At the beginning of the scenes, mason is in the dug-outs, which he always is before or after there is, a dramatic peak in journeys end. Mason leaves and Stanhope wanders restlessly around the dugout this implies that he is waiting impatiently for something. Then you find out what he is impatiently waiting for once the colonel comes in. Once the colonel come is there is little emotion in the conversation. They are both very reserved. Sherrif uses very official and to the point language which shows the very little emotion revealed, and this is mainly what shows you this as there is very little movement during this scene. When the Colonel is speaking to Osborne and Raleigh he uses very pressurising language yet also wishes them good luck this shows you that they do not have a choice to do this, this is shown when the Colonel says ‘Remember, a great deal may depend on bringing in a German. It may mean the winning of the whole war.’ In this part of the scene there are lots of pauses this shows you how tense the atmosphere is. Later on in the scene you get the impression that Osborne thinks he will not be coming back as he takes out a letter from his tunic and his watch and also takes off his wedding ring and says to Stanhope ‘I say, don’t think im being morbid, or anything like that, but would you mind taking these’ He then says, again to Stanhope ‘If anything should happen, would you send these along to my wife’ The moos is then quite awkward and Stanhope and Osborne go on to talk and Stanhope almost half-heartedly tells Osborne that he will be coming back which informs you that sub-consciously they are thinking of the consequences if Osborne fails to return. Sheriff shows this in the behavior of the two men after the conversation they have, as Stanhope goes up the steps yet lingers for a moment and Stanhope says a brief good-bye. For a brief moment Osborne is sitting alone looking like he is thinking without the aside involvement of the audience. At this point Raleigh comes in and they have a short discussion about pipes and cigarettes which is not really relevant to the point where the play is at yet I think that Sheriff has slotted it in, in the right position for it to have a positive effect on the scene. Raleigh and Osborne then go on to talk about the raid and what is going to happen and the positions they are going to take, basically just have a quick once over of the plan. Osborne then says ‘And now lets forget about it for – (he looks at his watch) – for six minutes’ this shows that Osborne is trying to think about other and things and tries to engage Raleigh in a conversation about old times, Osborne talks about things he would like to do and Raleigh suggests that maybe they should go together some time. Yet while Osborne is trying to deter the conversation on to other things Raleigh eagerly asks more questions about the raid. This shows a contrast between the two characters on one hand you have Raleigh who is young in body yet also young in mind as Sheriff portrays Raleigh to not have thought about what might happen during the attack. He is very excited about the whole ordeal. On the other hand there is Osborne who obviously by means of Sheriff showing Osborne giving his things to Stanhope incase of failure to return, has thought about things in more depth. He is dreading the attack and trying to forget about it for what may be the last few minutes of his life.
Moving on in the scene to when the raid takes place, the entire things is done in stage directions with noises, lights and distant voices, which all die down to the sound of Stanhope’s voice. I think Sheriff does this because it allows the audience to gather their own perception on what happened and leaves them in suspense until they actually find out what occurred, which doesn’t happen until the ending of the questioning of the German Soldier. When the colonel and Stanhope talk about the raid the colonel starts by saying ‘Splendid, Stanhope! We’ve got all we wanted – 20th Wurtembergers! His regiment came in last night. I must go right away and `phone the brigadier. He’ll be very pleased about it. It’s a feather in our cap Stanhope.’ After this comment Stanhope looks astonished and speaks back to the colonel sarcastically by saying ‘How awfully nice if the brigadier’s pleased’ The colonel lets this comment go and rather awkwardly says ‘oh – er – what about the raiding party – are they all safely back?’ and to this Stanhope replies ‘Did you expect them to be all safely back, sir?’ still with that air of sarcasm in his voice. I think R.C.Sherrif does this to show that Stanhope and his officers do actually have a personal relationship rather than the colonel, who obviously just thinks of the men as soldiers, rather than people who actually have homes, lives and families. There is then some tension between Stanhope and the colonel when Stanhope tells him that Osborne was killed and how it happened. Stanhope is rather unemotional to what my perception, as the audience would of thought he would be like, but then as the scene ends and Stanhope goes to leave he has a snide dig at Raleigh by saying ‘Must you sit on Osborne’s bed’ which I think shows the audience that he is restraining his emotions.
At the start of the next scene you notice that, even before any one said any words, there is a contrast in the atmosphere from the previous scene, every one is happily drunk and he officers, except Raleigh and are all talking about women and past experiences with prostitutes. You still get the idea that Stanhope doesn’t like Hibbert as he speaks very ironically towards Hibbert. I think sheriff does this because it reflects on the confliction between Hibbert and Stanhope earlier in the play, yet it also prepares you for the conflict that is yet to come. Later in the conversation Hibbert produces some picture-post cards of ladies. I think this shows that as well as being a malinger that Hibbert is a bit sleazy and eerie. There is then a bit of controversy of who thinks what of which girl. Food and drink is used as a sort of deflection here as every time the moment rises someone mentions either more food or more alcohol. Again as Mason leaves just before a dramatic peak in the play, Conflict starts between Stanhope and Hibbert yet this time Sheriff does it in a different way. Before hand the atmosphere is merry and relaxed but once Trotter mentions the war Stanhope’s attitudes changes he becomes tense and awkward. This makes the audience think that Stanhope is trying to forget about the raid. There is then the tension between Hibbert and Stanhope as they have unresolved issues. I think Sheriff does this to show that during the war, there was no time for malingerers, they were just seen as a waste of space. The officers leave and again Mason comes in just before a dramatic peak between Stanhope and Raleigh. I think that Sheriff shows them having a disagreement because Stanhope is still being very reserved with his emotions so therefore e has a go at Raleigh to release some of his angers and frustrations. This part of the play shows you how young Raleigh is because he takes it off Stanhope like they are still at school whereas maybe one of the other two officers would of talked to him about it and tried to calm him down. Act three scene two offers the audience different angles on Hibbert as Stanhope refers to Hibbert as “a little worm” because of the experiences he has had with him but also because he doesn’t like him. Whereas Trotter refers to him by saying “poor little fella….. Hes tried hard” The effect this has on the audience is that rather than taking the opinion of Stanhope, the audience can begin to, if they haven’t already, to form their own opinions of the characters. In general the ending of this scene is very effective as it shows Stanhope releasing his emotions that he has so carefully been restraining.
Overall I think throughout the play R.C.Sherriff has done what he set out to do. Journeys End does not just give you facts and figures but it shows you the horror and devastation of what actually happens on a personal level. I think a credit needs to be given when it is due to R.C.Sherriff because as you go along through the play and scenes you can easily pick out the structure of the scenes yet it is not predictable. The dramatic techniques that R.C.Sherriff uses such as introducing food when there is going to be a dramatic peak have worker, and unlike many other wartime plays you feel an emotional bonding with the characters as an audience.