and fifty battalions. That’s one thousand eight hundred companies. There are one thousand eight hundred companies in France, Uncle. Raleigh might have been sent to any one of those, and, my God! He comes to mine.”
At this stage we get to know how angry Stanhope really is. During the conversation between Osborne and Stanhope, Stanhope tells Osborne that he is engaged to Raleigh’s sister. This is another source of conflict. Raleigh’s sister is called Madge and Stanhope thinks that Raleigh will write home to Madge and tell her about his drinking and how much he’s changed now. Stanhope says:
“You know he’ll write and tell her I reek of whisky all day.”
Stanhopes is scared that Raleigh will write home to Madge and tell her about him. Stanhope thinks very low of himself, he thinks that he’s a coward and so he has to be doped with whisky all the time to overcome the stress. Stanhope is not sure what to do, now but then he suddenly comes up with the idea of censorship. He says that he will censor all of Raleigh’s letters and cross out all the things mentioned about him and then Madge would carry on liking him.
A few days later, Raleigh enters the dug-out to hand in a letter to send to his family. Stanhope confronts him and tells him to leave the letter open because he has to censor all the letters. Raleigh politely replies:
“Oh, I – I didn’t realise that. I – I think – I’ll just leave it then.”
Raleigh then unbuttons his tunic pocket to put the letter away, when Stanhope suddenly shouts:
“Give me that letter.”
Raleigh seems to be a little taken back but continues to protest that he didn’t know and that it was private. This makes Stanhope even angrier and so suddenly Stanhope grabs Raleigh’s wrist and tears the letter from his hand. After the whole incidence Stanhope seems a bit taken back about what he’s just done. Eventually Osborne reads the letter out loudly, only to find all the praise Raleigh has given Stanhope and the other men and how happy he is to be in Stanhope’s company. The last line that Raleigh writes is speaking about Stanhope, and reads:
“I’m awfully proud to think he’s my friend.”
By this letter we are told that Raleigh is the complete opposite of what Stanhope thinks he is. Stanhope probably feels very saddened and ashamed of himself about everything he concluded about Raleigh and he perhaps wishes he hadn’t shouted at Raleigh and grabbed the letter out of his hand.
Both, Stanhope and Raleigh have very different attitudes to the war. Stanhope takes the war very seriously and stressing but this is understandable because he is such a good commander and he has been there for so long and Raleigh’s attitude to the war is much relaxed When Raleigh is told he is to go on the raid he is very pleased and happy that he was chosen and says:
“I say – it’s most frightfully exciting!”
This tells us that Raleigh is very keen and naïve and he still doesn’t know that going on raids is much more serious than he thinks.
During the raid very sadly, Osborne is killed. Raleigh is very taken back by this and can’t avoid it. After the raid, Raleigh sits on the edge of Osborne’s bed as he is told to do so by the colonel. Stanhope then says to Raleigh:
“Must you sit on Osborne’s bed?”
This is a bit harsh as the colonel had told Raleigh to sit there and also Raleigh must have been very tired after the raid but then again, Stanhope was probably so disturbed and saddened by Osborne’s death that he wasn’t thinking straight.
On the same day in the evening when there is a celebration dinner as the brigadier most likely felt sorry for sending their men on the raid, so they sent down some food as a treat. Raleigh doesn’t understand how everyone can celebrate after Osborne had died and he doesn’t realise it’s to forget about it. During the celebration Hibbert says to Stanhope that Raleigh said to him, he preferred being up with the men instead of down with them. After the celebration dinner, Stanhope asks Trotter about Raleigh and says to him:
“Doesn’t his repulsive little mind make you sick?”
This is a bit unfair because after all Raleigh hasn’t done much wrong and he just doesn’t understand that everyone is having a celebration dinner just to forget about Osborne’s death.
Later on in the night Stanhope consults Raleigh face to face about what he told Hibbert and why he didn’t come down for tea. Raleigh soon comes clean with Stanhope and asks him how they could eat when Osborne was dead. Stanhope gets very annoyed and angrily speaks with Raleigh and tells him it was to forget and he did care because Osborne was his best friend, and the only man he could trust.
The resolution of this play is a very good one and it is also very effective. In the play, it is understood that Stanhope seems to act in an unkind way to Raleigh but this is not the true Stanhope. His real nature is revealed in the final part of the play where we see that the two companions share the old friendship they once had again. At the end of the play when Raleigh is struck in the back, it makes him and Stanhope share there friendship once again and shows us how close the two of them are when Stanhope calls Raleigh Jimmy.
