would lack the emphasis of the bonds between the soldiers as well as the lack of
atmosphere. ‘Journeys End’ follows the thoughts and feelings of a variety of
interesting characters together in the trenches and is very powerful in showing the
effects of war on soldiers, especially as it shows the effects on even the apparently
unlikely characters such as Stanhope.
‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ was first aired on 28th September 1989, long after ‘Journeys
End’ in 1929. ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ focuses on the effects of war on soldiers and
suggests that the lives of generals during the war were far less than the horrific
experiences and effects of the soldiers in the front line. Melchett is the general in the
play and he shows little understanding of what life was like for the soldiers on the
front line, “Doing exactly what we’ve done eighteen times before will be the last
thing they’ll expect us to do this time.” This sentence suggests that Melchett is either
not particularly bright or he hasn’t much concern as to what will happen when the
men go over the top and the enemy are expecting it. The other extreme, George, who
is a young soldier in the trenches, is excited about going to war and turns down a way
out of going over the top, “I’m as excited as an excited person who’s got a special
reason to be excited.” This suggests that George doesn’t quite understand the dangers
of going over the top and possibly is critical of war as it suggests that George, being
the young and innocent soldier, has not been warned of the danger and only feels
excited about some action. Blackadder, on the other hand, is the officer in charge and
he spends his time trying to get out of going over the top, “We tell HQ that I have
gone insane and I will be invalided back to blighty.” This is an example of one of
Blackadder’s ridiculous plans to get out of the war and it is critical of the officers
during the war. Moreover, it is and effective way of presenting the effects of war on
soldiers as it shows that some of the soldiers would do anything to get out of fighting
which is evidence of the horrors of war and how it effected some men. The effects of
war on soldiers is shown in a very different way to ‘Journeys End’ and it uses humour
and sarcasm to show the generals in a negative way and uses comedy to show the
effects on soldiers such as Blackadder who is constantly trying to escape.
‘Journeys End’ and ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ both show the psychological impact of
war on a variety of characters. Firstly, the character of Hibbert in ‘Journeys End’ is a
clear example of the psychological impacts of war on a soldier. He spends most of his
time throughout the text trying to get home or persuade Stanhope he is not well and
cannot fight. “Ever since I came out here I’ve hated and loathed it.” This sentence
shows how much the war has affected Hibbert and the language used shows his hatred
for the war and how terrified he is. The word ‘loathing’ suggests that he would rather
be anywhere then going over the top. “Ill never go over those steps again… knowing
– I’d rather die here.” Hibbert is telling Stanhope that he can’t take it anymore and he
is refusing to go over the top again. This suggests that Hibbert, has
been terribly affected by the war and has been psychologically scarred from his
experience. Furthermore, it helps the audience understand the drastic consequences
that the war had on soldiers. Similarly, the character of Darling, in ‘Blackadder goes
Forth’, is another clear example of the psychological impact of war on
soldiers. “No sir, I mean, I don’t want to go to battle…” This shows Darling
begging Melchett not to make him go over the top. The fact that darling has to beg
suggests just how awful it is for the soldiers knowing that they are going to die when
they go over the top and shows the psychological impact that it had on soldiers such
as Darling. In addition, the language used suggests that Darling is terrified of dying
and the word ‘please’ is repeated several times to increase the sense of desperation
that Darling feels. This represents the fear that many soldiers feel during war and
helps the audience to understand, to and extent, how dreadful war is.
In addition, another way that the effects of war are presented , is using vivid language
such as ‘we gave those pigmies a good squashing.’. The use of the word ‘squashing’
here is animalising the men that they killed and is an effective way of showing that a
lot of the soldiers were trained to not think about the enemy as human beings with
families and lives but just as the opposition who they were to ‘squash’. The character
of George in ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ shows the drastic effects that the war had on
young men and boys in the First World War. “I don’t want to die… I’m really not
over keen on dying at all, sir.” George doesn’t show how scared he is until the end of
the text when the soldiers are about to go over the top. The character of Raleigh in
‘Journeys End’ is also a young and innocent character, as the play commences, starts
to show the reader his true feelings towards the war. “The whole thing’ll be over quite
quickly?” He says this to Osborne as he needs reassurance for going over the top and
this shows that although throughout the text we see Raleigh as being extremely
excited abut going over the top, “I say – it’s most frightfully exciting!”, the way
Raleigh responds to going over the top as being excited suggests that he doesn’t
understand the great danger and risk of death. This is shows the effect of war on the
young soldiers as they were not warned about the great dangers and therefore did not
realise their lives were at risk.
Throughout the text Blackadder is trying to escape the war and makes
many stupid plans to get him home, although none of them work. “One phone call
will do it – one phone call and I’ll be free.” His plan is to persuade Haig to get
him home and away from the war. This suggests that Blackadder has been badly
affected by the war and does not want to be there. This is similar to the
character of Hibbert in ‘Journeys End’ as he spends his time trying to get out of
fighting. The character of the colonel in ‘Journeys End’ is a
clear example of the effects of war on the generals during the war. “I’m thinking of
that youngster I sent up to you last night.”. This suggests that the colonel has no worry
about the loss of a young boy going over the top and suggests that he either doesn’t
understand the implications of going over the top or he doesn’t care. Furthermore, this
suggests that the generals during the war had few worries and therefore fewer awful
experiences during the war and therefore were affected far less then the soldiers. This
suggests that ‘Journeys End’ is a powerful text in showing the effects of war on
certain soldiers.
In conclusion, the overall portrayal of both the texts is the effects of war on soldiers
and ‘Journeys End’ is a more powerful text in showing the effects. ‘Blackadder goes
forth’ is a far less serious drama and therefore waters down the deep and awful effects
that the war had on soldiers. Ross Ruediger wrote a review about ‘Blackadder Goes
Forth’ and suggested that it ‘wasn’t nearly as “historical”’ as the series before and
therefore is more about the comedy then about the effects of war on soldiers and
therefore it seems that ‘Journeys End’ is a far better text at presenting the effects of
war on soldiers. Furthermore, it seems that the overall message of the
both the texts is that the war had far less of an effect on the generals then on the
soldiers, who suffered greatly as a consequence of the war.
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Bibliography
Blackadder goes Forth
Journeys End
Review - Ross Ruediger
