Osborne admires Stanhope "You've done pretty well. An M.C. and a company" but strangely seems to look after Stanhope in a way, telling him "I wish you'd turn in and sleep for a bit" as Osborne can see that Stanhope is tired and he almost seems like the parent of this company, looking after everyone; Osborne also tells Stanhope that he "ought to go away for a rest". Osborne also believes that everyone tells the truth and this is shown when Hibbert tells them he has neuralgia of the eye, Osborne says to Stanhope "I don't see how you can prevent a fellow going sick" showing how he thinks that Hibbert is actually ill and he can't see why anyone would try to out of the war. When Stanhope gets annoyed Osborne is there to try and calm him down saying things such as "Come and lie down" and Stanhope doesn't see him commanding or threatening, he just refuses but Osborne continues and Stanhope agrees willingly.
The second strong character in the play is Stanhope. He is one the verge of a breakdown and welcomes drink open armed; this is his way of dealing with the war. The reader then thinks there may be something about Stanhope which we have not yet been shown which would force someone who seems so strong to resort to drinking such excessive amounts of alcohol. By doing this Sherriff has shown us another reality of war as each man is secretive and holds with them the secrets about themselves that the other officers would not know the secret about their home lives. This may have been because they did not want to talk about what or who they were missing back home. This tells us a lot about the characters as they obviously think about their home lives and loved ones often, but are rarely found talking about them as it will remind them of what or who they may never see again. The other noticeable way in which Stanhope deals with the stress is through companionship in which he shares a strong bond with Osborne, the senior officer, second to Stanhope. I believe Stanhope sees Osborne as a father figure and on many occasions throughout the book seeks his advice. This helps Stanhope greatly in reducing the stress while also enabling him to let his feelings flow out, having to keep them contained in front of others. He also often asks advice from Osborne on various occasions thus reducing the stress of command.
Due to Osborne being a public school master, he has a more intellectual knowledge of words and their meanings than the working-class men and officer Trotter. Even in a child's book, the words from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland touch Osborne emotionally, whereas Trotter cannot “see the point”, because he is from a lower-class background, Sherriff has kept the stereotype with the officers literacy, this would keep the audiences stereotypical views are still slightly alive.
However we do find out about Stanhope's home life when Raleigh joins the Battalion. Raleigh revealed much about him that Stanhope was not content with the other officers knowing. The first time that we hear about his home life is when Raleigh is talking about how,' Dennis used to stay with us', whereas 'Dennis', (Stanhope) had never mentioned this before. Raleigh also reveals,' They're not officially engaged'. Raleigh exposed a secret of Stanhope's as he had never mentioned such an important detail of his life. When Stanhope first sees Raleigh, we see by the stage directions that Stanhope talks, ‘in a low voice', and says, 'How did you get here?' This shows that Stanhope is not content on seeing Raleigh as Raleigh knows the truth about Stanhope's home life. This may be because Stanhope does not want the others to know that he cares so much about something, as he wants to keep an image as a tough person or possibly he does not want to be reminded every second of every day of the thing which he loves most but may not see again.
As I mentioned there are different ways in which the characters cope with the war. From reading Trotter's parts in the play, I get the impression that he makes jokes simply because he will not allow let himself contemplate anything else as he may not be able to cope with the pressure. We can see this when Stanhope confronts Trotter directly about this, but when he does the question just bounces off Trotter's mind straight away; " But you always *feel* the same.” / “I feel all blown out now...". He simply doesn't think about things that may lower his morale or may open his eyes to the negative side of being in the war. He also keeps track of the days as they pass on his chart and his one dimensional attitude makes everyone feel at ease with him.
Hibbert on the other hand portrays himself as self-centred who would have avoided being tackled on the rugby field in his school days and does make the others in the dugout feel uneasy. He also tries to wriggle himself out of the war by telling Stanhope he has neuralgia, however the author never actually states whether Hibbert has neuralgia or not. This leads us to think that maybe he was just afraid, and that Hibbert is more courageous than if he did have neuralgia and was staying. The way Stanhope persuades Hibbert to stay is very clever. First, he takes away Hibbert's reason for going by saying that he also has neuralgia. Then he threatens to shoot Hibbert if he tries to leave the dugout, knowing that if Hibbert is actually afraid of dying, then he will break down, and confess that his only reason for wanting to go was because he didn't want to die.
"Go on, then, shoot! You won’t let me go to hospital. I swear I'll never go into those trenches again. Shoot! - and thank God -"
This shows just how strained Hibbert really is, how fearful he is of dying in the trenches, and yet he stands there and faces up to death. Stanhope sees this and congratulates Hibbert.
"Good man Hibbert. I liked the way you stuck that"
It is after this that Stanhope reveals to Hibbert that he knows exactly how he is feeling, because he feels the same.
The link between Hibbert and his school days is not the only one. At the start of the play Stanhope condemns Hardy's untidiness and Raleigh reminisces about Stanhope beating fellow students for their untidiness. He also says the meals are very 'school canteen' and as it is under Stanhope’s discipline, the dugout is probably as clean and tidy as a the school and the officers and soldiers are run like a school, with ironically a school master among them, and their class is reflected in the education they were given at school and the rank they were given within the Battalion.
I believe the most important theme within the play is that it has a sense of anti-war; however it conveys more the horrors and violence of war. I believe it is not an anti-war play because Osborne and Stanhope hare the same values, “It’s a slimy think to go home.”, because we admire these two characters in particular, and they carry on with the war, this cannot be an anti-war play; although there are some anti-war messages. For example on page 62 Trotter describes a raid as “murder”. Stanhope, in revelation of his true feelings, also makes a powerful anti-war statement, “I hate and loathe it all”. The play portrays war are ludicrous, but duty has to be done, and we admire the characters for their determination to carry on. For example on page 43 there is a powerful description of the Germans helping the English soldiers save a wounded comrade. It shows that men are essentially good, and Sherriff questions war and how man still hasn’t resolved problems without conflict; Raleigh: “It all seems…*silly*, doesn’t it?”. There are also strong pauses which give the reader time to reflect and image the horrors which are happening.
There is a tense start to Act three Scene one with the men awaiting the start of the raid. Stanhope's and the Colonel's attitudes towards the raid contrast as following: They both don't want the raid to happen but feel it must be done to help the war effort and Stanhope knows most of the men that are involved in the raid will die, the Colonel also knows this but just ignores this possibility. This tells the audience that they must feel frustrated and unhappy about the raid going ahead.
However all of the soldiers, officers etc. seem to be trapped within the war. The drama is understanding and in their own way everyone is stuck in the war and even the Generals aren’t at the top or in control, politicians are; “It’s all a damn nuisance; but after all it is necessary.” The politicians are tying all of those involved down and forcing them to do what they are told; “If you’re told to stick…you don’t make plans to retire”.
After Stanhope and the Colonel leave Osborne starts to calm Raleigh's nerves as he is very nervous about going over the top. He has to tell Raleigh that everyone might not come back but he and Raleigh will be absolutely fine after they both come back. Osborne then says "I reckon with luck we shall be back within three minutes...And now let's forget all about it for - for six minutes. For the next six minutes they talk about what drink they like for breakfast, Osborne recites his favourite poem and they talk about what Raleigh and Stanhope did in the holidays at Raleigh's home in Lyndhurst and what Osborne did when he was at home. Then they have to go into the trenches and prepare for the raid. The stage directions start by making the whole battlefield and trenches sound that they are covered in an eerie silence, "There is silence in the trenches above the deserted dugout." This builds up tension.
Osborne may seem to be the stereotypical upper-class officer, but he shows signs of being unconvinced about the war and its aim. The audience receives this information when Osborne is in conversation with Raleigh, they together agreed on how pointless the war actually was. This would shock the audience, destroying all stereotypical thoughts Sherriff had previously given out. The audience would be very interested now to find out the final thoughts of all the officers.
Due to Osborne being a public school master, he has a more intellectual knowledge of words and their meanings than the working-class men and officer Trotter. Even in a child's book, the words from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland touch Osborne emotionally, whereas Trotter cannot “see the point”, because he is from a lower-class background, Sherriff has kept the stereotype with the officers literacy, this would keep the audiences stereotypical views are still slightly alive. This is showing his love for his children and a lack of decent effort put into the real war. Once again Sherriff has destroyed the audience's views and thoughts of there being a perfect, well planned, clean war. Slowly but surely Sherriff is bringing the audience to the truth about the war, involving and awakening them at every possible chance.
