How does Journey’s End end explore the ways in which the men in the play react to war?
“Good God! Don’t you understand? How can I sit down and eat that — when — when Osborne’s — lying — out there —”
“My God! You bloody little swine! You think that I don’t care — you think you’re the only soul that cares!”
“And yet you can sit there and drink champagne — and smoke cigars —”
“The one man I could trust — my best friend — the one man I could talk to man to man — who understood everything — and you think I don’t care —”
“But how can you when —?”
“To forget, you little fool — to forget! D’you understand? To forget! You think there’s no limit to what a man can bear?”
Journey’s End- the seventh play written by English playwright and soldier
…show more content…
That’s just the point.”
Raleigh is portrayed as a young, keen newcomer who wants to fight for his country and do everything he can to help the company and prove himself. This enthusiasm, whilst good in some cases, provides him with an exceptionally distorted perception of what the war was like. Once he has been out on the front line for the raid, and has seen the reality of it all, he is completely shellshocked and doesn’t know how to feel or how to react, deciding to seclude himself from the other officers and to not eat dinner (page 90).
Stanhope- “Why didn’t you come down to supper when I told you to?”
Raleigh- “I — I wasn’t hungry. I had rather a headache. It’s cooler up there.”
As he is so young and naive, he doesn’t understand how everybody else can just carry on as normal, forgetting about what just took place or the friends that they just lost, and how they can suddenly go back to their games or drinks as if nothing ever happened, not realising that the games and drinks are their distractions and ways of handing it
…show more content…
However, his humour is not light- hearted and fun like theirs; he has a more rude, ill- mannered style, similar to Captain Hardy’s. He tells many stories about his past relationships, talks about women in a disrespectful manner, and treats them as if they are objects. Although it is meant to reduce the tension, it actually increases it as they do not all have the same sense of humour and these stories and jokes do not get on well with Stanhope, who angrily says to Trotter after Hibbert has left the room, “Doesn’t he nearly drive you mad?” and “Doesn’t his repulsive little mind make you
War is a devastating event which tears nations apart, and causes death and pain in the hearts of the inhabitants. Whether it is the countries strong males being sent off into the battle zones, or the young children, war scars people. Soldiers are dehumanized, and lose all morals and sense of right and wrong. In the book Long Way Gone, Ishmael and his friends are dehumanized through the war because of the traumatic events they endure, and their time spent in solitude away from civilization; luckily, they were able to regain humanity through the love and hope provided from others.
During their battles the squad sees that survival is not something that is taught but a matter of pure chance. They see their allies shooting allies. Their close friends in the war are killed and they must face the reality that getting out alive is luck. The goal of killing the enemy turns into just trying to stay alive yourself. And when their time is done they are faced with mourning for those who fell and bitter sweet relief that it is over.
Kurt Vonnegut is able to put a man’s face on war in his short story, “All the King’s Horse ”, and he exemplifies that in a time of war, the most forgotten effect on nations is the amount of innocent lives lost in meaningless battle due to unjust rulers fighting each other against a nation’s will. As Americans, we are oblivious to the fact that we have people fighting every day for our country. In addition, we ignore the fact that we do a lot of collateral damage and hurt innocent people unintentionally in order to get what we want. Vonnegut shows the reader in Pi Ying’s own sadistic way of demonstrating how he feels about war brings attention to the point that war, while unruly and cruel, is nothing
In the story, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael’s life experiences while escaping the war show how everything in life should be cherished, because one day those great features are there but they can easily be taken away. Ishmael Beah has experienced the traumatizing effect of war and how it can tear someone apart and morph them into a completely different person. This happened to Ishmael himself. He was brainwashed and his mind was molded into believing that revenge is the answer to the deaths of his family members. This essentially is why he puts his safety and wellbeing at risk. He goes from being a twelve year old boy who heard stories of the war, but never imagined it chasing after him, to running away from this inescapable war only
Forgetfulness can be seen in many different lights; it can be seen a bad thing, or a good thing. In the poem “Forgetfulness” by Hart Crane, the speaker utilizes similes and metaphors to convey ideas about forgetfulness in order to develop the theme; in the poem by Billy Collins with the same name, the speaker utilizes personification and irony to convey ideas about forgetfulness to develop the theme.
This quote in the first chapter of the book sets the overall tone. The author Tim O’Brien uses his language through out the book in an extremely straightforward manner. He does not sugar coat the way going to war and being in a war is. He does not use stories of heroes,
As you have read war is a very different type of world everything is turned around and it confuses people. The author of the book The Things They Carried and the writer of the quote "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories. Wrote about war so people could have a better understanding of
First, the reader must understand just what makes a good "war story". The protagonist of the novel, Tim O'Brien, gives us his
War can destroy and divide individuals. For instance, when Tim is asked by Mr. Heron to deliver a secret message, but his father doesn't want him to. The reason Tim was doing this is because he wanted to impress Sam, but father wouldn't let him because he could get lost or hurt. When Tim said,” … I didn't mean I have any opinion.” This shows that he doesn't know if he should go
“I groan to remember it, and when we started to die, then I refuse to remember”
This passage helps the reader understand how the emotional burden of uncertain death weighed on the soldier. However, it also acts as a symbol by giving light to the fact that the emotional baggage they carry was brought about by their own fear of humiliation and shame. Many of the soldiers are there only to avoid the persecution that ensued those who evaded the draft. Through the use of symbolism, O’Brien is able to effectively highlight the burdens faced by the soldiers who conformed to the expectations of society.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a true war story. This book is very powerful and shows many strong and thought compelling themes. It goes into great detail about war and puts many new outlooks on what it take and what it can do to a person. One of his main themes that recurs in many instances throughout this book is the view on death and violence from the perspective of war and having been a soldier. Tim O’Brien gives us many examples of his thoughts and views on death by explaining them through parables or stories that may not be completely true but can teach us exactly what his outlook is on this certain topic.
War is a decision made using human lives to sacrifice and save.Transition- “My Brother Sam Is Dead” by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier, is a book not just about fighting, but also Tim’s decision to decide between injustice, and freedom. Thesis- Tim’s pronouncement was to be neutral towards the end of the book, due to the
The horrors of war were depicted by the constant threats to the characters lives, the brutal conditions of the bad weather, hunger and combat. Soldiers had to battle the enemy along with nature. Soldiers would become stressed, paranoid and start losing their personalities. As Captain Miller says, “I just know that every man I kill, the farther away from home I feel.” This quote shows the mental toll on these soldiers.
Naturally, life is a continuous cycle of experience and learning. Yet often times so much is buried in our lives that we fail to remember or recall what we have learned. Memories that range from miniscule facts to important emotions can often leave unknowingly from our mind. Billy Collin’s “Forgetfulness” shows how memories are delicate and fragile, and that the process of forgetting is one that is nonchalant. Billy Collins effectively blends subtle humor and irony with a dramatic tone shift to explain that ideas and facts that people think are important flee the mind, showing that nothing good can last. Although he refers to memories in a lighthearted, thoughtful manner, the poem gradually shifts (just