Class Distinctions in World War I Pat Barker's novel Regeneration explores the effects that World War I has on the human condition and more specifically on the condition of the British people. One particular area of exploration is the detrimental presence of class distinctions within the ranks of the British military. This issue of class distinction is addressed specifically on pages 66 and 67 of the novel through a conversation between Billy Prior and Dr. Rivers. The characters' discussion reinforces Barker's theme of the injustices of these class distinctions and the harm they produce on the war front. Class distinctions were only too apparent within Britain's military entities. The Army "structured itself around class" and "in many ways . . . recreated the British class system in miniature: aristocratic generals, middle-class officers, and a working class rank and file" (Robb 84). This structure reinforced on the war front the class distinctions of the home front, and the "long-standing prejudices of the British class system ensured that enlisted men were treated almost like children." Some soldiers played the role of servant and waited on officers of high class who enjoyed luxuries unheard of to those existing in the grime of the trenches (Robb 85). In spite of the large gaps between fellow fighting men as a result of cross over social practices and of class structure within the ranks, the progression of the war caused some class boundaries to begin blurring as a need for more officers arose. The Army's initial officer class of 15, 000 men was expanded with the addition of 235, 000 individuals over the course of the war. The either permanent or temporary commissioning of these individuals gave them the title of "temporary gentlemen" ("Service"). This label of "temporary gentleman" applies to Prior in Barker's story, given his rank of Second Lieutenant. His lower class birth and provisional status place Prior in ridicule's way. During a therapy session with Rivers, Prior is asked how he "fit in" with those on the war front. In response to this question his "face shut[s] tight," and Prior asks, in order to clarify, "You mean, did I encounter any snobbery?" Prior answers his own question in the affirmative and informs Rivers that "it's made perfectly clear" who is immediately accepted at the front and who is not. He cites certain status enhancements such as having attended "the right school" or wearing shirts of "the right colour[,] [w]hich is a deep shade of khaki.
Waites B.A. "The Effect of the First World War on Class and Status in England, 1910-20," Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 11, No. 1. (Jan., 1976), pg. 34.
... work is timeless. The permanence of this play is owed to a clever intermingling of opposing belief systems. Shakespeare took the ancient contrasting themes of revenge and Christianity, he tossed in hypocrisy, and he mixed them up with the judgmental fingers of Tamora and Aaron. Although the legalistic demands of the Andronicus family are met with a storm of indictments of hypocrisy by the non-religious Tamora and Aaron, there is one unifying factor. All can agree on the importance of the first born son.
Comparing the Ways Michael Herr in Dispatches and Pat Barker in Regeneration Show the Effects of War
September 11, 2001 is known as the worst terrorist attack in United States history. On a clear Tuesday morning, there were four planes that were hijacked and flown into multiple buildings by a terrorist group named al Qaeda. This group, led by Osama bin Laden, killed nearly 3,000 people. Out of those 3,000 people more than 400 police and 343 firefighters were killed along with 10,000 people who were treated for severe injuries. Many lives were taken, and to this day, people still suffer from the attack. September 11th is the most influential event of the early twenty-first century because it made an increase in patriotism, it caused a rise in security throughout the nation, and it had a tremendous effect of thousands of lives.
In nearly every culture, certain distinctions exist which elevate particular members of society above others. These distinctions may be based upon age, wisdom, ancestry, gender or profession, but more often than not, class lines seem to be drawn on the basis of wealth. While the existence of these status groups may be harmless, when prejudice prevents the movement of individuals or social groups between and within classes, valuable human resources are being put to waste. This issue was of concern during the First World War. While the class system in place in Western Europe did allow for a certain amount of social mobility, distinctions among classes were nonetheless evident and well defined. Both Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Evadne Price’s Not So Quiet… call attention to the idea that social position should be of little or no significance in the face of wartime’s human pain, suffering and death.
September 11th, 2001 is one of the worst days in the United States of America’s history by far. It all began at 8:45am when a stolen airplane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Many people believed that this was...
Robert Graves wrote Goodbye to All That, an autobiographical war memoir, staring with a brief introduction to his life, continuing to World War One, and finishing shortly thereafter. Graves voices numerous opinions on various subject matter continually throughout the memoir, however, for certain subjects he tends to contradict himself, between his musings, thoughts and actions. This essay will explore how Graves view on class and social status varied throughout his memoir, and how this pertained to his life.
The British military was involved in some form of combat consecutively from 1837 to 1901. Consequently, military was a vital part of the life of a soldier or a young man looking to join the military profession. In order to join as an officer, a man had to purchase his position. However, those who entered as common soldiers could join for free. These men, however, were seen as the “lowest of the low.” If a man hoped to maintain his status in the military as well as society, he must first purchase his commission. Usually positions like colonel or captain were the first to be purchased. There were two forms of colonels, each carrying their own status. The first, known today as colonel proper was a “substantive rank from which seniority would eventually, provided they lived long enough, elevate them to join the generals” (Holves xix). The second form were colonels of regiments. They were field officers, known for advising their younger officers and having an interest in making profits from their position. This type of colonel usually made about six hundred to nine hundred pounds a year but made about four hundred more from government granted money for their regiments. Money given to regiment colonels was often used to buy cheap uniforms; the rest was pocketed by the leading officer. The colonel’s regiment bore his name and often carried a badge from his armorial bearings. Colonels could be promoted to lieutenant colonels, who were also field officers. In war-time, promotions based on merit were far more common that purchase appointments, which surprises many (Holves 108). After purchasing a commission as lieutenant-colonel, an officer must be promoted and could not purchase any higher positions.
Set just after one of England’s worst tragedies, Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway is a vivid picture of the effects of World War I on London’s high society, often in glaring contrast to the effects of shell shock suffered by war veteran Septimus Smith. For members of high society, the War’s impact is largely indirect, mainly affecting their conversations at posh social functions. Although the war has had little impact on these people, some strive to develop a deeper understanding of the War’s main consequence: death. For Septimus, who has endured the direct impact of the War as a soldier, however, the memories and traumas of the War are more real than the peaceful life to which he has returned. At the urgent pleas of his wife, doctors unsuccessfully attempt to help him regain the blissful ignorance of war that he once had. Woolf illuminates a perpetual clash between those who merely understand the War as a continuing news story, and Septimus, who knows it as a frightening reality.
At 8:46 a.m., the United States witnessed the first terroristic attack of many to come when American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower in New York City. Flight 11 impacted the tower between floors 93 and 99 ...
The mannerisms, attitudes, and background of the American and British soldiers contrasted greatly. The values held by the individual soldiers of the two armies differed. American soldiers had a tendency to think on their own accord and often with liberty in mind (143). In contrast, the British soldiers held the values that their army held (144). American soldiers often fought with the same men from their town or village (142). The British soldiers, however, were pulled from society and isolated from it (144). During the time of the British soldiers’ isolation, they were tightly disciplined and rigorously trained (144). This too shows a contrast between the British and American soldiers. British soldiers underwent a stricter regimen of training while the training Americans had was more informal. The commanding men of the armies, the officers, were different as well. The British officers held themselves aloof from war and quite distant from their men (145). British officers were also much harsher on their men and trained them more effectively (136). The American officer sought to achieve the refinement of the British officers but often failed in achieving it. (145). The training American officers gave to their men was also not as cohesive like the
September 11, 2001 was a regular day across the United States. The skies were clear in New York City, and the temperature was in the sixties. The entire city was beginning its Tuesday morning work day, which entailed a morning rush hour.
For most American’s their Tuesday morning on September 11, 2001 started off like any other week day. Families were doing their normal routine taking their children to school and heading off to work within hours may people would be participating in un- thought of duties. No one had any idea that by the end of the day what seemed like a normal Tuesday would forever be remembered in American history. Within minutes of 8:46 AM all Americans would know that this was not a normal Tuesday. This day would hold not one, but four attempted terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda on the United States. Two attacks on the World Trade Center, one attack on the Pentagon, and a failed attempt on the White House.
Conformity. William Bradshaw is another example of how the war differently affected the working class versus the aristocrats. Bradshaw is upper class, and wants conformity so England can be what it was prior to the war. Wolff explains this saying, “Sir William not only prospered himself but made England prosper, secluded her lunatics…made it impossible for the unfit to propagate their views, until they, too, shared his sense of proportion” (97) William represents a clear sense of conformity in the fact that he wants everyone to think the way he does, and it unwilling to see those who are different as individuals, he himself even says he is unwilling to even contemplate the idea of “madness”. He is trying to apply a mathematical equation to humans, as if they are simply problems that can be solved. He is not taking into fact that peoples experiences, like the war, change them and their stability, and it is something that will follow them forever. William simply thinks he can end the war for these patients by forcing them to behave in a way that he sees as proper. As long as people regain their sense of proportion, as will be well in his eyes. What William fails to see is the complexity of what it means to be human. William wants these people he sees as insane to conform in part so England can go back to how it was before the war, but that is simply impossible, as both the people, and the country, will never be the same.
Regeneration is set in Craiglockhart mental hospital in Scotland, although this is hundreds of miles away from the frontline, Barker is still able to show the trauma and both physical and mostly mental suffering that the war has caused to soldiers. Having such a setting has allowed the author to isolate the theme of mental breakdown. The introduction to the ‘’grey cavernous bulk of a place’ sets the tone of the setting of this institution.