Discuss The Changes In The Character Bamforth

Authors Avatar

Discuss The Changes In The Character Bamforth

In the Malayan jungle in 1942 a british patrol is cut off from its base camp by the advancing Japanese. This hard hitting play explores what happpens when men have to confront the reality of war: can they kill another human being? It offers no easy answers but reveals the complex reactions of a group of ordinary soldiers under pressure.

The character of Bamforth in the play 'The Long, The Short and The tall, by Willis Hall is a complex one. It seems to undergo a series of changes as the story continues, especially when the patrol come across the Japanese prisoner.

At the start of the play, Bamforth obviously dislikes the Japanese. When the patrol first captures the Japanese prisoner, Bamforth is the only one (apart from Mitchem and Johnstone) who is willing to kill the prisoner. Bamforth says

BAMFORTH: "It's only the same as carving up a pig."

He would be ready, standing up  Bayonet in hand, feeling for the right spot to enter the bayonet into the prisoners body.

This quote shows that when he first meets the Japanese prisoner, he does not view him as a human with feelings. As he knows nothing about the man, he finds it easy to believe the propaganda he has heard about the Japanese. He thinks they are evil and would do the same thing to them.

The other members of the patrol seem quite patient with Bamforth at the start of the play. Eventually though, they lose their patience with him. By the end of the play, they view him as little more than a nuisance. They are constantly telling him to 'shut up' and 'pack it in'. By the end of the play, he has either had fights or nearly had fights with everyone in the group.

He is obviously a complex character, with lots of different sides to his personality. However, most of what we find out about Bamforth, before he meets the Japanese prisoner, is bad.

As the play progresses, we start to see a change in Bamforth's character. The Japanese prisoner ignites this apparent change in Bamforth.

When Bamforth first meets the prisoner, he treats him like a circus animal, and, as previously quoted, compares him to a pig. He likes to do 'flingers on blonce', and finds it funny the prisoner obeys him. He says:-

Join now!

BAMFORTH "Flingers on blonce. Dlop Flingers. Get that! He dlops them like a two-year-old!"

He would be really chuffed that the prisoner is taking orders from him, and he would be telling the other members of the patrol, he is quite happy with the authority.

This quotes shows Bamforth bullying the prisoner and telling him to put his hands on his head. Bamforth enjoys bullying people who can not stick up for themselves (i.e Whitaker).

Bamforth discovers the prisoner's wallet. This is the exact moment in which his attitude towards the prisoner begins to change. Bamforth finds a photo of ...

This is a preview of the whole essay