Discuss The Changes In The Character Of Bamforth In The Play 'The Long, The Short and The tall', by Willis Hall

Discuss The Changes In The Character Of Bamforth In The Play

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.

The impression one gets of Bamforth from the first few pages of the play is that of confidence, almost arrogance. He does not like taking orders and has no respect for his superiors. His replies are often sarcastic and he always has to get the last word in. An early example of this is:-

BAMFORTH: "Nit!"

JOHNSTONE: "What was that?"

BAMFORTH: "Me, I only coughed."

This shows Bamforth trying to get the last word in and insult his superiors. It also shows Bamforth is often abusive, especially towards anyone in a position of authority.

Bamforth also appears to be very arrogant about being from London. He mentions how tough London is several times during the play:-

BAMFORTH: "You ever want to see a bloke carved up? Proper? So his missus thinks he's someone else? You send for the London Boys."

This shows Bamforth saying that people from London are the best fighters. Bamforth likes to talk about fighting, as is shown here. As the story develops, this aggressiveness and hostility becomes more obvious in his character. This is an example of this:-

BAMFORTH: "Come on then, you Welsh Taff! Stick me one on!"

This quote shows Bamforth constantly trying to fight and constantly trying to prove how tough he is to other members of the patrol. He is willing to challenge anyone in the group and he often does. He has a fight with Evans, MacLeish, Johnstone and Mitchem in different parts of the play.

He is the most argumentative member of the patrol and is always looking for reasons to begin arguing with somebody. An example of this is the section in which Bamforth and Evans are talking about Evans' girlfriend. For everything Evans says, Bamforth finds a way to wind him up and aggravate him:-

EVANS: "Mine's all right, boy. Don't you worry about that."

BAMFORTH: "You mean you hope she is. You're a bloody optimist. She's probably up the mountains right this minute with a great big Yank."

This show Bamforth trying to upset Evans and make him think his girlfriend is cheating on him. Bamforth is always trying to continue the argument and annoy everyone else.

At the start of the story, Bamforth is only nice to the other members of the patrol when he wants something. An example of this is:-

BAMFORTH: "One of them…Very crafty boys, these Taffs. You've got to hand it to them."

EVANS: "Go on, man!"

BAMFORTH: "Straight up. It's straight up, son. Got any fags have you, Taff?"

Bamforth here is being nice to Evans, but Evans knows him too well and asks him what he wants. He appears to want some cigarettes. This shows other members of the patrol are catching on to what Bamforth is like.

Bamforth likes to bully other members of the patrol, especially Private Whitaker. He has demeaning nicknames for everyone in the patrol. He calls them things like "Scotch Haggis" and "Taff". He calls Whitaker "Old flower of the east."

He makes fun of almost everything Whitaker tries to do, for example:-

BAMFORTH: "We're fifteen miles from base. He's not Marconi. This boy couldn't get the home service in his sitting room."

BAMFORTH: "Fifteen miles from base! A doolally battery and ten-thumbed Whitaker i/c! What you want? A screaming miracle?"

These quotes show Bamforth likes to pick on Whitaker especially. He likes to make fun of him because he is weak and not very good at what he does. In addition, Whitaker never fights back.

In fact, Bamforth ridicules everyone in the group. This results in him being an outsider. Everyone else in the group seems to get on fairly well, but Bamforth is always arguing with the others and not getting on with them. The others members of the group are quite happy to talk about their lives and their families to each other, but not to Bamforth. They are afraid he will ridicule them, or that he just will not take them seriously. He will not care.

Bamforth, however, is also an entertainer. He is the only member of the patrol who tells jokes, tries to make people laugh, and generally entertain. At one point, he starts singing a song:-

BAMFORTH: "My husband's a corporal, a corporal, a corporal…Singing Hey-jig-a-jig, cook a little pig, follow the band. Follow the band all the way."

This song makes fun of MacLeish and is designed to entertain the rest of the group. It is clearly entertaining Evans, as he joins in.

When they are reading the magazine, Bamforth makes up entertaining, witty replies to the letters:-

BAMFORTH: "Dear Mrs. Taffy…You ...

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Bamforth, however, is also an entertainer. He is the only member of the patrol who tells jokes, tries to make people laugh, and generally entertain. At one point, he starts singing a song:-

BAMFORTH: "My husband's a corporal, a corporal, a corporal…Singing Hey-jig-a-jig, cook a little pig, follow the band. Follow the band all the way."

This song makes fun of MacLeish and is designed to entertain the rest of the group. It is clearly entertaining Evans, as he joins in.

When they are reading the magazine, Bamforth makes up entertaining, witty replies to the letters:-

BAMFORTH: "Dear Mrs. Taffy…You should belt him one and marry a private."

This quote also shows Bamforth entertaining the rest of the patrol. He thinks up a witty reply and acts it out so convincingly Evans is almost fooled, even though the reply is much too ridiculous to appear in a magazine. This shows the Bamforth is intelligent and quick-witted.

Bamforth is not very enthusiastic about being in the army. He thinks that the war is pointless and Bamforth does not agree with what he is fighting for. As Mitchem says:-

MITCHEM: "It's crossed my mind, that you don't like the army."

This quote shows that even Bamforth's superiors have noticed that Bamforth does not want to be there, possibly because, as we know, he is often vocal about his opinions.

Bamforth does not want to be a hero or risk death trying. When asked where he will be when the Japanese come, he says:-

BAMFORTH: "Not here, that's certain. I wasn't meant to be a hero."

BAMFORTH: "I'll tell you where I'll be, boy. Scarpering."

This quote shows Bamforth saying that if the Japanese come, Bamforth would run away rather than fight them. He seems to think that he is better than fighting for the army and obeying its orders and rules.

Another thing that shows Bamforth's intelligence is his ability to learn and be able to use rules of the army at every opportunity. Mitchem describes Bamforth as

MITCHEM: "The barrack-room lawyer…You can quote King's Regs from now until the middle of next week. Up to every dodge and skive in the book."

Mitchem is saying here that Bamforth uses all the rules to defend himself against others and to try to gain advantage over them. At one point, Bamforth tries to tempt MacLeish into having a fight with him. However, Smith realizes what Bamforth is doing and says:-

SMITH: "You put a finger on him now and he'll come King's Regs on you so fast your feet won't touch the ground."

Smith has already judged Bamforth's character and realizes he will be able to use the army regulations against MacLeish if he punches him. Bamforth knows the rules and knows MacLeish does. He may just be talking big.

Bamforth dislikes anyone who wants to do well in the army. He often insults MacLeish because he has been promoted to Lance Corporal. This could be because he resents someone who he thinks is weaker than him having authority over him (a Scotsman) or because he view officers as the enemy and he thinks MacLeish has sold out. Bamforth says:-

BAMFORTH: "Sew a bit of tape on their arm and all at once they talk like someone else."

BAMFORTH: "You chasing your second stripe already?"

BAMFORTH: "All corps are bastards, we all know that."

These quotes show the Bamforth dislikes all those with authority over him, trying to do their job. He does not understand the purposes of hierarchy and insults MacLeish because he likes neither the army nor someone giving him orders.

Bamforth does not care about anyone else but himself. We know this because he is often malicious in his teasing and does not care about what may upset other people, and what is going beyond the limits of humour:-

BAMFORTH: "Private Whitaker, making peace with the armies of the rising sun - and the invading army of the Rising Sun is carving pieces out of Private Whitaker."

WHITAKER: "Pack it in, Bamforth."

BAMFORTH: "What's the matter, Whitto? Getting windy?"

Bamforth does not mind upsetting people to get his teasing and his jokes in, as this quote shows, especially when it involves Whitaker. Another thing that shows Bamforth's selfishness is his lack of patriotism, and his unwillingness to fight against the Japanese and do the right thing. He does not care how other people are being treated in the war, as long as he is OK. This may be because he wants to maintain his hard man, tough guy image.

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."

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 may be funny and entertaining at times, but only in small doses. 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:-

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

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).

Later in the story, 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 the prisoner's wife and children. He realizes that the prisoner is not what he first seemed. Bamforth begins to see that the enemy actually has feelings too. He finds out that the prisoner has children and compares him to Smith. Bamforth starts to change his thinking about the prisoner and the Japanese when he finds out that the prisoner is human. He is just like everybody Bamforth knows. It is easy for Bamforth to hate what is different and what he does not understand, but when he finds out that the prisoner is not different and he begins to understand him, he begins to like the prisoner. Bamforth says:-

BAMFORTH: "He's almost human this one is!"

This quote shows Bamforth acknowledging that the prisoner is not actually as bad as he previously thought, and that if the cards had been dealt differently, they might have been friends.

Bamforth starts to be friendly towards the prisoner. He gives the prisoner a cigarette, which Johnstone snatches away, initialising a conflict.

We begin to wonder whether giving the prisoner a cigarette was a friendly gesture, or one designed to wind up Johnstone. He may actually like the prisoner, or he may be using him as a tool to cause more hostility.

Later in the play, Bamforth leaves the hut for a while. While he is outside, Johnstone notices that the prisoner has some British cigarettes. Bamforth re-enters, as they are about to assault or even kill the prisoner. He is immediately surprised at the anger towards his new friend:-

BAMFORTH: "What's up? What's he done to ask for that?"

When Bamforth first met the prisoner, he wanted to kill him. Suddenly, Bamforth is defending him.

Bamforth claims that he gave the prisoner the cigarettes that are causing the argument. We do not know whether he really gave the prisoner the cigarettes, or if he is lying to save his new friend, and so that he can insult MacLeish, Whitaker and the other soldiers and cause more arguments. In addition, if he did give the prisoner the cigarettes, did he give them to the prisoner as a friendly or gesture, or did he do it to deliberately disobey Johnstone, and his orders.

This part of the play shows significant change on Bamforth's part. At the start of the play, he disliked the Japanese and cared only for himself. If others were in trouble, that was there fault and did not concern him. He tried to look tough by not caring. Now, for the first time we see a more emotional side to Bamforth. He is angry and upset at what the others have done to 'Tojo boy'

BAMFORTH: "You had to rip his pictures up. You couldn't even leave him them."

This quote shows him angry at the fact that the prisoner's pictures have been ripped up. For once, Bamforth is sticking up for somebody else. Does he really like the prisoner, though, or is he just using him to have a go at people.

When the others think that the prisoner was looting, and stole the cigarette case, Bamforth still defends the prisoner. He then uses this to attack Whitaker again:-

BAMFORTH: "The terror of the Newcastle Church Army Hostel: Private Winnie Whitaker."

This quote is part of Bamforth constantly bullying Whitaker, because of some stolen goods he owned. This starts to make us believe that Bamforth may be using the prisoner to attack and embarrass Whitaker, and that he may not like the prisoner as a person all that much.

If Bamforth does actually like the prisoner, why does he like him above everybody else? Every other member of the patrol is human, and have girlfriends and a family, so why is the prisoner different. He is the only person who does not get annoyed with Bamforth. Everyone else tells him to shut up, or fights back, becoming involved in an argument with him. The prisoner cannot fight back. Perhaps this is why Bamforth likes him.

Every argument Bamforth is involved in during Act Two involves the prisoner in some way. The next conflict is over Mitchem's decision to give the prisoner no more water. Bamforth offers to give up some of his water to help the prisoner, which may have been essential for his survival, to help the Japanese prisoner. This is obviously a friendly gesture towards the prisoner. He says:-

BAMFORTH: "He gets half of mine."

Bamforth is willing to give up half of his water for the prisoner, which may have ended up killing, Bamforth. This once again shows a human side to Bamforth we did not see earlier in the play.

Then Mitchem announces that the prisoner will have to die. Ironically, Bamforth is the only person who sticks up for him. Everyone else is apathetical.

This shows a dramatic change in Bamforth's character, and in his attitude towards the prisoner. At first, he was willing to kill the prisoner. At first, he was willing to kill the prisoner. Now Bamforth realizes that the prisoner is not so bad after all. Bamforth says in the prisoner's defence:-

BAMFORTH: "He's a man!"

This shows us that the prisoner has gone from being nothing more than a pig at an abattoir to a man. Bamforth's attitude to the prisoner and the Japanese has obviously changed.

However, other parts of Bamforth have not changed. He still uses the same aggressive, undiplomatic, argumentative techniques to try to convince people of his point of view:-

BAMFORTH: "Jock! Jock! MacLeish! I hope they carve your brother up. Get that! I hope they carve your bloody brother up."

Here Bamforth tries to bully MacLeish into supporting him and it does not work. This is where being mean to everyone earlier in the play comes back to haunt him. He is an outsider. No one is helping him, so he acts aggressively.

Even though he is clearly doing something noble, we have to wonder whether Bamforth has developed a conscience, and is defending the prisoner because he thinks it is the right thing to do, or if he is doing it to challenge the authority of Mitchem and to be able to get at the other members of the patrol. Does he want to start another argument and a fight?:-

MITCHEM: "Get to one side. That's an order."

BAMFORTH: "Stick it."

This shows him arguing again, challenging Mitchem's authority. Eventually there is a fight and the prisoner is shot. This allows Bamforth to get at Private Whitaker once again:-

BAMFORTH: "You've got the biggest souvenir of them all. You've done it this time Whitaker. Take that and hang it on the front room wall."

Again, here, Bamforth is trying to get at Whitaker. This is his last action in the play. It shows another part of Bamforth that has not changed. He still likes to get at Whitaker.

Although Bamforth did appear to like the Japanese prisoner, was it as a friend or as someone without a voice. Somebody whom Bamforth could use to argue about? Somebody Bamforth could use as a tool to get at people? His views of him obviously change to some extent, and he reveals to us a part of his personality we have not seen before, a caring part.

In conclusion, at the beginning of the play Bamforth is an arrogant, aggressive character, that only cares about himself. He dislikes everything that is different. Welsh people, Scottish people and the Japanese. He is deeply cynical about the army and he challenges its authority at every opportunity.

When he first meets the Japanese prisoner, he is the only private willing to kill the prisoner and he treats the prisoner like a circus animal. After he sees the prisoner's photos, he realizes that the prisoner is a human. After that, Bamforth is friendly towards the prisoner. Bamforth shares his cigarettes with him and offers him food and water. By the end of the play, Bamforth is the only member of the patrol willing to defend the prisoner's life.

This shows dramatic change in Bamforth from the start of the play. He sticks up for somebody else, somebody who he does not know. His attitude to the Japanese has changed entirely. He has become a friend to one, and is being nice to him.

However, Bamforth does not totally change. His attitude towards the prisoner changes, but his general character does not. Right at the very end of the play, he is still insulting Whitaker, rather then trying to help everyone escape from the Japanese. Instead of using reason and convincing speeches, which he may be capable of, to try and stop people killing the prisoner, he is rude and aggressive, just like he is at the start of the play. He still does not have any friends inside the group and he still challenges authority. This disrespect is clear near the end of Act Two, where Bamforth has a scuffle with Mitchem over the prisoner.

Overall, Bamforth has changed in some ways, but in others, he remains exactly the same Bamforth as he was at the beginning.