The Everlasting War
Pat Barker 's infamous novel, Regeneration the first of a trilogy, is an ideal representation of the historical fiction genre. Barker sets her narrative in Craiglockhart War Hospital a setting challenged with the aftermath math of war, she analyzes the sincere relationship between historical figures Siegfried Sassoon and his psychologist Dr. Rivers, and utilizes actual historical events of PTSD and conscription of young men to categorize her novel as a historical war fiction. Transforming the atrocity and traumas incurred by war into a novel is quite difficult, as the author must use a distinctive style of imagery and selective settings to convey the message effectively. Pat Barker was well aware of this while writing …show more content…
River 's, while assessing his patients came to this conclusion, "As soon as you accepted that the man 's breakdown was a consequence of his own war experience rather than his own innate weakness, then inevitably the war becomes the issue. " (Barker, 63) This novel is wrote on the foundation of the mental illness, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that occurred out of war. It was a mental illness that would flash images of war consecutively through a soldiers mind, and these images were often very frightening. PTSD was often referred to as a illness that comes from a soldiers mental incapability to withstand horrific moments. However River 's says in this text that it was not a consequence of a soldier 's incapacity but rather because of the war itself. The war did no good for the soldiers, they are risking their life, and if they were to surprisingly survive the war they would still suffer from mental illnesses.. It had related back to the real mental illness that immerged during World War 1, and how it affected soldiers globally. The literary criticism on this novel published by Karlstad University says " Jones and Wessely emphasize the fact that the idea that any soldier, even those who were well led and highly trained, could break down in action, as it was presented by Dr. Rivers, was not generally accepted by the military authorities until World War II. The Report of the War Office Committee of Enquiry into “Shell-Shock” of 1922 actually concluded that “regular …show more content…
Rivers challenged military authorities who believed that men with strong mental control was immune to "shell-shock" because he believed that once any man no matter how high his moral, would break down at the site of his friend being obliterated in front of him and compassion and feeling of despair makes up a human. His research was not accepted until the start of World War 2 when many soldiers could no longer fight in the war, because of their condition with "shell-shock". Another historical event Pat Barker depicts is conscription during World War One, governments needed man power and targeted young men across the country. They made it mandatory for youth to join, and had created enough propaganda to make youths feel obligated to fight in the war, as they believed it gave them prestige. Dr. River 's was furious about this brainwashing the government designed to recruit youths. He said, " A society that devours its own young deserves no automatic or unquestioning allegiance." (Barker, 50) During the war conscription was mandatory to gather troops, but many of them were young men who were assigned to war, immediately after their 18th birthday. Rivers says here that the countries which kills the young, should not deserve to form allegiances based on trust, and loyalty. He says this because, he strongly believes the youth are the future of tomorrow, and by using them for war, then there
Pat Barker 's infamous novel, Regeneration the first of a trilogy, is an ideal representation of the historical fiction genre. Barker sets her narrative in Craiglockhart War Hospital a setting challenged with the aftermath math of war, she analyzes the sincere relationship between historical figures Siegfried Sassoon and his psychologist Dr. Rivers, and utilizes actual historical events of PTSD and conscription of young men to categorize her novel as a historical war fiction. Transforming the atrocity and traumas incurred by war into a novel is quite difficult, as the author must use a distinctive style of imagery and selective settings to convey the message effectively. Pat Barker was well aware of this while writing …show more content…
River 's, while assessing his patients came to this conclusion, "As soon as you accepted that the man 's breakdown was a consequence of his own war experience rather than his own innate weakness, then inevitably the war becomes the issue. " (Barker, 63) This novel is wrote on the foundation of the mental illness, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that occurred out of war. It was a mental illness that would flash images of war consecutively through a soldiers mind, and these images were often very frightening. PTSD was often referred to as a illness that comes from a soldiers mental incapability to withstand horrific moments. However River 's says in this text that it was not a consequence of a soldier 's incapacity but rather because of the war itself. The war did no good for the soldiers, they are risking their life, and if they were to surprisingly survive the war they would still suffer from mental illnesses.. It had related back to the real mental illness that immerged during World War 1, and how it affected soldiers globally. The literary criticism on this novel published by Karlstad University says " Jones and Wessely emphasize the fact that the idea that any soldier, even those who were well led and highly trained, could break down in action, as it was presented by Dr. Rivers, was not generally accepted by the military authorities until World War II. The Report of the War Office Committee of Enquiry into “Shell-Shock” of 1922 actually concluded that “regular …show more content…
Rivers challenged military authorities who believed that men with strong mental control was immune to "shell-shock" because he believed that once any man no matter how high his moral, would break down at the site of his friend being obliterated in front of him and compassion and feeling of despair makes up a human. His research was not accepted until the start of World War 2 when many soldiers could no longer fight in the war, because of their condition with "shell-shock". Another historical event Pat Barker depicts is conscription during World War One, governments needed man power and targeted young men across the country. They made it mandatory for youth to join, and had created enough propaganda to make youths feel obligated to fight in the war, as they believed it gave them prestige. Dr. River 's was furious about this brainwashing the government designed to recruit youths. He said, " A society that devours its own young deserves no automatic or unquestioning allegiance." (Barker, 50) During the war conscription was mandatory to gather troops, but many of them were young men who were assigned to war, immediately after their 18th birthday. Rivers says here that the countries which kills the young, should not deserve to form allegiances based on trust, and loyalty. He says this because, he strongly believes the youth are the future of tomorrow, and by using them for war, then there