Journey's End analysis- Play

From 'Down to the dressing station' to the end of the play.

Throughout this extract, Raleigh is close to death and from this, we see the effect of friendship between Stanhope and Raleigh becoming strengthened.

Stanhope starts off by telling Raleigh he's got a 'blighty one' meaning he is able to go home from his injuries. The fact 'he smiles' as he says this presents him protecting Raleigh's innocence as he knows he is going to die from his wounds. However, wanting to save his innocence by giving him the image of home as he dies. This is also one of the first times throughout the whole play where Stanhope refers to him as 'Jimmy', again this may be in the sense to give him a feeling of home or maybe to recommence his behavior towards Raleigh so he can die in peace and friendship of Stanhope.

Stanhope takes on a fatherly figure role towards Raleigh throughout this extract by 'It's not your fault, Jimmy' and by acting 'cheerful' as he gives him water. He acts like a father by protecting him from containing any guilt and tries to remain happy to comfort him. From this, Raleigh in turn acts childish, seeming vulnerable. He asks 'can you stay' and asks for a light as 'it's so frightfully dark and cold', being like a child by being afraid of the dark. This is reinforced by stage directions calling him just a 'boy' which emphasises just how young he is and brings into account his naivety and innocence. 

The stage directions towards the end of the play portray the loss of innocence in Raleigh as he dies in the setting of war. This is shown through 'the faint rosy glow of dawn is deepening to an angry red'. The change in colour to an 'angry red' may be a representation of hell or it may be foreboding death and blood. This is reinforced later through 'red dawn glows through the jagged holes of the broken doorway'. The disappearance of the 'rosy glow' implies the romantacised scene of Stanhope's and Raleigh's friendship coming to an end. Also the appearance of Raleigh shows his innocence lost from his 'pale drawn face, and the dark shadows under his eyes'. The 'pale' portrays the horror of war taking toll on his youth and the 'dark shadows' presents him being accustomed to war and of his exposure to the reality. Raleigh is shown to 'lie in the shadows' meaning all his innocence has been lost and his youth and personality have died in the setting of war. 

Lastly, the sound imagery depicts Raleigh dying to the sound of war. 'The thudding of the shells rises and falls like an angry sea'. The simile which compares the shells to the sea is used for the audience to make something unimaginable, such as the shells, imaginable by comparing it to something everyone has seen, to give a picture of the reality. Also, through 'very faintly there comes the dull rattle of machine guns'. 'Faintly' implies a sense of haunting and as the 'machine guns' are personified gives them the power to haunt Raleigh's soul. 

The Soldier Rupert Brooke analysis

Throughout the poem is a strong sense of patriotism with the first stanza showing sacrifice and personifying England as a motherly figure and the second stanza presenting after war peace will come.

 Brooke uses personal pronouns of 'If I should die, think only this of me' to make the whole poem more personal to him. It also shows him worrying about death and the acceptance of it as there is a strong possibility of it being the outcome. Also presenting as if it's his last words, as though it's his will giving people a last impression. 'Some corner of a foreign field' implies he will remain only a small part, but he brings the essence of England as he is buried there as if it's his conquest. Reinforced by 'richer dust concealed' 'dust' presenting religious imagery of the ashes of the men. The repetition of 'rich' implies the earth is wealthy and that he is more important than the earth. It also presents the beauty of the nature. The personification of England is shown as 'England bore, shaped, made aware' of England being a mother having the intimacy in the 'dust'.  Religious imagery is also shown through 'washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home' as 'washed by the rivers' portrays a baptism and shows blessing, presenting war as holy. Also, 'suns of home' reinforces the idea of England being its mother.

The second stanza also presents religious imagery of 'all evil sins shed away' as again, war being holy and purifying the soldiers souls. The 'pulse in the eternal mind' could present God's mind pushing the men into war. 'The thoughts by England given' shows England made the soldier, as if he is a product of England. Lastly, 'under an English heaven' presents how peace will come after sacrifice and the superiority of England being 'heaven'.

Birdsong pg162 analysis

'At first he thought' until 'had not yet dreamed of'.

This extract presents the realty of war and also how warfare has changed in WW1. From Stephen thinking the war 'could be fought and concluded swiftly in a traditional way' shows the difference in the ideology of warfare and the actual reality. Fighting war in a 'traditional way' explores the old fashioned strategies of war, being fair in a sense of organisation and artillery use, compared to this war being the first in which uses new weapons and techniques men have never perceived before. Stephen also presents the cruel reality of war by how he watched men 'pouring bullets' into the enemies. The action of 'pouring' simplifies the action of the shooting by using the metaphor of an easy and simple thing to do. It also takes away the emotion of the machine gunners showing the demoralisation they adopt during war. The contrast of 'traditional' warfare to WW1 is reinforced through 'there was no longer any value accorded to a mere human life' as traditional wars are seen as honourable but by the men being dehumanised into being nothing of 'value' presents the reality of war being deplorable especially to the extent of a 'mere life' portraying them being lower than a poor and hopeless life. The 'mechanical slaughter' represents a metaphor which again, shows the emotionless and continuation of killing, as if the men were like machines in a factory. A 'breach of nature which no one had the power to stop' implies the laws of nature being broken by 'breach' and everyone being powerless to the natural order of war. Stephen describes the 'dazed and uncomprehending faces he saw through the blood and the noise' showing the complete confusion of war 'dazed and uncomprehending' depicts the reality of war exploiting the soldier's minds, creating a whole atmosphere of chaos and confusion, reinforced by the 'blood and noise' of which no one could begin to understand. The triplet of the war being 'permitted, reported, glossed over' presents the war being controlled by the government of who know exactly what is going on and allowing it from being 'permitted' and 'reported' but hides from the public at home what is really happening in war by it being 'glossed over'. The rhetorical question of when 'could they stop?' implants into the readers mind of how far the men are being degraded to. Lastly, Stephen describing the war proceeding into an 'annihilation on a scale the men themselves had not yet dreamed of' portrays this moment as only being the calm before the storm as the events which are about to take place are unimaginable even witnessing what is happening now. 'Annihilation' and 'dreaming' may be seen as juxtaposition as 'dreaming' portrays a fairy tale like vision of an event whereas 'annihilation' portrays complete destruction.

Siegfried Sassoon: The last meeting analysis

Sassoon uses religious imagery, 'Ghost has flown' to present the soul leaving the body flying up, maybe towards heaven. Also, to show him having purpose, life still connecting them as friends. He also uses religious imagery later, 'he is lost among the stars' presenting him as being something to wish upon, to pray to. The word 'lost' provides a sense of the unknown and exaggerates his distance from the world through death.

Also, 'Dusk drew on' the alliteration here enforces the idea of people carrying on their normal lives around him, being unaffected by what seems so important to him. He also uses alliteration with 'low laughter' to insinuate the friendly familiar tone of their friendship, 'low' being as an undertone which always remains without being obvious.

Sassoon uses the short sentence 'he was old' to represent maybe the short life he has left to live, maybe also to show the little purpose he has left.

He uses personification of 'stood the empty house; a ghostly hulk', this presents his fear at this point in the poem, reinforced by 'ghostly hulk' as if there is something haunting about the house, in this case who he is meeting.

He says 'My body is the magic of the world' showing his physical body is now part of the world of which his spirit has left, yet he is still involved.

Lastly, he states 'that you may share my wisdom and peace' meaning he has left behind his knowledge through his actions people will now learn and take on.

Sassoon: Declaration of the war analysis

Sassoon is shown to be strong minded and wilful through using emotive language to take on a leadership role of the other men, he was the voice of collective, yet in doing this he was not portrayed at being pompous. This is shown when he says 'I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops'.

Sassoon is also shown to be honest and passionate as he believes he has the right to express his opinions on the war because he experienced it first hand, he does this by using declaratives such as 'I have seen'. This is effective as by presenting his thoughts as facts, more people will take an interest than if they were just seen as his personal thoughts.

The use of repetition and alliteration shows the continuous, harsh conditions of the war. He repeats 'suffering' throughout the poem to present the on-going cycle of suffering and the alliteration of 'callous complacency' gives the sound 'c' as dissonant, relating to the effects and expectations of war.

Lastly, Sassoon uses religious imagery of war he 'believes to be evil and unjust', he does this to relate to what religious people may class as evil. Also to represent how, like in war people turned to God for saviour as he was the most powerful thing, he is turning to religious imagery to class as something so horrific as evil.

 

 

 

 

Extract of Strange Meeting pg18

In this extract, Hill uses imagery to present the effects of the war on Hilliard. From him not noticing the rocks 'were damp, from the seaweed trailing over them' shows how the effect of war minimalizes everyday problems into nothing at all, he's used to the horrific conditions of war so here he has nothing to complain about. The 'seaweed' could be a metaphor for the government trailing over the 'small cluster of rocks', symbolising the men in the trenches. It could also show the government dehumanising the men from this, by being 'damp' shows the cold-hearted feelings and decisions the government has towards them. Hill also uses imagery to show the conditions of war. As they 'rose like shadows, scarcely able to see one another at ten yards distance, through a thick mist'. The simile of 'rose like shadows' presents the men lifeless and dull, like a 'shadow'. It could also present the physical body being disconnected from the mental state, from the word 'rose', meaning their minds leaving their body like a 'shadow' because their body is feeling fatigue but their mind stays alert and always one step in front. The ghastly conditions are presented as being hardly 'able to see one another at ten yards distance' gives the feeling of being close to someone but yet feeling isolated, unable to connect with them, in this case caused by a barrier of 'thick mist'. Like how the 'mist' could be symbolising war and how it is a barrier to friendship. Lastly, Hill also presents the comfort of childhood to Hilliard, 'all the admonitions of childhood came back to him' as Hilliard remembers his childhood, he could feel a sense of safety and comfort. However, Hill could also be using this as a symbol of Hilliard feeling belittled by the government, as from war he is remembering the 'admonitions of childhood'. It is reminding him of what he was told to do when he was younger as what he has to do now.

Extract analysis on Jouney's End pg 12-13

Throughout the extract, we discover the realities of war as well as the loss of innocence through the character Stanhope as Hardy and Osborne have a discussion about his drinking.

Firstly, Hardy asks Osborne 'How is the dear young boy? Drinking like a fish, as usual?'. Here, we can see Stanhope's innocence as Hardy refers to him as a 'young boy', showing
Stanhope is younger than himself and therefore he may think of Stanhope as innocent because he hasn't experienced as much as himself in life, so he still has a lot to learn. Hardy also calls Stanhope 'dear' which could show Stanhope to be unstable, though he's under stress for example, and in this situation Hardy is referring to the effect war has had on him, leading him to 'drink like a fish'. However, Osborne is the only character so far in the play to show true understanding for to why Stanhope drinks like he does. The other men, such as Hardy, know why he drinks but without taking notice or caring about the full extent, instead they treat him as entertainment, which is shown when Osborne says 'I suppose it amused everybody; I suppose everybody cheered him on' and referring to Stanhope as a 'freak show exhibit' showing in the reality of war, the men were bored a lot of the time so had to find something entertaining to do, so they 'cheered him on'. It could also show, it was usual for the men to see others become affected by war, such as them having to drink to be able to cope.

Also, Sherriff presents the character of Osborne as wise and considerate. He says to Hardy 'everybody thought it was a big thing to do. [There was a pause.] Didn't they?'. Sherriff uses the dramatic pause here, to present Osborne trying to manipulate Hardy's thoughts, he is trying to show Hardy the real meaning to Stanhope's drinking, to present how everyone else reacted to him drinking wasn't a good thing. He asks 'didn't they' as a rhetorical question, to get Hardy thinking to try and understand how Stanhope was affected by this, as Hardy takes Stanhope's drinking as a joke, but Osborne understands the deeper meaning as he has witnessed the horrors of war on men.

Hardy says '[laughing]; Imagine Stanhope spending his leave in a country vicarage sipping tea! He spent his last leave in Paris, didn't he?', throughout this extract we see Osborne trying to give Hardy understanding towards Stanhope, but still we see him take Stanhope as a joke, as he is 'laughing' as he makes a joke of Stanhope going home on his leave. Sherriff shows Osborne to reply with a short sentence as just 'yes', showing him may be becoming annoyed with Hardy's remarks as he still doesn't understand the point he's trying to make. Also, Osborne responded like this to show to Hardy he isn't impressed by the comment he made because he respects Stanhope and doesn't think it is right to be making such remarks. Sherriff is showing here, not just the pressure of war the men had at this time, but also the pressure they received from home to make their families proud. This is something Stanhope can no longer do, he went to Paris on his leave because he knew he could not go home as he wants to keep his father proud, the last time his father had seen him was when he won an MC award, and now he's resulted to drink to be able to cope with war, something which would put his family in shame. This, therefore is why Osborne does not appreciate Hardy's comment and portrays it as being disrespectful.

Lastly, Hardy cuts in to Osborne when he talks about how hard Stanhope works by saying 'oh, I know; he's a splendid chap', showing he is missing the point of empathy Osborne is trying to make him feel, presenting to the audience Hardy, like most of society at that time doesn't understand the emotional effects war has on people, that they should just have to put up with it to protect their country. Also, Sherriff could be presenting Hardy's loss of innocence as war could have made him loose his empathy for others so now he doesn't understand how other people are feeling,  or how it is they have to cope because of the  pressures of war.