Pat Barker's Regeneration
In her novel Regeneration, Pat Barker uses character development to emphasize the various themes in the novel. Pat Barker includes Robert Graves, a well known poet and writer, as a secondary character in a fictional setting. We are first introduced to Robert Graves on page five, where he meets with a very good friend Siegfried Sassoon in the lounge of the Exchange Hotel. During their conversation, they express, through their actions and language, a deep love for one another. In Barker's Regeneration, the importance of love and intimate friendship between men during war develops from the relationship between Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon.
As Miranda Seymour tells us, Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon, near London. He was the first born son to Amalie von Ranke Graves and Alfred Perceval Graves. He was a handsome little boy with wide gray eyes and black curly hair. He attended seven different schools throughout his life. As a child he attended Wimbledon branch of King's College, but then was removed for using inappropriate language. He then was sent to Rokeby and made his name as a quarrelsome bully. Soon there after, he attended a school near Rugby "where he learned the forceful style of English which enabled him to appeal to a lay audience even with the most obscure subjects" (Seymour). Finally, his last preparatory school was Copthrone which was located in Sussex (Seymour). In 1913 he received a scholarship to study at St. John's College, Oxford but soon after, in 1914, he enlisted as a Junior Officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers ("Robert Graves").
As a solider in World War I, Graves became injured in the battle of Somme. During his recovery, he published his first poetic collection, ...
... middle of paper ...
...et concerned for his good friend Sassoon and to be there for him. He understands what Sassoon is going through because he has been through everything that Sassoon has. This relationship offers the introduction of the theme, love between men during war, a theme not only represented in the novel but in all times of war.
Works Cited
Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003.
"Graves, Robert Von Ranke." Encarta Microsoft Encyclopedia Standard. 2002 ed. CD rom. Microsoft Corporation, 2002.
"Biography of Robert Graves." Robert Graves Website Project. 13 April 2003.
<http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~rschumak/bio_rg.htm>
"Robert Graves." Academy of American Poets. 13 April 2003. <www.poets.org>
Seymour, Miranda. Robert Graves: Life on the Edge. 1995. 14 Apr. 2003. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/books/chap1/lifeonedge.htm>.
Many soldiers who come back from the war need to express how they feel. Many do it in the way of writing. Many soldiers die in war, but the ones who come back are just as “dead.” Many cadets come back with shell shock, amputated arms and legs, and sometimes even their friends aren’t there with them. So during World War I, there was a burst of new art and writings come from the soldiers. Many express in the way of books, poems, short stories and art itself. Most soldiers are just trying to escape. A lot of these soldiers are trying to show what war is really like, and people respond. They finally might think war might not be the answer. This is why writers use imagery, irony and structure to protest war.
Looking towards the second protagonist, Andy can also be a good role model for young boys. Even though the events that lead Andy into the war are not admirable he does show great attributes during the war. Andy is a young man of courage, maturity, mate ship and just like Henry, integrity and honesty. When faced with danger Andy is quick to quite literally step up to the mark. In combat, the soldiers were hastily called to ‘man the fire step’. Andy showing bravery and courage was the first to volunteer himself, manning the fire step all through the night. It is through these sole actions the reader gets a taste of Henry and Andy’s personalities, highlighting the minor messages in this book such as honor, mate ship and responsibility. If we were to look at the boy’s love lives, we would see the more prevailing message of relationships. Henry and Andy both face hardships in their romantic lives. With Henry in a struggling, unhappy relationship with his girlfriend (Marcelle), Henry finds himself more attracted to his friend’s girlfriend (Janine). When his friend (Trot) is killed off the most un-fascinating and foreseeable way possible, it leaves Henry in a sticky situation. Through all this, Henry can stay true to his moral code just like a real Aussie. On the other side, Andy also gets himself into a sticky situation when he regrettably impregnates a girl (Frances-Jane) while in another relationship (Cecelia). However, Andy does not abandon Frances but instead turns to her and his unborn baby for comfort in his time of darkness and despair. He shows integrity and honesty by choosing to tell Cecelia the truth. In the time of Andy’s story this was an orthodox thing to do. The author accentuates the belief through that even if society tells you it’s the wrong thing to do it is sometimes best to stick to your morals. The actions of these young men are a good influence to the social,
ed. Rostand, Edmond. The "Rostand, Edmond The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 22nd ed. of the book. 1994.
177–181. 14-21. The 'Secon Academic Search Premier -. Web. The Web. The Web.
The words Negro, nigger, and nigga have always been a sensitive topic, yet it is a topic that needs to be addressed in light of the more common use of its vernacular. One word is used to describe a color, while the others are used to define a people. It’s very clear to many the negative connotation these words carry, but where did these words come from? Furthermore, is there a difference between the word nigger and nigga; and why is it that African-Americans now use the word nigga to degrade each other in today’s society? These words, in spite of their spelling, still holds the same degrading power as it did during the time of slavery, and they are still spoken out of cruelty and ignorance, but who is to blame? Can one still blame the Spaniards for considering people of a darker skin tone –Black? Can we blame the Europeans for perpetuating their hatred and ignorance of superiority over a race of people to the point they felt it lawful to define and dehumanize them? Or does the blame lie with the African-American race as we use this degrading labeling on our own kind, thus becoming the victimizer. Either way nigger or nigga are words that should be eliminated from the vocabulary of every human being.
Pat Barker's Regeneration focuses on the troubled soldiers' mental status during World War One. Barker introduces the feelings soldiers had about the war and military's involvement with the war effort. While Regeneration mainly looks at the male perspective, Barker includes a small but important female presence. While Second Lieutenant Billy Prior breaks away from Craiglockhart War Hospital for an evening, he finds women at a cafe in the Edinburgh district (Barker 86). He comes to the understanding that the women are munitions workers. Women's involvement in war work in Regeneration shows the potential growth in women's independence, but at the expense of restrictions placed on men while they were on the front lines of battle.
...overnment to guide them but not have absolute power and to rule with the consent of the governed (Locke). These ideals also influenced the revolution in France which jumpstarted their new government system. The Enlightenment had a long lasting impact on the world and without it the world would be a different place today.
...is interactions with his wife are filled with tension and he is saddened when he reflects upon the men lost during war and the death of his brother.
In conclusion, the author used a theme that conflict helps strengthen bonds. Some may argue that the main theme is about friendship. Though the author does mention this theme several themes it is not the main theme because it is not used often. The author spends more time emphasizing the value of relations between people and how they grow in times of conflict. Overall, the author uses emotional ways of the show not tell in a well-crafted novel to help readers know how we can connect it to our daily
MLA International Bibliography. The book of the year. EBSCO. Web. The Web.
... middle of paper ... ... The Web. 27 Jan 2014 Klempner, Mark.
According to Arp and Johnson, “Literary fiction plunges us, through the author’s imaginative vision and artistic ability, more deeply into the real world, enabling us to understand life’s difficulties and to empathize with others.” In the story The Metamorphosis by Kafka he uses his genius imaginative vision and artistic ability, making us understand and feel empathy toward his main character, Gregor. Kafka uses a tremendous amount of symbolism and metaphors to get us to feel the mood in the story and in general life’s difficulties.
Oxford Journal (n.d.) - pp. 113-117. Firchow, Peter. The. "
J.D. Salinger’s “For Esmé—With Love and Squalor” provides several symbolic characters and imagery to help show the deeper meaning to the stories’ surface. At the start of the story, a soldier and two young children meet and proceed to have, what seems to be an innocent conversation, yet turns out to be crucial. Sergeant X, better known as the innocent soldier, who was introduced at the beginning of the story, returns from war described as, “a young man who had not come through the war with all his faculties intact…” (Salinger 104). In contrast to the depressed solider, Esmé, the young girl, hides the emotional effects of the war ever since it took her beloved father from her. She represents the deeply
In the average family, parents try to recognize their children and treat them all equally, but that was not the case with the Samsas, where they recognized their son Gregor no more than a source of income. When Gregor was not able to work anymore after the metamorphosis, the family rejected his existence as a bug and he was neglected and treated with cruelty. The effect of financial pressure on Gregor’s social life took place before the metamorphosis, because Gregor has devoted all his effort and time into his job to serve the family’s needs, in the meantime he ignored his social life, which lead to an extreme sense of alienation. From a personal interpretation, Kafka tries to present Gregor as a frustrated building block of the bureaucratic system, which leads to the belief that Kafka was criticizing bureaucracy and prove that it is alienating on a much larger scale than one person; rather it could alienate an entire society or even a nation.