Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff is a play that details the psychological toll on military officers assigned to trench warfare during World War I. War is and has always been one of the most psychologically taxing activities of the human race. History books or even accurate reenactments do very little to help people identify with those who had to fight for their beliefs or freedom. Journey’s End provides a very well-constructed set of examples to help the viewer understand the plight of military officers, and many mechanisms used to help cope with war.
The story begins in the evening of the eighteenth of March, 1918. The setting is the officer’s quarters’ common room, in a trench dug-out near the front lines by Saint-Quentin, Aisne. The sound of the mortar shelling on the front line can be heard through the entranceway, each successive explosion …show more content…
Dispirited and afraid, he feels he can no longer deal with the day to day experiences of front-line trench warfare and therefore decides to feign an advancing form of neuralgia in his eye. This is in an attempt to be sent home without being in a body bag or being considered a deserter. Stanhope is very suspect of the legitimacy of Hibbert’s claims. This is a very common method of escaping responsibilities in the military even today, and is considered dishonorable. Modern military training attempts to instill coping mechanisms into the recruits, hoping to prevent this type of behavior. Later in the play, Stanhope reveals to Hibbert that he also has the same feelings of fear and hopelessness. Stanhope’s alcoholism is preventing him from breaking under the pressure, although simply compounding the detrimental effects. Stanhope seems to want to instill the same method onto Hibbert by offering him alcohol brought to him by Private Mason, but in the process realizes how futile the efforts really happen to
The story begins in the evening of the eighteenth of March, 1918. The setting is the officer’s quarters’ common room, in a trench dug-out near the front lines by Saint-Quentin, Aisne. The sound of the mortar shelling on the front line can be heard through the entranceway, each successive explosion …show more content…
Dispirited and afraid, he feels he can no longer deal with the day to day experiences of front-line trench warfare and therefore decides to feign an advancing form of neuralgia in his eye. This is in an attempt to be sent home without being in a body bag or being considered a deserter. Stanhope is very suspect of the legitimacy of Hibbert’s claims. This is a very common method of escaping responsibilities in the military even today, and is considered dishonorable. Modern military training attempts to instill coping mechanisms into the recruits, hoping to prevent this type of behavior. Later in the play, Stanhope reveals to Hibbert that he also has the same feelings of fear and hopelessness. Stanhope’s alcoholism is preventing him from breaking under the pressure, although simply compounding the detrimental effects. Stanhope seems to want to instill the same method onto Hibbert by offering him alcohol brought to him by Private Mason, but in the process realizes how futile the efforts really happen to