'War is only made tolerable by Comradeship and Minor Pleasures'. To what extent does Journey's End support this statement?

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‘War is only made tolerable by

Comradeship and Minor Pleasures’

To what extent does Journey’s End support this statement?

There are many ways in which Journey’s End supports this statement. As a matter of fact, most of the characters in a Journey’s End use comradeship and minor pleasures to distract them from the thought of the war and also the thought of how the war could end for everybody and for them.

There are a few main factors for each character i.e. Stanhope, Osborne, Raleigh and even Trotter.

For Stanhope, his comradeship with Osborne is a diversion from the war. They share their many jokes and then they have that special bond that nobody else seems to have in the book. As Stanhope is quite weak, he requires the avuncular attention from his comrade Osborne.

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Also one of Stanhope’s ‘major’ pleasures is alcohol. Alcohol represents his escape from the truth and from the fear of the war. As Stanhope says he ‘can’t go out of the dugout without a drink of whisky’. This is unquestionably the reality for Stanhope.

For Osborne, his comradeship with everyone seems to make the war tolerable for him. Osborne likes being diplomatic and also has a predisposition to make people feel all right. He is a very empathetic character as he has feelings in the war whereas most people don’t.

Osborne’s minor pleasure is comradeship. It is one of his ...

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