Journey's End shows the horror of trench warfare in the First World War. R.C Sheriff

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Journey’s End essay by Sam Thacker

“Journey’s End” shows the horror of trench warfare in the First World War. R.C Sheriff knows about it because he was an officer in it and he presents a realistic picture of life in the trenches as he had known and seen it when he was in the war fighting.

The issues raised by R.C Sheriff were that by 1928 soldiers were still disillusioned and traumatised by the war. It scarred the soldiers for life watching fellow men die when soldiers had to obey senseless orders to attack on the enemy even when the officers knew it was suicide. But if the men did not follow these orders they would be ashamed of themselves as another person does it for them and they have to live with humiliation. R.C Sheriff shows the dreadful conditions and the waste of lives in the trenches.

Stanhope has a lot of strengths, which make him a very good company commander. Stanhope cares about his men and looks after them well. He takes care of the trenches and expects them to be in good condition and order. We know this when he is angry about the way Hardy left the trenches. Everybody respects Stanhope and he takes his fair share of work, he proves this when he says, “ Hibbert can do from 2 till 4 and I’ll go on from then till stand –to that’ll be at 6”. Stanhope is unselfish, thinks of others before himself and cares for Osborne. He proves this when he lets Osborne have the best bed and Stanhope has one next to the table.

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 Stanhope sometimes challenges the colonel when Stanhope disagrees with the raid tactics. Stanhope is brave and has the Military Cross. Stanhope is a dedicated hard working man; we know this because he says “I’ve got hours of work before I sleep”. Stanhope gives clear and fair orders to the men and he is decisive Commander. He keeps the morale up of the men to make them feel better.

Stanhope has less weaknesses than strengths but still has a lot of weaknesses in being a Company Commander. Stanhope is an alcoholic and drinks too much. This is due to ...

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