One of Sheriff's main aims was to entertain the audience. He entertains the audience by recounting his experience in the trenches and the war. We also are educated as we are entertained. He also uses black humour, which is entertaining for the audience. The humour is used by the characters to forget about the real horrors of the war. Sheriff also uses sound effects in a very effective manner, most of the time it is silent, then suddenly you can hear the loud noises i.e. bombarding. Sheriff also uses complex characterization to make the play successful. The characters are different in every manner and this adds to the entertainment. The audience realizes that there is no glory in war and in reality; it is an evil which ultimately destroys every person.
The play uses plenty of literary jargon, such as "dug-out, bit of line, minnies, boche, trench fever and topping etc." All the military terms used portray the effect of war and the sense of realism. The language used in the play is mostly formal, as in when they use "cheero, Righto, rugger etc". This is just the language used by the upper-class people of the time. They are also using formal language because the play is set in 1910. Sheriff also uses literary allusion such as Osborne's quote from 'Alice in Wonderland', and lots of other pointless talk on gardens, plants, pigs etc. None of these pointless lines refer to the war, which shows that there is no point to the war. The language is highly emotive, there are always people fighting, arguing, which shows how stressed they are during the war, in the trenches. The sentence structure is very simple. There are lots of pauses, short sentences and the language is fragmented. The characters come to terms with the war. The pauses show that the characters are uncertain and are unwillingly obeying orders.
The setting is another important factor in the play. All the play is taking place in a dug-out in the British trenches before St. Quentin, where they all live, and the horror-dark place. The play takes place in span of three days. There is also the use of irony because Stanhope was there for three years and Raleigh just arrived and he is the one who dies, not Stanhope. The characters used in 'Journey's End' are all different and the Sheriff has used them all to show his message to the targeted audience. The main character, Stanhope has varied emotions, we all can see that he is a heavy drinker; he is ashamed of himself and brave. His emotions show that he is falling apart but professionally he is holding it together, he doesn’t want others to know. Osborne, the other important character in the play, is also used by Sheriff to provide his message, he is the oldest, and a family man and he always provides support. He is always in the same mood, he never changes. He understands everyone's problem because he has the same problem as the other character, who just wants to go home and live in peace. Trotter, who might be in a different class from the other main characters, is always in a jolly mood. He is always cheerful, he always jokes and never changes; he is behaving this way because he wants to forget the horrors of the war and all the sad moments. The new character, Raleigh, is the only character who is very excited to be in the trenches and be fighting for his country. He is proud of doing that and it is an irony that he dies within 3 days of coming to the trenches.
R C Sheriff’s main aim was to provide a moral message and to show an effective piece of drama. He also wanted to entertain the audience. I think he has successfully achieved his aims through his characters and their reaction to their situation. He has promoted peace very much in this play. At the end of the play, all the characters presumably die. This shows the futility and pointlessness of war and its toll on the people. I feel that this play is very effective in making the audience aware of the true horrors of war and their effect on people. We also come to know the way the senior authority played around with their officers and men. They weren’t given much importance. Sheriff has addressed many issues in this play and this is the reason why it has become a major success. I personally feel that every person should watch this play and understand the wrath of the war.
