Discussion of Themes in Journey's End by R.C Sherriff

Discussion of Themes in Journey's End by R.C Sherriff

Journey's End is a play about the full horror and futility of the

trench welfare in the First World War. During the war, the playwright

R.C Sherriff was an officer who was wounded in battle. He bases the

play upon his real life experiences - mirroring the way he and his

comrades fought and lived, re-living some of his past experiences. The

play gives the audience a clear insight into the reality of life at

war and explores the harsh conditions experienced by soldiers and

officers at the front line. Sherriff showed a lot of different themes

in his play, which made it very effective.

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. And finally he shows the friendship formed

between characters such as the relationship between Stanhope and

Raleigh.

Hibbert is a significant exception to the other officers, as he is a

coward, a weak and repellent man. He complains about a pain in his

eye.

"I don't think I can manage any supper tonight, Stanhope. It's this

beastly neuralgia. . .the beastly pain gets worse every day"

Stanhope allows him to turn in for the night but once Hibbert is out

of sight Stanhope makes a hypocritical remark to Osborne.

"Another little worm trying to wriggle home…"

We can gather that Stanhope doesn't believe what Hibbert is saying and

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...Raleigh even minutes after his death.

At the end of the play I finally realised the brutality of war, it was

very moving as many soldiers died when the trench collapsed including

Raleigh. However we are still unsure what happened to Stanhope,

Hibbert or Trotter. The death of Raleigh symbolises the appalling

waste of lives during the First World War. The audience probably

warmed to Raleigh because of his eagerness and excitement, however he

never realised the full extent of the war until the raid. I think that

Sherriff's message was to show people the effects of war on soldier's

minds.

I also feel that Sherriff had a hidden message of wanting to convey

the full scale horror of war, both physically and mentally. A small

disagreement between two countries or two opposing sides can result in

a massive loss of life.