Journeys End coursework

However, even though Stanhope drinks, he is an excellent Company Commander, and all the men under his command look up to him, and it is this pressure that causes Stanhope to burden himself with extra work that could easily be delegated to the other officers. All this extra work that Stanhope sets himself puts him through immense stress as well, and occasionally he overreacts, and looses his temper in front of his fellow officers. This personality trait of his is most evident in the “letter scene”, where Raleigh asks about mailing letters home, and Stanhope grows suspicious that the letter contains incriminating evidence of his drinking, therefore he replies that “You leave it open.” He goes on to explain that all letters must be censored, but in fact he is only abusing his power to get what he wants; it was normal for Officers’ letters to not even be glanced at. He is of course being paranoid, and is only worried that Raleigh’s sister will discover what a wreck he has become in the war. This is understandable, but the physical aggression he shows towards Raleigh in this scene is not, and it is one of only two points of physical contact seen during this play. Sherriff is obviously highlighting the seriousness of the situation, and how Stanhope feels about the letter going home, containing the truth about his physical and mental state. However, should he have trusted Raleigh, he would have found out that the letter contained nothing but praise for Stanhope, “Small boys at school generally have their heroes.” These are wise words indeed from Osborne, who was a schoolmaster himself, so knows all about how young boys commit acts of hero-worship, and he especially knows that these heroes continue to be heroes in the young boy’s mind forever. However, when these heroes are subjected to the things Stanhope has been subjected to, opinions can change, especially that of Stanhope’s. By this I mean that Stanhope appears not to care about his past friendship with Raleigh, and instead rejects him and casts him aside, showing that war changes people, and changes their friendships with one another.

Raleigh understands Stanhope’s need for alcohol, but Stanhope doesn’t realize this, nor could he ever realize that the friend he has known since childhood has grown so much, and become so much more mature that he understands Stanhope’s plight, so doesn’t feel the need to write home and tell his sister the truth about his drinking, only about the fact that Stanhope commands an entire company, and that he does it better than anyone else. However, Stanhope still doesn’t believe the fact that anyone other than himself can understand his troubles, and half the time even he doesn’t understand what is going on inside his head. This can sometimes bring his leadership qualities into doubt in his own mind more than anyone else’s. “Look here, Osborne, I’m commanding this company.” Stanhope says this line like he doesn’t believe it, and it portrays a great amount of confusion, as well as the fact that Stanhope is clearly abusing his power. This more than anything highlights the point that Sherriff aimed to put forward through “Journey’s End,” which is that war is futile, pointless, and damages young men for ever. This surely conveys an anti-war message, and an extremely powerful message at that.

Throughout the “letter scene”, it is obvious that Sherriff wants to portray awkwardness through Raleigh’s speech, as Raleigh is always stuttering and pausing. “Oh, I – I didn’t realise that.” This is probably due to him not being in this situation before with Stanhope, and it is likely that he hasn’t been in this situation before with anyone else. Because of this, he doesn’t know how to react or deal with the situation; therefore he is presented as terrified and afraid of Stanhope. Another way Sherriff portrays awkwardness through Raleigh is by his stage directions. “Nervously,” and “stammering” are two good examples. By making Raleigh seem nervous, and shy towards Stanhope, Sherriff creates great stage tension between these two officers, and also creates feelings of animosity towards Stanhope, because Stanhope has not even allowed Raleigh and his friendship to rekindle; but this is mainly due to his fear of losing more friends to the war. Therefore, Stanhope feels that by distancing himself emotionally from Raleigh, he will not feel so guilty and heartbroken when he dies. However, if Stanhope carries on neglecting Raleigh, then if Raleigh were to pass away, Stanhope would not be able to recover emotionally, due to immense feelings of guilt for being so hostile towards Raleigh. This in time, after the war is over, would destroy Stanhope, leaving him as nothing more than a shell of what he used to be.

During “Journey’s End,” Sherriff is not afraid to portray Stanhope with a fiery temper. This temper is most abundant in the letter scene, where Stanhope is literally

“Trembling” with rage, mainly because he doesn’t fully understand the situation he is in. When Stanhope gets the idea in his mind that Raleigh is sending letters home describing Stanhope as a pathetic man, the alcohol in his mind won’t let the thoughts get back out again, so Stanhope continues thinking up these fantasies, until they all escalate around him and he can’t make sense of the situation in front of him. Surely this, more than anything, is a display of an anti war message; a young man, reduced to drinking himself crazy due to the stress of war.

Another scene in which Sherriff portrays traits of Stanhope’s personality and experiences is Act 2 scene 2, where Hibbert tries to run away to the hospital, or as Stanhope puts it earlier in the play, “Another little worm, trying to wriggle home.” This animosity Stanhope clearly has for cowardice is evident most of all in Hibbert, who Stanhope thinks is a pathetic excuse for a man, and this stagecraft is supposed to make the audience feel sorry for Hibbert, who at time is portrayed as a small child, “Can I have a candle?” This clever use of props emphasizes the fact that Hibbert is an attention seeker, and also seems to be presented as a shell of his former self before the war. On a recent trip to see “Journey’s End” at the theatre, the audience even expressed their sympathy for Hibbert as if they would to a small child. However, despite all of this, during Act 2 Scene 2, the audience is encouraged to despise Hibbert, who is trying to escape from the harsh reality of what war is. During this scene, Hibbert repeatedly tries to run away from Stanhope, but Stanhope threatens to

shoot him, and this shocks Hibbert to the bone. Perhaps Stanhope’s clear feelings for cowardice can be traced back to the fact that fellow officers think that they’ve done their part after a few months, while Stanhope has been out in the trenches for three years.

During Act 2 scene 2, Stanhope appears to be calm and happy at the start, but as Hibbert approaches the subject of leaving to go to hospital, Stanhope suddenly becomes enraged, and the effect of this stagecraft is that we begin to understand what Stanhope can and cant tolerate, and it is clear that Stanhope cannot tolerate cowardice in any of its forms, perhaps this is a reflection on Sherriff. However, it is interesting to see that during this scene, Stanhope’s stage directions remain the same, whereas Hibbert is told to raise his voice, and beg and plead to go. Maybe this is because Stanhope is the one in control, not lost to his temper, and it is Hibbert that has lost his mind to fear of another day in the trenches.

Throughout “Journey’s End” Sherriff conveys an anti-war message, and he does this convincingly due to his personal experiences serving in the war. Some of the things described in “Journey’s End” may have connotations of his own experiences, so it is very easy to imagine how life was like in the war, and imagine all the horrors the soldiers had to face, whether they are emotional or physical.