Discuss the role of the character Bamforth and how he changes in the play 'the Long and the Short and the Tall' by Willis Hall

Bamforth’s presence in the play stands out against the rest of the patrol. He is the one who always undermines the patrols’ morale, he is not a popular figure and yet half of the reader’s attention is devoted to him as he appears in almost every scene. The patrol is nauseated by his existence and behavior and asks Bamforth to “jack it in”. Bamforth’s character is made known to us when Mitchem talks to him. Mitchem is an experienced soldier and has better measure of Bamforth, and to Mitchem, Bamforth is more predictable: “I’ve met your kind before.”

To show superior understanding of Bamforth, Mitchem also mentions that Bamforth “come it on with every junior N.C.O. that’s been made up. The barrack-room lawyer (he had learned the army rules by heart to use it on the authority)”

Bamforth’s attitude towards war and the army is cynical. Bamforth is an anti-hero; he shatters every positive thought of others and crushes it into something negative. He refers to the patrol as “the crumb patrol” and sees it as a routine rather than training. According to him, he will go straight through Kew Gardens and “nip off in one of them boats” like the locals when the Japanese come. Although he is unlikely to do such a thing, it conveys to the audience Bamforth’s self-centeredness and lack of loyalty towards his country.

Initially, Bamforth’s relation with the Japanese prisoner is similar to that between master and pet, he identifies the “nips” as animals. The prisoner was called “short arse”, and was sadistically ordered around to amuse himself and uses the prisoner to demonstrate his ability to “talk the lingo natural”. The prisoner was treated like a circus animal; to him, “it’s only the same as carving up a pig”. His despise towards authority is contrasted by his sadistic enthusiasm of being in charge. This is demonstrated by his playful action of pointing the bayonet at the prisoner’s throat and shouting boo. Bamforth’s attitude towards the prisoner gradually changes after he had seen his photographs. This is a turning point which from now on Bamforth will show a more humane side of himself. This is incompatible with the reader’s initial image of Bamforth from the beginning of the play. When the prisoner first arrives, Bamforth was the only one who was willing to stab the prisoner; juxtaposingly, in the end Bamforth the bully who takes delight in taunting the weak ends as the only person who will stand up for the weak. His presence on the other side of the argument to defend the prisoner emphasizes the cruel realities of war, the difference between the ideal and the real, necessity and humanity.

Bamforth is the main character during the whole play. In the first part of the play, he is brightens the play with humour. The author intentionally changes Bamforth from the anti-hero to the in preparation for the climax of the play. In the end, he is used to present the ideas towards war of Willis Halls to the audience. The realities of war are to do something one does not believe in, to follow orders without question. War is conflict and isolation. The Japanese soldier does not want to die, but much of the audience will not care about one who doesn’t even know English properly and does not speak a word during the whole play, inducing Bamforth to oppose his death greatly emphasizes the significance of his death. The whole patrol’s opposition towards him again conveys conflict. The Japanese soldier’s inability to talk and the state of the patrol being surrounded by each of their enemies conveys isolation. His presence represents conflict between humanity and necessity. In the end both are lost, the Japanese prisoner dies, but neither can Mitchem save the patrol conveying the violence and cold-bloodedness of war.