How does Sherriff convey his opinion on war in Journey’s End?

Playwright R.C.

Sherriff

conveys his distaste and disgust about

war

in “Journey’s End” through the story and experiences of his characters and his own experience in the

First

World

War

. The

play

was

first

performed in 1928, a decade after the

First

World

War

, and the

play

was set in 1918, 3 days before the

spring offensive

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Spring Offensive

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, Germany’s

last

effort

of overtaking

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to overtake

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the

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Allies

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allies

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Allies

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.

Sherriff

served as an Officer of the 9th battalion of the East Surrey Regiment in the

first

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First

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World

War

, one time in 1917 he was severely wounded in the infamous battle of Passchendaele, having a

near death

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near-death

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experience.

Sherriff

would

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apply

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also

emphasize

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emphasizes

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the looming violence of

war

throughout the

play

, with each act ending with a sentence remarking

the

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on the

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constant sound of shelling and gunshots with stage directions mentioning how “In the quiet can be heard the low rumble of the guns up north.”, “Heavy guns…booming miles away”

“Very

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and “Very

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faintly……spatter of rifle fire” Which constantly reminds the reader of the constant

war

happening during the duration of the

play

, creating a sense of dread and insecurity. What’s interesting is that throughout the acts,

sounds

Correct article usage

the sounds

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of machine guns and rifle fires seemingly get closer, suggesting and symbolizing the nearing Spring Offensive.

This

further

amplifies the tension present during the

play

.

Sherriff

skillfully utilizes the

play

as a vehicle to depict the monotonous yet harrowing reality of

war

. In a pivotal act, a young soldier named Raleigh just returned from a trench raid, what’s noteworthy

i

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I

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s that one of his commanding officers Osborne, whom he has grown close to, died during the raid, and after his Captain, Dennis

Stanhope

, insisted he celebrates alongside with his fellow

soldiers

, overwhelmed by grief, Raleigh resolutely exclaims, “Good god!” “How can I eat when Osborne is lying out there?” The phrase “Good God” showcased Raleigh’s fragile mental state.

This

emotional and sometimes even physical instability is common among

soldiers

serving in the

war

, particularly young, susceptible recruits who were enticed by propaganda would go on to haunt the

soldiers

for years even after the end of the

war

.

This

condition is known as post-traumatic stress disorder, more commonly recognized as PTSD or shell shock.

Soldiers

would experience incessant explosions and shelling from the enemy which would often traumatize young

soldiers

, depleting their mental and physical capabilities.

Sherriff

effectively captures the coping mechanisms employed by

soldiers

to navigate the overwhelming stress of

war

through the character of

Stanhope

. Throughout the

play

,

Stanhope

relies heavily on alcohol as a means of escape, with the character Osborne remarking how

Stanhope

would drink “Till his nerves are battered to bits” before entering the front lines, the word “battered” projects an image of a completely drunk and defeated soldier, who wouldn’t have cared if he died in battle, which was what

Stanhope

was presumably trying to achieve.

This

would cause

Stanhope

to eventually succumb to alcoholism. He openly admitted that he can’t go into the front lines “without being doped up with whiskey” a powerful choice of words as it is seen as an attempt made by

Stanhope

to numb himself from the unceasing violence caused by

war

.

Soldiers

would often drown themselves in alcohol to give them “Dutch courage” a term believed to have originated from

soldiers

’ reliance on Dutch gin to prepare for the horrors of

war

.

This

further

showcased how

war

mentally affected

soldiers

and how some of them would rather be completely unconscious when in battle

rather

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apply

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than

facing

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face

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them with full mental control.