Journey's End

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Connor Gallagher

Heysham High School

Centre No: 46127

October 08

GCSE English Literature

Drama Text: Journey’s End

How does the playwright, R. C. Sherriff, attempt to convey the reality of the Great War and its effect on the men who fought in it, in the drama “Journey’s End”?

Life in 1918 was very different to the life we lead now. When a war occurs today we are fully updated by news reporters via media devices such as television and the internet. We know what is occurring in war zones day and night. However, during the Great War, only selected information was ever given to the general public. It was a war of propaganda. Only positive news about Britain’s participation in the war was ever given to the indigenous society.

Playwright R.C. Sherriff thought he should write about his real-life experiences in the war. He was an ex-soldier who was wounded in the battle of Passchendaele. He wanted the public to understand what the war was really like. How he and his comrades lived and fought in the war. It was a metaphorical mirror to his time throughout the war. The play “Journey’s End” was first produced by the Incorporated Stage Society at the Apollo Theatre, London, on 9th December 1928. It was turned down by most theatre managers in London for the reason that they thought the public didn’t want to hear about the war or they felt a play without women wouldn’t be popular. The audience might have reacted in an unusual way, maybe in shock to the original production, due to the fact that very few people actually knew about the war. They began to realise that the half-truths they received from the papers or other media outlets were wrong. In 1928 Sherriff used the best form of communication available for his message – a theatre.

One way in which Sherriff portrays the condition of the trenches is via general conversation. Idle chit-chat about the war shows they have acclimatized, quite rapidly, to their deadly situation. For example:

        

Osborne: Where do the men sleep?

Hardy:  I don’t know. The sergeant-major sees to that. (He points off to the left.) The servants and signallers sleep in there. Two officers in here, and three in there. (He points to the right-had tunnel.) That’s if you’ve got five officers.

 The men were sleeping in dug-out tunnels but they dealt with it. The set is designed with directions such as “a few rough steps leading to the trench above”. This communicates that the actual trenches were built very rapidly and not designed for comfort. Makeshift beds were used for practicality and not comfort. No official sleeping arrangements were made because the soldiers couldn’t benefit from a good night’s sleep. It would be pointless because even as they were sleeping, they were still on patrol and were awoken at untold hours simply to go and fight. A lot of the men couldn’t hack it. The soldiers were informed on how to sleep just for their own hygiene:

Hardy: You keep yourself in [the bed] by hanging your legs and arms over the side. Not too far low though or the rats gnaw your boots.

Osborne: How many rats are here?

Hardy: I’d say roughly about two million.

 These horrendous conditions had to be endured and more and more trenches were being dug out by the day; simply for shelter and not comfort. I believe this is a piece of information which we understand in greater detail today, because terrible stories of the conditions of the trenches have been passed over generations by word of mouth, however, at the time no communication was available to actually portray the horrors.

Hardy is arguably just a character who is there to set the scene and furthermore the tone and atmosphere to the audience before leaving the stage never to be seen again. This happens subconsciously and with all the characters coming and going you do not recognize this. He is used as some sort of narrator before leaving to do his duties. They talk briefly about the “big German attack” which is basically what the play is structured around:

 

Hardy: By the way, you know the big German attack’s expected any day now?

 The main characters are introduced one-by-one by entering and leaving the trench and having conversation with each other in their trench when they are not on patrol. Each character comes and goes and talks to another character and they way they talk about each other and themselves can give a brief description of their characteristics. For example, when they talk about Stanhope:

Hardy: How is the dear young boy? Drinking like a fish as usual?

         They are clearly referring to somebody who drinks a lot.

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Stanhope is thought of as a leader in this drama piece. He is well respected and knows quite a bit about the war, but is also known as someone who can put away a lot of drink:

Osborne: He’s a long way the best company commander we’ve got.

Hardy: Oh he’s a good chap, I know. But I never did see a youngster put away the whisky he does.

Osborne: D’you know, the last time we went out resting at Valennes he came to supper with us and drank a whole bottle of whisky in one hour ...

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