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

R.C. Sheriff's Journey's End Journeys end was first produced on 9th December 1928. The play was presented on 21st January 1929. R.C.Sherrif did not set out to glorify war he set out to show the reality, devastation and what life was actually like during the war. R.C.Sherrif had been a soldier so those that 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 is done by most play writers, as their role is more senior and after doing their duties they also have responsibility for other men and their lives. The five principal roles in Journey’s end are of four officers Osborne, Raleigh, Trotter and Hibbert but there is also Stanhope who is the commander of ‘c’ company. They all represent very different characters, Osborne is a very level-headed, older more mature person. Raleigh is a young boy who has just left school. He finds the war very exciting and he is enthusiastic about it. Trotter is 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 he takes his job very seriously. Hibbert is basically a waste of space he is a malingerer as he tries to get home by faking an illness; it backfires on him though as Stanhope has the same illness and he is still there, he refuses to let Hibbert go home, yet Hibbert says he will go anyways but then Stanhope talks him into staying. I think R.C.Sherrif uses five people with very different characteristics and emotions to show how different people cope with the stresses of the War. Act three scenes one and two offer the first dramatic parts in Journey’s end. Most of the play up to this point is building up, conversation between the officers, with them building Raleigh’s knowledge of what will happen during the big raid. At the beginning of Act three scene one the colonel comes to see if everything is ready. When they do the raid and get the German Soldier, they don’t find out much. I think R.C.Sherrif does this because with him knowing what life was like in the war he is trying to get the point across to the audience that things don’t always go as they are planned. Then when you find out Osborne and Men have been killed it seems like a waste of time and lives. In the next scene when you see how all the men feel, it really feels authentic to how the men would of felt and makes you