Journey's End by R.C. Sherriff
Page 2 of 11 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Purchase full notes for £4.95 (aprox $7.72)
He seems genuinely able to ignore it, and this rather annoys Stanhope who draws a picture of Trotter being blown up on the day of the attack on the little calendar the latter has drawn to count off the days until they are supposed to be relieved. His calendar shows Trotter’s ability to carry on a day-to-day existence of meals and duties without being constantly plagued by thoughts of death.
In this, Trotter contrasts completely with Sherriff’s main character, Stanhope. Stanhope is a young man who is erratic and unpredictable. He entered the war wanting to be a hero, and ends up carrying the burden of this image of heroism to his death; as he points out to Osborne, he feels his value in the eyes of Jimmy and Madge Raleigh is his heroism – both hero-worship him and will carry on doing so, Stanhope feels, ‘ – as long as the hero’s a hero.’
This burden is simply one that Stanhope cannot carry. Faced with the choice of going sick or taking to drink, he, fully conscious of his actions and their consequences, chose the latter. The whisky was there, ready and waiting: Sherriff indicates through a number of significant details that the army seems to think that the question ‘Will you have a drink?’ is the answer to most problems. Stanhope, however, refuses to give up his heroic dream (which has now become a nightmare) and he resolves to die. Raleigh’s arrival, of course, spoils his plans, but the audience can see his intentions in his idea of censoring Raleigh’s letters, as he muses drunkenly, ‘( dreamily ) Cross out all he says about me. Then we all go west in the big attack – and she goes on thinking I’m a fine fellow for ever.’
This is what makes Stanhope such a compelling character. Unlike the others, he draws on the strength that his (almost certain) death gives to him. This can be seen in his orders to the Sergeant-Major to have his company wired in, so that they cannot fall back. Most vividly, his conversation with Osborne in which he talks of seeing through things shows how far he has progressed along this path: ‘Whenever I look at anything nowadays I see right through it.’ Rather than simply avoiding the thought of death, part of him finds a grim comfort in contemplating it, and he sometimes seems to occupy a kind of middle-ground between life and death, as when he tells Osborne:
In this, Trotter contrasts completely with Sherriff’s main character, Stanhope. Stanhope is a young man who is erratic and unpredictable. He entered the war wanting to be a hero, and ends up carrying the burden of this image of heroism to his death; as he points out to Osborne, he feels his value in the eyes of Jimmy and Madge Raleigh is his heroism – both hero-worship him and will carry on doing so, Stanhope feels, ‘ – as long as the hero’s a hero.’
This burden is simply one that Stanhope cannot carry. Faced with the choice of going sick or taking to drink, he, fully conscious of his actions and their consequences, chose the latter. The whisky was there, ready and waiting: Sherriff indicates through a number of significant details that the army seems to think that the question ‘Will you have a drink?’ is the answer to most problems. Stanhope, however, refuses to give up his heroic dream (which has now become a nightmare) and he resolves to die. Raleigh’s arrival, of course, spoils his plans, but the audience can see his intentions in his idea of censoring Raleigh’s letters, as he muses drunkenly, ‘( dreamily ) Cross out all he says about me. Then we all go west in the big attack – and she goes on thinking I’m a fine fellow for ever.’
This is what makes Stanhope such a compelling character. Unlike the others, he draws on the strength that his (almost certain) death gives to him. This can be seen in his orders to the Sergeant-Major to have his company wired in, so that they cannot fall back. Most vividly, his conversation with Osborne in which he talks of seeing through things shows how far he has progressed along this path: ‘Whenever I look at anything nowadays I see right through it.’ Rather than simply avoiding the thought of death, part of him finds a grim comfort in contemplating it, and he sometimes seems to occupy a kind of middle-ground between life and death, as when he tells Osborne:
previous next
Purchase full notes for £4.95 (aprox $7.72)
