The Long and the Short and the TallBy Willis Hall Introduction The Long and the Short and the Tall is a play that explores the conditions and certain situations during

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English GCSE Coursework

The Long and the Short and the Tall

By Willis Hall

Introduction

The Long and the Short and the Tall is a play that explores the conditions and certain situations during the Second World War. The author, Willis Hall, sets up a troop of British soldiers to begin with, who are in the middle of the jungle trying to make their way back to their base camp. Unfortunately, they move further and further away from their camp, so far that they manage to pick up a clear broadcast via their radio transmission which is that of a Japanese broadcast. To add to this misfortune, the author adds to the situation a group of tense soldiers who realise that they are only 10 to 15 miles away from a Japanese camp. The tension is further mounted by rowdy and at times brutally honest Private Bamforth who has a knack for bad-mouthing just about anybody that comes his way. When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the author shows how each man develops in their own way.

The play is full of speeches like all plays, but certain characters such as Mitchem have longer speeches that illustrate the development and intent of their character, in Mitchem’s case, the role of the leader. Here is my analysis on all speeches that are not only bigger in their length but have signs of the intent and development of the character:

Page 24/25 – Mitchem

This speech is by Mitchem and is addressed to Corporal Macleish. Mitchem, who is their leader, addresses Macleish simply because prior to this speech, Macleish who was temporarily in charge of the section felt he had to take action against a mouthy Bamforth who has wound him up. When Mitchem returned from his search of the jungle along with Corporal Johnstone he discovered what he described as a ‘monkey house’. When questioning Macleish on what had been going on his absence, Macleish replied that he had occasion to reprimand a soldier. When asked who, he replies that it was a personal matter and that he will deal with it personally. This angers Mitchem and this is where the speech begins. Mitchem outlines that whilst out in the army with him, personal matters are not part of the package. He then goes on to say, ‘While you were settling it in your own way – sorting out your personal matters – you could have seven men, including yourself, with their tripes on the floor’.

What Mitchem tries to outline in this comment is that if Macleish isn’t fully concentrating on the task set and is focusing on his personal matters then he and the rest of the soldiers may as well just ‘drop dead’.

After this, Mitchem then addresses the rest of the patrol and tells of Macleish’s incompetence and how the army has not gained much by it. After this, he says something which is very important, ‘I brought you out and I intend to take you back’.

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This is important because Mitchem shows that he is not in the army because he wants to run a group of dead men - he intends to get them through and he outlines this.

He then goes on to say what the whole conversation is about, ‘I want the man who started all this argument to stand out now’.

He hesitates and when there is no reaction he calmly reacts with a sheer example of the authority he possesses, ‘All right. Fair enough. Have it how you want. You’ll all be on fatigues when we get back to ...

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