Horror And Futility In Journeys End

Over the duration of the play, there is a large emphasis put on the theme of time and waiting. The play starts with Hardy's song, talking about females. Hardy is waiting for Osbourne to arrive, this is his pastime and then he'll 'start all over again'. In Journey's End, the horror of war is often shown in the subtext of the soldiers' conversations, not by the direct actions of the men. Hardy talks of pastimes such as 'earwig races'. They used the earwigs to win bets, whereas soldiers were used to win the war. Earwigs were 'dipped in whiskey - makes 'em go like hell!' Moreover, some who fought in the war drowned themselves in drink to take their minds off of the war, in addition to that they were given extra portions of rum if they were going out into No Man's Land to give them that extra bit of courage and confidence. The officers were waiting in the trenches for the big attack that was 'almost certain to come on Thursday morning.' The attack had a psychological effect on the officers and for some officers, the waiting was too much. Hibbert just wanted to go and get away from the attack, he wanted to 'go down the line', he said he had 'neuralgia'. Trotter made a chart to count the hours as they passed. This shows just how bored they were, and how they longed to get out of there and move further down the line. The audience were waiting for the next event to happen. The entire play was set in one place and from the play you can see that a lot of the soldiers/officers time was spent in the dugout. This meant for most of their time in the trenches they had very little to occupy themselves with and found themselves waiting again.

The newest officer is Raleigh, who 'looks a good chap'. When Raleigh enters the play in Act 1, Scene 1, he seems bewildered and uncertain of what he has got himself into. He 'only left school last summer' and when he enters the scene, he has very little experience as he 'only landed a week ago'. Raleigh's journey is, and has been, strongly influenced by Stanhope, and his presence in Raleigh's life. Stanhope knew Raleigh before the war, as their fathers were friends. When he first arrives in the trenches, at the beginning of the play, he is very enthusiastic about being in the war. He was 'keen to get out here' (British Trenches). He is also very ebullient about being in Stanhope's company, but this soon changes because of Stanhope's reactions to his presence. Raleigh soon realises that there is nothing noble about war. Raleigh discovers this by joining the army straight after finishing school and sees his hero torn apart, lost and drinking. He seems to fit in straight away and bonds with Osbourne before meeting any of the other officers. After the raid Raleigh realises why Stanhope had acted the way that he did.To Stanhope, Osbourne was 'the one man I could trust' this was because he 'understood everything'.His journey begins with how Stanhope 'looked splendid' and 'how frightfully quiet it is'.However, it ends with how 'frightfully dark and cold' it is.These two explanations of the atmosphere in the dugout contrast each other and show how over time, Raleigh's opinion of the trenches changes.

Commanding officer Stanhope is the company commander, is therefore under constant pressure, as he had to make tactical decisions, and is responsible for the welfare for a number of officers. At the beginning of the play, Sherriff chooses not to introduce the audience to Stanhope. Instead, the audience builds their own picture of Stanhope through the differing views of the men in his company. Hardy's strong description of Stanhope, forces the viewer to build a picture of 'a freak show exhibit.' However, Osborne, who argues that Stanhope's 'experience alone makes him worth a dozen men', opposes this view. It is obvious to the audience that Osborne holds Stanhope in high regard. These differing views make the audience believe that Stanhope is an immature man, who is always drunk. He is described as 'a drunkard' and 'a hard drinker'. Although this is proved to be far from the truth when the viewer meets Stanhope. Stanhope is considered by a 'long way the best company commander we've got'. During the play, we build up an image of Stanhope as being reserved and never expressing much emotion. Throughout the play, Stanhope's emotions are kept in restraint to avoid sentimentality. But at the end of the play, this lack of emotion shows the audience that Stanhope does care for Raleigh and wants to be strong for Raleigh's sake. Stanhope forms a strong bond with the officers, and he is seen as hard working and passionate, 'He's commanded this company for a year - in and out of the front line. He's never had a rest.' This would have a big effect on a young captain like Stanhope and could be the reason why he turned to alcohol. The horror of war would be revealed to him and the audience would be able to see how Stanhope is changing over the days.

The officers in world war one trenches would have their own personal cook. In the play Journey's End, the cook is Mason. Sherriff has used Mason as a distraction from war. R.C. Sherriff created characters that aid the audience's understanding of war through their emotions and dialogue. Each character generates an intensive atmosphere and prompts differing emotions and thoughts from the audience, expressing different feelings and reactions towards war, which all aggregate to the same thing, the fear that they are all going to die sooner than later. However 'Journey's End' is full of black humour, in an attempt to make the play less morbid then it actually is. They joke about the fact that they only have '25 left and 9 right' boots. Which may have seemed comical at the time but the unlucky soldiers who are stuck with two right boots may not have found it so funny. In addition to this they do not think about the fact that the boots may have been taken from dead soldiers. The odd number of boots may have been due to the rats gnawing at the boots or lost when taking them from dead soldiers, this could be most disturbing for the audience. Mason resembles Trotter because they both are humorous, Trotter purposefully trying to lift everyone's spirits, Mason just happens to be humorous when he talks about food. They also seem to both be unaffected by the war and their nerves remain steady, whilst Hibbert cracks and Stanhope has to depend on whiskey. Mason brings normality to the scene when he enters. His 'tea, sir?' seems to break the silence and distracts everyone's minds for a few minutes. However, Mason's normality makes him look out of place to the audience. Even though his is the regular person and the officers are the one's affected by the horror of war, Sherriff makes Mason seem abnormal. Mason has an accent, which is reflected on his position. He has to ask 'Excuse me, sir. Can I lay supper?' He addresses everyone correctly with 'sir'. He has to answer to the officers, as he is a servant to them.

In conclusion, I think in the play the reality of war is very successfully conveyed. The characters are believable and the way they deal with their stress and anxieties is true to the way we would in the same situation. R.C. Sherriff gives a good account of life in the war, as he fought in the war himself. R.C. Sherriff presents many different ways in which men reacted to the pressures of the First World War. He uses Hibbert to show the way some of the soldiers reacted, and then presents the opposite view of Stanhope who, despite being typical perfect solider, still has is moments of fear and self-doubt. He uses Osborne to represent bravery, courage and heroism. The play was written to make people contemplate the futility of war. World war one was a war, which lead hundreds of thousands of soldiers to their death. A road where millions met their death, World War One truly was a 'Journey's End'.