The Long The Short & The Tall

“The long the short and the tall” is a play set in a Malyen jungle, in 1942, during the Japanese advance on Singapore.

A small patrol of soldiers, led by Sargent Mitchem and his deputy Johnston corporal are in a small hut resting on a routine patrol.

The first impression I formed of Mitchem was that he was a professional soldier. As soon as the soldiers had entered the hut, he insisted that the men ‘Better mount a guard. Two men on stag.’ We immediately get the impression that he is efficient. He positions two soldiers by the window, so that if there was any danger outside they will be able to give a warning. This shows that he is a good leader.

My first impression of Johnstone is completely different. Unlike Mitchem, his main priority is not the safety of his men but quarrelling. As soon as he enters the hut he starts antagonising Banforth. He tells him, ‘Get on your feet, lad!’ which gives the impression that his priorities are not right. He is more concerned about his quarrel with Banforth than making the hut safe. He is patronising. He called Banforth ‘lad’ instead of by his name. I formed the impression that he is vindictive. In reply Banforth is disrespectful to Johnstone. Johnstone allows Banforth to rile him. A good corporal should be able to remain calm unlike Johnstone who is quick to lose his temper. Banforth does not like Johnstone at all, as he is rude to him and treats him with lack of respect.

Johnstone is unable to command respect from his men. Mitchem commands respect by being respectful and fair to the men.

When Johnstone tells Banforth, ‘Get your pack on’ Banforth glances across to Mitchem, to indicate if he should. Mitchem nods and says ‘You heard him.’ He was supporting Johnstone, showing he is professional and loyal to him. Banforth respects Mitchem because he does what Mitchem tells him to do. This gives further evidence that Mitchem is respected as a Sargent is.

Johnstone does not deal with the men in the patrol in the right way. Unlike Mitchem, Johnstone does not bring out the best in them. When he finds out that Whitiker has been unable to contact base, Johnstone asks him, ‘How much a week do they pay you for this lad?’ Whitaker is not a very confident person and so this makes him feel incompetent to work the radio.

Mitchem backs up Whitaker. He tells Johnstone ‘It’s not his fault that Battery’s dis. Ok Sammy.’ Mitchem calls Whitiker by his first name ‘Sammy’. He is being friendly and shows concern and consideration for him. He then tells Whitaker ‘Have another go.’ By telling him this he makes him feel more confident. Mitchem is being fair to Whitiker, and deals with him in the right way, as Whitiker is a nervous person.

When Johnstone realises the battery is faulty he says ‘I'd like to put the boot in the burk who gave us the battery.’ He let himself get all worked up over something that nothing could be done about. His violent language suggests that he have a violent nature. He should have stayed calm for the sake of the men.

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A few minutes after arriving in the hut Mitchem leaves with Johnstone to make a reconnaissance of the immediate area. He leaves Macleish in charge and when they return Mitchem finds there is no one guarding the windows and that the men’s attention is on the quarrel between Macleish and Banforth. Mitchem is extremely angry and he looses his temper. He tells them they are a ‘Shower! Useless shower! That’s all you are. The lot of you. I could have been a regiment of ruddy Nips and I walked through that door. I walked straight in!’ He tells the men what could have happened to them and makes them feel they should have been more responsible. He gets his message across effectively. Mitchem frightens the men by telling them ‘You could have had seven men, including yourself with their tripes on the floor.’ He gives a vivid description of what could have happened and punches his message into their heads by using effective language. He makes the men aware of what the consequences are and how their irresponsible behaviour could have caused lives.

Despite Mitchem’s placid nature he does have a sarcastic side. He knows exactly how to deal with the men in different situation. When Mitchem rebukes Macleish for being slack, when he was meant to be in command he is very sarcastic towards him and towards the rest of the men when they refuse to answer Mitchem’s question ‘Who was the man?’ He tells them ‘You think I’m running a Sunday school outing? Please, Miss it was Jimmy Smith who sat on the tomato sandwiches but I promise not to tell.’ He tells the men that they are behaving like girls. This is further evidence that his language is very effective. His anger and sarcasm towards the men in the patrol is justified. He knows how to deal with situation and by telling the men this he shows concern for them.

Johnstone in comparison uses the same sort of language but his anger is not justified. Mitchem would have not used sarcasm towards Whitaker because he is a sensitive character. Mitchem is considerate and shows that he knows about his men’s characters. After telling the men off he calms down quickly. He does not let the quarrel effect his job.

While Mitchem is talking to the men Whitaker continues to make contact with base and picks up a Japanese voice. The men in the patrol panic and feel threatened but Mitchem makes them feel calm. He tells them ‘You’ve heard one Nippo on the set. That might mean anything at all.’ He then tells the men ‘It might mean they’ve broken through, up the country, and are pouring down.’ This makes the men panic more but then he restores their confidence by telling them ‘It could be half a dozen joskins like yourselves. Six or seven-five or six- or even two or three poor helpless wet-nurse ginks……’ Here Mitchem is realistic. He does not lie to the men because he tells them the positive and the negative view. He manages to remain calm and honest. He keeps the men calm and manages to crush their panic.

Before long Banforth spots a Japanese soldier. The soldier comes over to the hut and enters it. As soon as he enters, Johnstone ‘lunges forward’ and grabs him, putting his arm around his throat and his free hand over the soldiers’ mouth. He grabs him professionally, so that he couldn’t do any harm to the others. This shows he cares for the other soldiers. As soon as he’s got the soldier into the room he tells the men ‘Come on then, one of you! Get him! Quick…Evans! Do for him.’ Johnstone wants to kill the prisoner. When he grabbed the soldier he gave the impression that he is efficient and is able to immobilise the soldier. In a way Johnstone is not a professional soldier because he did not think of how useful the Japanese soldier could be to them. As Mitchem is in charge he stops them from killing the soldier. Unlike Johnstone he immediately recognises the prisoner could give them useful information. This shows that Mitchem is a quick thinker. By keeping the prisoner he is loyal to the army because he is willing to put himself out for the sake of the army. Mitchem is humane towards the prisoner. He doesn’t have hatred for him and is kind towards him. In comparison Johnstone likes to make him suffer. He tells one of the soldiers to ‘Sling’ the prisoner’s wallet ‘Out the window.’ This shows that he has no feelings for the prisoner. Mitchem stops this from happening and makes things as pleasant as can be for the prisoner by letting him have it. This shows that he is not a cruel person. Johnstone believes that the men should treat the soldier as badly as possible. Further evidence that shows that Johnstone has no compassionate feelings for the prisoner is when he ‘slowly and carefully tears the prisoners photos into pieces.’ Johnstone is a sadistic character and delights in seeing the enemy suffer, unlike Mitchem who wants to treat the prisoner well so that he can give them useful information. When Johnstone sees the prisoner smoking he grabs his hand and then releases it in disgust when he learns that Mitchem has approved of him to be able to smoke. Here I am given the impression that Johnstone enjoys the power he has over the prisoner and thinks of him as inferior. Mitchem’s attitude differs from Johnstone. He has compassion for the prisoner where as Johnstone only has hatred towards the prisoner. Further evidence that Mitchem is caring and compassion towards the prisoner is when he ‘hands the water bottle to Macleish’ to give to the prisoner. He says ‘here, Jock, see ‘f Noisy Harry wants a gob.’ Mitchem is kind and sensitive towards the prisoner. He called him Noisy Harry, which shows he is being kind and is not filled with hatred. Mitchem sends two soldiers Smith and Evans out to see if there was any more Japanese soldier in the area. They find that there is a 'swam' of them coming towards the hut. When Mitchem hears this he stays calm and decides that there is no point in keeping the prisoner alive, as he can’t tell the army anything useful. When Mitchem decides that the prisoner has to be killed he does not tell any of the patrol. Banforth is not aware and when he finds out he stands in front of the prisoner. He does this because he believes that the prisoner has the right to live because he is a man. Mitchem hates having to have to kill the prisoner but he believes it is a necessity. He wants defend his country because the alternative to not fighting in the war is worse. He does not want to see blood but if it comes to killing then he will do so. Mitchem believes that killing a Japanese soldier is better than letting them win the war. To prepare himself for killing he refers to the prisoner as ‘it’. He refers to him as ‘it’ because that way he does not see him as a human being but as an object. It also makes it easier for him to be able to kill him. Johnstone would like to kill the prisoner himself. Mitchem shows he does not want to kill him because he tells the men that the person who is going to kill him ‘has got to be arranged.’ He tells them ‘We could draw lots.’ Because Banforth is standing in front of the prisoner Mitchem is unable to kill the prisoner. Mitchem and Johnstone try to get Banforth away from the prisoner and as they fight the prisoner begins to rise. Mitchem sees there is no one guarding the prisoner, and tells Whitaker ‘Grab a gun and cover the Nip.’ This was a total mistake. He acted impulsively on the spur of the moment. As Whitaker is a nervous character he panicked and thinking the prisoner would harm him he fires the gun at him. Mitchem should have realised that Whitaker is a nervous person and would have done what he did. This shows that even though he usually acts wisely he does not always make the right decisions. As the gun had been shot the Japanese had more of a chance of knowing where the hut was and therefore Mitchem decides that they should all leave the hut and make a run for base. Before they leave Mitchem tells Johnstone ‘ We haven’t got a snowballs chance in hell of getting back. So try and let them the Japs have broken through.’ This is the last act of Mitchem as when he leaves the hut he is killed. Our last impression of him is that he is devoted to the army. Only Johnstone survives as all the other men are killed. At the end of the play he returns to the hut with a bullet wound in his side and blood seeping through his shirt. He leans upon the door of the hut to regain his breath, when he hears the set spluttering to life. He slowly crosses to reach the set and tells the radio operator at base camp ‘ Get knotted! All of you! You hear?’ This is Johnstone last act in the play. He has had enough of the war and is telling the rest of the soldiers to get lost. We are left with the impression that he does not care for the safety of the rest of the army because he is wounded and he knows he is not going to survive. In my opinion if Mitchem had been in Johnstone’s situation he would have behaved completely differently. He would have told the men at base to get ready, to watch out because the Japanese were on their way. In conclusion, Mitchem is an excellent Sargent. He makes one fatal mistake. Unlike Johnstone his loyalty to the army is his priority. Mitchem’s anger is always justified. He only rebukes when necessary and he is gentle and patient. Johnstone on the other hand is sadistic and unpleasant. He is a good soldier but he can not control his temper. He uses threats to impose his will and undermines people’s confidence. Johnstone is not as professionals as Mitchem as he puts his personal feelings before his duty.

The Long The Short & The Tall