“D’you understand an order? Give me that letter.”
It is through the character of Stanhope that we see the vulnerability of soldiers in any war. To try and live through each day Stanhope drinks and he hates himself for having to depend upon alcohol to do so. Sheriff shows the true nature of the stress of the war upon the soldiers in many ways with Stanhope. It was a tragic path for many soldiers who went to the war expecting glory and honour, only to find death and destruction.
Even though many of the officers were as valiant and brave as Stanhope, men also feared war. The character which demonstrates this fear is Hibbert. He keeps on complaining that he has ‘neuralgia’ and that it is affecting the simple everyday tasks a man in the war had to do.
“I don’t think I can manage any supper tonight Stanhope. It’s this beastly neuralgia.”
He attempts to try and go home but Stanhope stops him. All along in the story Stanhope has known that Hibbert is trying to get home and he doesn’t do anything about it
. “Another little worm trying to wriggle home.”
Hibbert’s fear and cowardice is met head on by Stanhope when he prevents Hibbert from leaving for the hospital.
“You won’t let me go to hospital. I swear I’ll never go into those trenches again.”
Their confrontation reveals some truths about the way the two soldiers feel about the war. Stanhope reassures Hibbert by offering his own fears as a parallel to what Hibbert is anxious about.
Hibbert: How can you know?
Stanhope: Because I feel the same - exactly the same!
Hibbert is a character which stresses the fear which was inside every single soldier in the war. His fear of the unknown and death was what kept from being a man like Stanhope. Sheriff conveys the suffering of the soldiers in Hibbert’s character by displaying the fear that each man felt in the war.
Osborne is the character that shows the soldier and the man. He is ‘the uncle figure’ and has a very strong relationship with Stanhope. It is in Osborne that Stanhope confides all his anxieties.
Stanhope: 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.
Osborne: You ought to be glad. He’s a good-looking youngster. I like him.
Osborne also has understanding of many situations. One example is when Raleigh arrives in the dug-out. He is nervous, and Osborne can tell that he needs some reassuring so he tells him where to put his things and tries to make Raleigh feel more comfortable.
“Good. We’ve been expecting you. Sit down, won’t you.”
Another example is when Osborne has to leave before the raid to the German Frontline. He knows that the raid is useless and he realises that he is going to die. Even so he remains cheery until it is time to go. He trusts Stanhope to send his few possessions to his wife; with this we see that Osborne is a committed and dedicated soldier.
“If anything should happen, would you send these along to my wife.”
Osborne is the character which has all the makings of a perfect soldier. He is committed, strong-minded, fearless and kind. Osborne knows many things outside the war and culturally richly educated. Sheriff conveys the suffering of Osborne in a very profound way. Raleigh who has just arrived to war and has everything to look forward to is doomed to die almost immediately. Whereas Osborne has been in the company for a long time and is probably the richest character out of the company.
Sheriff shows that a man who has survived the war for a long time with luck contrasts with another man who has just arrived and is fated to die very soon. This is true in the case of Osborne and Raleigh, but in the end death is all that waits for them at the end of the war.
“How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale?
How cheerfully he seems to grin
And neatly spread his claws,
And welcome little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!”
In this verse alone the whole point of the war which Sheriff set Journey’s End in is explained. Firstly, this verse describes a world in which nonsense makes sense. The battlefront is without logic, as is the crocodile with his golden scales and waters of the Nile. Anything can be done on the front; it doesn’t need reason or explanation but just an objective to be achieved. This ties in very well with Journey’s End because it shows how the men need not reason to fight with the Germans; it just makes sense do so.
The characters in this verse represent the Germans and British in this war; the crocodile being the Germans and the fishes being the British. As the fish swim into the jaws of the crocodile this is prophetic of what will happen to the British during the raid and also of the end result of the big attack.
This is also a form of escapism for Osborne. Throughout the play Osborne always seems to be looking at a book, it takes his mind of the war and shows the outcome of what is about to come for Stanhope’s company.
Lighting and sound play a significant part in the moods of this play. There is a constant supply of candlelight which at times can represent sadness and death. Sound is the way in which the guns speak to us as the audience. It conveys the strength of the artillery and shows what will happen for that particular period of time.
Candles are a constant factor throughout Journey’s End. They represent the ambience of any particular section.
The flames of candles that burn day and night are steady in the still, damp air.
Here candles represent a grave. It is so still in the dugout that even the candle flames aren’t moving. Nothing is here to disturb the flames, and they show emptiness and loss of life. Another example of candles used to represent a particular mood is right at the end of the play, when Raleigh is dead.
The solitary candle flame draws up lines on the pale dark flame….
Here the candle flame is alone. Raleigh is dead and alone, and the candle flame is pale just like him.
The faint rosy glow of dawn is deepening to an angry red
Here the lights are like blood. They represent the vast amount of blood that has been spilt during this conflict and also represents the blood that Raleigh has spilt too.
The shock stabs the candle flame ……….
As quickly Raleigh arrived, it as quickly that he passed away. The candle light is stabbed and Raleigh lies dead surrounded by rubble. As the light went out the whole dug out collapses on Raleigh’s lifeless body. He remains here, and this is one of the most powerful images in the book. Light is one of the major factors to contributing to dramatic impact.
Sound also has a major role in the symbolic representation shown in Journey’s End.
Through the night there is the impatient grumble of gunfire that never dies away.
Symbolically this represents the big attack. The constant grumble of gunfire means that the big attack is coming. The gunfire will soon get larger and louder.
There is no sound except the distant mutter of guns.
These sounds represent the impatience of the soldiers. As the soldiers are getting impatient waiting for the big attack, so are the guns. They can be heard continually.
Staging set and stage instructions all show how the characters move and how the stage should be set; realistically and symbolically they have a lot of significance.
The evening of a March day. A pale glimmer of moonlight shines down the narrow steps into one corner of the dug-out. Warm yellow candle-flames…..
The italics go on to describe more about the stage. Where papers would be kept, how the table would be set out. This is called a realistic set because the stage conveys reality in that time period. Nevertheless, there is air of contempt about the dug-out; and the italics describe Captain Hardy.
Captain Hardy , a red-faced , cheerful looking man is sitting on a box by the table, intently drying a sock over the candle-flame.
These italics show in detail how captain hardy is seated on the stage. He is drying his sock on top of a candle flame which is pointless, but he is still a cheery fellow. He is making an effort but there is no use of him doing so. In the perspective of a performer, the stage instructions describe how the character should move. For Hardy he would be sitting and humming; Osborne would enter and go over to the table. If there is a Pause in italics the performer would pause. Overall these beginning italics show how the stage should be set and it contrasts very much with what the stage will look like at the end of the play.
Sheriff shows the suffering of the men in various ways. This play creates the outline for any soldier fighting in any war. A little bit of each character is taken and a soldier is produced. Also Journey’s End shows you the true meaning of war and how precious life really is.
Simran Singh
10/02/04
