How does war affect relationships in Regeneration?

How does war affect relationships in Regeneration?

"Regeneration" is a novel that combines fact and fiction to describe a

soldier's experiences of the war. It does this successfully through a

series of relationships, not only of a sexual nature but also

relationships between Rivers and his patients, which reveal how

difficult it is for rivers to form a trust relationship with patients

and how stressful their revelations are on him. There are also

examples of friendships, between Sassoon and Graves, and love, in

particular between Priors and Sarah.

One of the first relationships we come across is the doctor - patient

relationship between Sassoon and Rivers. Evidence from their first

conversations seems to suggest that at least on an intellectual level

they are equal. Sassoon indicates his intelligence when Rivers

questions him about his declaration, he is quite aware of how it

sounds for a "Second Lieutenant" to say "The war must stop" however he

doesn't see how any war can "justify this level of slaughter." Sassoon

appears defensive at times during the first conversation, particularly

when Rivers refers to Sassoon throwing his medal in the river as

"agony." He appears to snap back almost immediately "No agony is lying

in a shell hole with your legs shot off" indicating his bitterness

towards civilian ignorance at emotional and physical suffering for

soldiers in the war. At this point Rivers, indicating the honesty of

the relationship, makes his opinion on Sassoon's state of mind clear

and tells him that he seems to have "very powerful anti-war neurosis"

and that it is his duty to "try and change that." This honesty is

essential in the relationship between Rivers and his patients. At this

time in the n...

... middle of paper ...

...ctant at first she agrees, as "the

thought of being collected from her lodgings by an officer was too

much for her." There is irony here, as she complains about the class

system and wants it to change, however she is thrilled at the thought

of being courted by an officer.

In the novel "Regeneration" the portrayal of the different

relationships gives us an idea of the effect war had on, not only the

soldiers but also the people back home, in particular the women. Which

as Prior pointed out in the novel "seemed to have changed during the

war." These relationships can also give us an idea of how the soldiers

felt connected and became comrades, but also of how, after being at

war for so long, the soldiers began to hate the civilians back home

for being so ignorant as to what was actually happening and being to

concerned with trivial things in everyday life.