R.C. Sheriffs Journeys End :: Journeys End English Literature War Essays

R.C. Sheriffs Journeys EndJourneys end was first produced on 9th December 1928. The play waspresented on 21st January 1929. R.C.Sherrif did not specialize out to glorifywar he set out to show the reality, devastation and what life wasactually desire during the war. R.C.Sherrif had been a soldier so thosethat knew what it was like saw his portrayal of warfare as authentic.He does this through eyes of officers, which is different to how it isdvirtuoso by most play writers, as their role is to a greater extent senior and afterdoing their duties they also have responsibility for other men andtheir lives. The five principal roles in Journeys end are of foursomeofficers Osborne, Raleigh, Trotter and Hibbert and there is alsoStanhope who is the commander of c company. They all represent verydifferent characters, Osborne is a very level-headed, older more rise person. Raleigh is a young boy who has just left school. Hefinds the war very exciting and he is enthusiastic about it. Trotteris a fat, jolly sort who loves his food he is a very homely man.Stanhope is the authoritarian yet he needs alcohol to cope but hetakes his job very seriously. Hibbert is basically a waste of space heis a malingerer as he tries to get home by faking an unsoundness itbackfires on him though as Stanhope has the same illness and he isstill there, he refuses to let Hibbert go home, yet Hibbert says hewill go anyways but then Stanhope talks him into staying. I thinkR.C.Sherrif uses five people with very different characteristics andemotions to show how different people cope with the stresses of theWar.Act three scenes one and two offer the first dramatic parts inJourneys end. Most of the play up to this point is building up,conversation amid the officers, with them building Raleighsknowledge of what will happen during the big raid. At the beginning ofAct three scene one the colonel comes to see if everything is ready.When they do the raid and get the German Soldier, they dont find outmuch . I think R.C.Sherrif does this because with him knowing what lifewas like in the war he is trying to get the point across to theaudience that things dont always go as they are planned. Then whenyou find out Osborne and work force have been killed it seems like a waste oftime and lives. In the next scene when you see how all the men feel,it really feels authentic to how the men would of snarl and makes you