Within the conversation between the two men it becomes strikingly obvious that talk of casualties is non-existent. When the previous unexpected attack had taken place the mention of injuries was not brought up but "dirt in the men's tea" was a focal point. We can gather that deaths would only dampen the morale of soldiers so meaningless pieces of information are elaborated on.
"Do much damage?"
"A dug-out got blown up and came down
in the men's tea"
The main comparison between Hardy and Osborne is their attitude to their lifestyle within the bleak, somber and deprived dug-out. Osborne is facing the fact that this is going to be the closest thing to a home for him and therefore wants to know everything about it.
"Where do the men sleep?"
Hardy, however, is very dismissive and replies with,
"I don't know. The Sergeant-major sees to that"
This relaxed attitude also reflects in his organisation when Osborne asks about the trench stores and the log book. Not only is the piece of paper and the book tattered but his response to Osborne are,
"You are a fussy old man"
and
"God! You are a worker"
These imply Hardy's concealing his own incapability to arrange his belongings appropriately by showing sarcasm towards Osborne's competence. Hardy is alienating the audience because of his weariness. They would think him to be an uninterested soldier with a halfhearted approach to his job. Once again he differs from Osborne who is diligent and has a systematic way of thinking.
"Oh, Lord, no, I mustn't miss that! I'll make a
note in my diary."
This quote suggests Osborne's apprehension about the expected attack but also his ability to be stable and seem unaffected when knowing he may get killed I the upcoming assault.
Located in the dialogue between hardy and Osborne, Stanhope is introduced indirectly. Hardy's slander reveals many things about his personality yet Osborne's loyalty divulges others.
We primarily understand that he is a skillful soldier.
"He's a long way the best company commander
we've got."
Nevertheless, Hardy goes on to talk poorly of him
"…I never did see a
youngster put away the whisky he does"
Hardy's gossip proceeds and we comprehend that he finds Stanhope as a source of entertainment for him.
"It's pretty dull without something to liven
people up…Stanhope really is a sort of
freak."
This comment may shock the audience and make them realise that hardy is also a very shallow individual. These mixed opinions continue throughout the discussion and many characteristics of Stanhope become apparent to us. His experience and his knowledge are the chief qualities to his unique identity yet the prime down-fall is his heavy drinking.
Although we don't meet Stanhope immediately after the conversation we comprehend a reasoning behind it. Sherriff wants the reader/audience to build up the character from hardy and Osborne's beliefs and opinions. Whether we determine Stanhope to be the honorable, natural leader Osborne states he is, or the short tempered, bitter, alcoholic hardy expresses him to be, by introducing him later on in the play the spectators are curious as to what the true Stanhope is actually like.
The next character that we meet is Raleigh. He is raw, healthy, young and very well built. He is a new officer to the company, initially brought into the play in the next section of the drama. We are immediately told that he is about eighteen years old and therefore fresh to life at war and unaware of the destruction he is about to encounter and simultaneously induce.
Our first impressions of Raleigh is that he is good mannered and hence, well educated
"Good evening Sir"
he seems more energetic than any of the other officers and this is down to his eagerness at being in the trenches as he has never been at armed conflict before.
"I only left school at the end of last
summer term."
His youth makes him naﶥ and vulnerable
"It's-it's not exactly what I thought. It's just this-
this quiet that seems so funny."
Because of this the audience warm more to Raleigh's character. Raleigh is very keen and partial to imitating the actions of other officers, this is emphasised when Osborne offers him a glass of whisky
"You don't drink whisky?"
Raleigh replies with,
"Oh, yes-er-just a small one, sir"
We feel sympathy towards Raleigh as he is being badly influenced by Osborne. Raleigh is also extremely nervy, often rambling and self-correcting. This is clearly shown when Osborne makes a comment about knowing a Raleigh.
"Oh? He may be a relation. I don't know. I've got loads
of uncles and-and things like that."
This adds to Raleigh's innocence within the trench and amongst the officers.
Sherriff's purpose in using a character like Raleigh is to represent the youth as a society and not just Raleigh singularly. Sherriff wanted to convey the feelings and emotions felt by the young when they joined the army so we could compare them with the elder generation who have previously experienced the brutal horror of war. This enables the audience to witness the effect that the stress and fear of combat has on the men and the way in which they alter due to this.
We have formerly heard of Stanhope from the conversation between Hardy and Osborne at the beginning of the play in which different opinions about him are given. Raleigh and Osborne's conversation also reveals other features to his character. We notice that Raleigh regards Stanhope (or Dennis as he calls him) as a role model as he was very eager to get into the same battalion as him.
"I was frightfully keen to get
into Dennis's regiment."
However, Osborne merely warns him that Stanhope may not be the same person that he was a year ago.
"If you notice a-difference in Stanhope-you'll
know it's only the stain-"
In Raleigh and Osborne's discussion they describe the war as 'romantic'
"You must always think of it like that if you can.
Think of it all as-as romantic. It helps."
This is astonishing to us as an audience as we can not see how something so horrific can be described as romantic. This works effectively as it creates questions and gets the spectators further involved in the play.
In the next section of the drama we make our first encounter with Stanhope. We immediately recognise his involvement in his work
"You never saw the blasted mess those
fellows left the trenches in. Dug-outs smell like cess-
pits; rusty bombs; damp rifle grenades; it's perfectly
foul. Where are the servants?"
This proves what we previously heard about him being a responsible, natural leader however he also instantaneously requests a drink.
"Damn
the soup! Bring some whisky!"
although this doesn't suggest he is an alcoholic we can recognise that he delights in a beverage. Throughout the rest of this scene a more destructive side of Stanhope is shown. His initial attitude towards Raleigh is dismissive,
"How did you-get here?"
"I was told to report to your company, Stanhope."
"Oh. I see. Rather a coincidence"
he also goes on to yell at Mason, the Officer's cook, over something highly insignificant, missing pepper.
"Then I advise you never to leave it to anyone else
again-unless you want to rejoin your platoon out
there."
This implies that Stanhope is very short tempered and also quite bitter because of his reaction to the missed pepper packet. The audience are most likely to be estranged from Stanhope at this point but as the play proceeds a different side to Stanhope emerges.
Hibbert, another officer, has now appeared on the stage and is complaining about a pain in his eye,
"I don't think I can
manage any supper tonight, Stanhope. It's this
beastly neuralgia. . .the beastly pain gets worse every day"
Stanhope appears the sensitive commander and allows him to turn in for the night, adding a "Cheero" as he descends the tunnel. Despite this, once Hibbert is out of sight Stanhope makes a hypocritical remark to Osborne.
"Another little worm trying to wriggle home"
We can gather that Stanhope doesn't believe what Hibbert is saying and merely sees it as an excuse to hide his cowardliness. He thus uses words like 'funk', 'worm' and 'swine' to describe him. This shows that Stanhope believes in the honour of fighting. The hypocritical nature to Stanhope is introduced by Sherriff to make his character seem realistic. The negative issues forces the audience to confront the fact that Stanhope has an unpleasant side, on the other hand, misleading the soldiers is seen as part of his attachment to the men. He knows that if he undermines the men there is a potential risk of lowering morale and Stanhope doesn't want this as he is a man of very high standards. Osborne's response is a contrasting one to Stanhope's. He is the voice of reason and is more compassionate towards Hibbert's problem.
"You can't help feeling sorry for him. I think he's
tried hard."
Aswell as building up Stanhope's character, Sherriff is also developing Osborne's personality as the amiable and diplomatic character that he is.
The conversation now reveals some of stanhope's deeper concerns. The audience begin to comprehend his vulnerability as he is ashamed of what he has become and he doesn't want anyone to see it.
"She doesn't know that if I went
up those steps into the front line-without being
doped with whisky-I'd go mad with fright."
Stanhope is revealing that he is afraid and sympathy is thus created for him. Stanhope also divulges to Osborne that he was contemplating the decision to lie and say he was sick in order to go home, however he changed his decision and decided to face his fear and instead turn to the bottle.
"There was only two ways of breaking the strain.
One was pretending I was ill-and going home; the
other was this (He holds up his glass)"
The audience can compare him to Hibbert because of this and once again believe him to be a hypocrite.
By the end of the scene Stanhope is drunk. We see him as a sour and hostile man, yet talk with Osborne results in him getting emotional.
"You know, Uncle, I'm
an awful fool. I'm captain of this company. What's that
bloody little prig of a boy matter?"
It is normally not usual for men to get emotional so witnessing Stanhope like this creates compassion within the audience. The final image shows osborne tucking Stanhope into bed in a very paternal and father like figure. The audience may be disturbed by this as it shows a sense of insecurity within Stanhope. We realise that he keeps his feelings bottled up inside and this is destroying him mentally, underneath his tough exterior Stanhope is merely a little boy putting on a brave face. This tells the audience that not only is there an appalling human cost of lives lost but lives destroyed as a result of war.
In Act 2 we regard a dramatic change in attitude from Raleigh. When he first arrived in the trenches he was excited and anxious about starting up,
"By trench, an amazing trench-turning and twisting
for miles. . . "
however, now that he has spent a night on watch with Trotter he seems to be wishing he wasn't there anymore as he's realised that thinks aren't as he had expected. Raleigh has now realised that war isn't just about honour for your country but about dread, death and destruction. The stress of was is slowly beginning to worry Raleigh and Sherriff shows his discomfort by including him in most scenes with merely a lowered head and limited dialogue. His speech seems to consist of one word answers like "yes", "rather" and "cheero". The next significant event is when Osborne tells the story of the wounded soldier.
"But, when our men began dragging the wounded man
back over the rough ground, a big German officer
stood up in their trenches and called out: "Carry him!". . ."
This is important as it shows how futile the war was. It seems pointless that the Germans allowed the British to carry the 'one' wounded soldier when they were just going to kill/injure several more in a trench blast.
"Next day we blew each others trenches to blazes"
Raleigh shows his unease at this point by mentioning that he thought the war was "silly" and hurrying off to finish his letter. This leads on to a disagreement between Stanhope and Raleigh. We have previously witnessed Stanhope's hostility towards Raleigh and the culmination of this takes place in this scene. Standard requirements within the armed forces are that all letters should be censored in case anything has been mentioned about where they are situated and plans of attack. Previously Raleigh hadn't realised this and wishes to discard the letter rather than let Stanhope read it but his insolence forces Raleigh to give him the paper.
"D'you understand an order? Give me that letter!"
Raleigh becomes apprehensive when giving him the letter, stammering, "I haven't said anything about-where we are-" and after reading it Stanhope realises that nothing has been mentioned about their whereabouts but it merely praises Stanhope,
"he said that Dennis is the finest officer in the battalion, and
the men simply love him"
Stanhope's reaction to this is a lowered head and murmured words to show the audience he his ashamed about what he just did. We comprehend that Stanhope solely wanted to read the letter as he believed it mentioned negative things about him but with a felling of disbelief, Stanhope realised that it didn't.
Act 2, scene 2 shows events that create a strong sense of despair and fear from both the characters Stanhope and Hibbert. We witness Hibbert making an attempt to go home, however Stanhope reacts negatively and refuses to see one of his men give in to the stresses of war.
"Now look here, Hibbert. Once and for all, you're going
to stay here and see it through with the rest of us."
After a serious of clashes between the two characters Stanhope turns on Hibbert and holds a gun to his face.
"Go on, then, shoot! I swear I'll never go in those trenches again.
Shoot"
This reaction
At the beginning of Act three we learn that the commanding officers are very dismissive
". . I've done all I can but my reports go to
be at headquarters by seven this evening."
This quote, made by the colonel, implies that they are unconcerned about the safety of their men as long as their deadline is met. This attitude alienates the audience form the colonel as we can see that he has no compassion for the soldiers participating in the raid and risking their lives.
Sherriff follows the raid with the interrogation because it creates suspense within the scene. It also emphasise the lack of concern shown by the generals as they're merely interested in how many prisoners have been brought back rather than how many of their men have been killed or injured.
"How many?"
"Only one, hurt, sir?"
"No, it's alright"
This quote refers to the number of people captured and therefore we are unsure as to whether Raleigh and Osborne are still alive. Sherriff does this to make sure the German prisoners inquisition achieves maximum emotional impact within the audience members. A confirmation that Osborne was dead previously, would have resulted in the spectators distancing themselves from the German prisoner as it was his 'men' that would have killed Osborne.
Seeing the German prisoner has an emotional/shocking effect on the audience because he is part if the enemy who the British despised and he is pleading for his life
"mercy-mister-mercy"
We are sympathetic towards the German boy because we realise that he is victim to the same indoctrination as the British and as we know, it isn't pleasant. He is fearing for his life just as the British fear for theirs and we begin to realise that none of the soldiers actually want to be at war.
The emptying out of the pockets is also significant as it clearly shows the prisoners youth and juvenile ways.
"bit o string, sir, little box o fruit
drops, pocket knife, sir, bit o cedar pencil-and a
stick o chocolate, sir"
This shows that the German prisoner is still childlike and obviously hasn't been out there for very ling due to his fresh supply of sweets and chocolate. His youth make us compassionate towards him and we are so forth distanced from the colonel because he is antagonizing and intimidating the German.
The scene ends with Stanhope paying his last respects to Osborne.
"Must you sit on Osborne's bed?"
We would normally expect him to be in mourning and deeply distressed by the death however Stanhope continues to drink.
To forget you little fool-to forget!"
We can determine that his reasoning behind this is so that he doesn't drag up all memories but can put the death to the back of his mind. This shows great bravery in Stanhope but Sherriff is also trying to show us that it would only weaken morale even further if the soldiers dwelled upon the death of another.
A positive impression of Osborne's character is steadily built up in this scene, firstly by the removal of his wedding ring at the beginning of the act.
"Yes. I'm-I'm leaving it here. I don't want the risk
of losing it."
Although Osborne doesn't directly mention he is leaving the ring for his wife, the audience will know different. We can see that Osborne is merely accepting his own death yet he avoids talking about it. I feel great sympathy towards Osborne at this point as he is now feeling the strains of war. Continually he had been the one to sympathise with everyone else and disguise the horror of war by supporting the officers through this explicit situation, however his true feelings are now being shown and we can clearly see he is missing his family and prays for a life away from war. This courage and audacity convincingly show the audience that Osborne is a character to admire and his death is thus greatly upsetting for both his fellow soldiers and the audience.
Act 3, scene 3 displays the day of the final battle when Raleigh, Trotter and Hibbert are going over the front line. Sherriff mentions a few vague descriptions about what goes on but ultimately the mention of Raleigh's injury takes centre stage. We understand that he has been hit with a shell in the back so he is brought back into the trenches. This scene produces a profoundly moving impact as Stanhope firstly allows Raleigh to be laid on Osborne's bed whereas previously he didn't want anyone to touch it out of respect for Osborne. There is also a reversal of role as now Stanhope is showing a paternal figure b caring for Raleigh and his injuries
"Sure! I'll bring a candle over and get another blanket."
The audience can now see that Stanhope is an emotional charged character as we previously believed that he was unconcerned about the fate of the men. The death of Raleigh then provides further emotion to come out in Stanhope and we finally see the admirable and commendable commander Osborne and Raleigh thought he was.
At the end of the play I finally realised the brutality of war and gained a sound insight into the lives of soldiers and morale. The ending of the play was very moving as many soldiers died when the trench collapsed including Raleigh however we are still unsure about what happened to Stanhope, Hibbert or trotter. The death of Raleigh's character symbolises the appalling waste of lives during World War 1 but it also has an intense moving effect on the audience. We had warmed to him at the beginning of the play because of his eagerness and excitement however he never realised the full extent of war until the raid. I think that Sherriff's message was to show people the effects of war on soldier's minds. Stanhope's character was a prime example of this as he was psychologically damaged by the effects of war. I also feel that Sherriff had a hidden message of wanting to convey the full scale horror of war, both physically and mentally. A small disagreement between two countries or two opposing sides can result in a massive loss of life.