Here Osbourne quite passionately illustrates Stanhope's life since the War began, in and out of the front line and his subsequent drink problem is his way of coping with the strain.
The audience quickly comes to see that Osbourne is right to admire Stanhope because when a new officer, Raleigh, arrives, as a raw recruit straight out from England, it emerges that Raleigh straight out from England, it emerges that Raleigh knew Stanhope well before the War. When Raleigh arrives in the trench he meets Osbourne. Osbourne is very welcoming and warm towards Raleigh and Raleigh explains that Stanhope and himself were friends at school before the War and furthermore their father’s were friends so they spent a lot of time together in the holidays.
(Raleigh) “ of course, at school I didn’t see much of him, but in the holidays we
were terrific pals”
Through Raleigh it becomes apparent that at school Stanhope was
(Raleigh) “skipper of rugger at Barford, and kept wicket for the eleven. A jolly
good bat, too.”
It also arises that Stanhope was very keen on keeping his friends and team-mates in shape. He was against smoking and punished some of the students at school severely when he found them drinking whisky in a study
(Raleigh) “Lord! The roof blew off. He gave them a dozen each with a cricket
stump.”
Raleigh uses this incident also to prove that he is already familiar with Stanhope's quick temper that Osbourne mentions. Raleigh also lets slip that that Stanhope and Raleigh’s sister are not officially engaged but are seeing each other.
(Raleigh) “you see, Dennis used to stay with us, and naturally my sister
(he hesitates) – well – perhaps I ought not –“
Raleigh hesitates because at the time that the play was written (late 1920’s) having casual partners was not as socially accepted as it is today and it was more common for couples to be officially engaged.
Clearly Raleigh and Stanhope once had a very close relationship. Osbourne remarks on what a coincidence it is that Raleigh is posted into Stanhope’s company.
(Osbourne) “it’s a big fluke to have got to the same company”
Then Raleigh admits that before he was posted into a company he visited his uncle whose job it is to assign officers to regiments.
This was a brave and perhaps a foolish thing for Raleigh to do because, as it turns out, Stanhope is not at all pleased to see him. To begin with Stanhope shows little recognition of Raleigh this is because he is so surprised to see him and is sorting out his feelings about Raleigh’s presence. After Raleigh leaves to go on duty with Trotter, Stanhope talks to Osbourne about his feelings. He explains that Raleigh sees him as a hero and Stanhope was expected to look out for him when they were at school.
(Stanhope) “Raleigh’s father knew mine, and I was told to keep an eye on the
kid.”
More significantly Stanhope is worried that Raleigh will write to his sister and expose him for what he is, his nerves a wreck and his drink problem.
(Stanhope) “You know he’ll write and tell her I reek of whisky all day.”
Also it appears that the presence of Raleigh has upset Stanhope and forced him too think and look at the state he is in. For these reasons Stanhope displays hostility towards Raleigh and makes it clear that he does not wish to renew his friendship.
(Stanhope) “Don’t Dennis me! Stanhope’s my name! You’re not at school now!
Go and inspect your rifles!”
Another reason why Raleigh was foolish to join Stanhope’s unit is because a big German attack is expected in the area that the company is posted.
(Hardy) “And don’t forget about the big attack”
Instead of welcoming Raleigh Stanhope rejects him. Stanhope’s fear of Raleigh exposing him causes him to be very unfriendly towards Raleigh and paranoid.
(Stanhope) “It’s no good, Uncle. Didn’t you see him sitting there at supper? –
Staring at me? – and wondering? He’s up in those trenches now – still wondering – and beginning to understand.”
This paranoia and distrust of Raleigh causes Stanhope to make irrational decisions and therefore he decides to censor his letters so Raleigh cannot write bad things about him.
(Stanhope) “Wants to write home and tell Madge all about me. Well, he won’t;
d’you see, uncle? He won’t write. Censorship! I censor his letters – cross out all he says about me.”
When Stanhope comes to take Raleigh’s letter to censor it he becomes desperate and is extremely hostile and cold towards his old friend.
(Stanhope) “D’you understand an order? Give me that letter!”
(Raleigh) “But I tell you – there’s nothing –“
Stanhope clutches Raleigh’s wrist and tears the letter from his hand.
This shows the level to which Stanhope has stooped.
When Osbourne reads Raleigh’s letter to Stanhope however, we discover that he still has nothing but praise for his old friend. This makes us admire Raleigh because he really does show he is a true friend of Stanhope and does not betray his trust or have a bad word to say about him, despite his unfriendly and cold behaviour towards Raleigh. It also makes us admire Stanhope because despite stooping to such desperate measures it shows us that Stanhope is simply trying to protect his honour. Other qualities I have noticed in Stanhope and admire him for are his commitment to his work. This is shown when Osbourne explains the length of time Stanhope has been out in the War “Nearly three years.” And also when Osbourne tries to get him to rest “Sleep? – I can’t sleep.” Also he has the courage to talk to the other men and he can relate to them and tries to cheer them up.
To Hibbert (Stanhope) “Because I feel the same – exactly the same! Every little
noise up there makes me feel – just as you feel.”
Raleigh quickly makes friends in the dugout. The other soldiers admire his enthusiasm and he and Osbourne become quite close. Unfortunately, however, their friendship is short-lived because the pair of them are chosen by the Colonel to lead a raid on the German trenches. With the big German attack coming, the purpose of the raid is too see what troops are in the line opposite where Stanhope’s company are. The Colonel suggests that Osbourne and Raleigh to be the two officers to lead the men. During the attack Osbourne is killed during the attack by a hand grenade. The stress of the raid and the death of Osbourne have a serious affect on Raleigh and he is very shocked by the whole experience when he arrives back in the dug-out.
‘Raleigh comes slowly down the steps, walking as though he were asleep; his hands are bleeding.’
The evening after Osbourne’s death the Stanhope and other officers spend the evening festively, drinking champagne and smoking cigars. When Raleigh fails to come down for his dinner with the other officers, Hibbert informs Stanhope that Raleigh prefers to be with ‘the men’ than with the officers. This annoys Stanhope and he becomes irritable, his temper flares further when Raleigh eventually comes down and refuses his dinner. Raleigh can’t understand how Stanhope and the other officers can be so festive in the aftermath of Osbourne’s death. Stanhope realises this and is annoyed that Raleigh doesn’t understand and thinks that him and the other officers do not care about Osbourne's death when he is really trying desperately to suppress his grieving and forget. All this leads to a big confrontation between Stanhope and Raleigh. First Stanhope shouts at Raleigh about him not joining them for dinner and for saying that he prefers to be with ‘The men’ than with the officers.
(Stanhope) “What did you tell Hibbert”
(Raleigh) “Hibbert? I – I didn’t say –“
(Stanhope) “Don’t lie”
Then Raleigh brings up the real matter that is causing the tension between them. When Stanhope asks him why he won’t eat Raleigh finally admits that he doesn’t understand how they can celebrate.
(Raleigh) “Good God! Don’t you understand? How can I sit down and eat that –
when – (his voice is nearly breaking) – when Osbourne’s – lying – out
there –“
But what Raleigh doesn’t understand because he is so new to the circumstances of War, is the strain of War on a man and the strain and grief of continuously losing comrades. Furthermore he doesn’t understand the way in which a man copes with those circumstances and it is at this moment that Stanhope explains to Raleigh that the only way to cope is to not grieve and simply try to forget as the suffering of continuously grieving is unbearable. At this point Raleigh is enlightened and the realisation makes him feel very guilty.
(Stanhope) “The one man I could trust – my best friend – the one man I could
talk to as man to man – who understood everything – and you think
I don’t care –“
(Raleigh) “But how can you when?”
(Stanhope) “To forget, you little fool – to forget! Do you think there’s no limit to
what a man can bear?”
A large part of the emotion in the play is in this moment. At this point in the play both Raleigh and Stanhope have the audience’s sympathy. The audience sympathises with Raleigh because he is evidently very disturbed by Osbourne’s death and also by the behaviour of the other officers. At this moment of realisation he understands one of the horrors of War, that your close friends may die and the only thing you can do to keep going is forget. The audience sympathises with Stanhope because he is forced to break his routine of pushing aside the grief of his close friends death and confront it in order for Raleigh to understand why he appears to show no emotion.
What makes the barrier between the two men so poignant at this moment is that they so clearly feel the same but deal with their feelings in different ways. We also realise that they are rapidly running out of time before the Germans launch their forthcoming attack and therefore have very little time in which to revive their friendship.
The very next morning the Germans attack as expected. During the fighting Raleigh is hit in the back with a part of a shell which breaks his back. Stanhope orders the sergeant-major to bring Raleigh down to the dug-out and he comforts him.
(Stanhope) “Steady, old boy. Just lie there quietly for a bit.”
It becomes a apparent at this moment that all is put right between Raleigh and Stanhope as they do not argue and Stanhope comforts and nurses Raleigh in his final moments.
(Stanhope) “it’s quite alright Jimmy”
Stanhope takes on the role as Raleigh’s guardian, watching over him as his job was before the War. There are no hard feelings and the two both make up for their argument.
(Raleigh) “It’s awfully decent of you to bother, Dennis. I feel rotten lying here –
everybody else – up there.”
(Stanhope) “ it’s not your fault, Jimmy.”
The play ends with the explosion of a German bomb upon the roof of the dug-out. It puts out the candle, which Stanhope brought for Raleigh whose eyesight was failing. The significance of this ending is that impending death is often symbolised by the extinguishing of fire. As with the death of Osbourne earlier in the play
(Osbourne) “I do hate leaving a pipe when it’s got a nice glow on the top like
that.”
My personal opinion of the play is it is good because it conveys its message of the true horror of War well. It stirred my emotions by displaying the grim reality of War and the effects the circumstances had on the men. It is especially emotive, as the story of the two main characters is so poignant.
