Manhood Vs Manhood

Pat Barker sets her novel Regeneration in Craiglockhart War Hospital during the First World War. Craiglockhart is where the traumatised and shell shocked British soldiers are sent to be cured under the watchful eye of army Psychiatrist Dr William Rivers. Not only are the soldiers suffering from shell shock, they’re also fighting to save their manliness. Masculinity and gender roles play a massive role in the novel and this essay will show that Barker explores these themes through the thoughts and feelings of the shell shocked and sometimes confused soldiers. One theme that Barker explores throughout the novel is the theme of homosexuality, and even though it’s not clear, Barker implies that Dr Rivers is homosexual.

Masculinity is a quality of a man, a man who empowers strength and expertise to achieve goals easier. The essence of being masculine, illustrates powerful behavior, such as courage, and audacity. Stephen, fifteen-year-old pulp-cutter trying to fit into an environment, feeling extremely honored, as his father modeled, "become a man", impels a decent reputation in his father’s

Being a man can mean many things, depending on who you speak to or what your own standard is. The traits of a man can fall into being tough or just being a humble kind individual. When we look at the instances of Willy Loman and Walter Lee, we see men who both have a sense of what being a man is like. But are too caught up in their dreams in life to be steady enough to handle the responsibilities needed in both circumstances.

"Regeneration" was written by Pat Barker, a university-trained historian and this is confirmed by the presence of very reliable sources in the "Author's Notes", at the end of the novel. It was written the 1980's which has enabled her to gather a lot of information about the war. Pat's grandfather had been bayoneted during the war, and Pat would see his scars when he went to the sink to wash. His experiences in the war made influenced Barker's understanding of the period, making the effect of the war more immediate and personal. She attributes her immediate inspiration for "Regeneration" to her husband, a neurologist, who was familiar with Dr. Rivers's experiments on nerve "Regeneration" in the early twentieth century, yet she chooses not

The movie surveyed a wide array of the troubles faced by boys and men as they try to navigate the realm of masculinity. A common theme was the command “be a man” and the cultural baggage that comes with living up to that ideal. To “be a man” means to not cry, to not be sensitive, to not let people mess with you, to respond with violence, to be angry, to drink, to womanize.

Modern fascination of war-related trauma in World War I and relating themes are prevalent in Pat Barker’s “Regeneration.” This example of historical fiction highlights the types of psychological damage brought

A large majority of ‘Regeneration’ is told from the actual participation in war from patients who took part in World War One (But not from their voices) that consists of horrific insights into the implications of war. Sassoon also had seen to be having some hallucinations that were brought up at the start of the play. With the time being written being very important and when Sassoon said that he had seen, “corpses, men with half their faces shot off, crawling across the floor”. This is a very graphic depiction of how war was, unlike ‘Journeys End’. Furthermore, Sassoon also references one time where he “nodded off on a bench” and, “when I woke up, the pavement was covered in corpses”, “old…black” which helps to create an atmosphere and images into the

The effects of this issue are further reflected upon in Tim O’Brien’s war story The Things They Carried, where Vietnam War era veteran O’Brien narrates his fictional account of the war and its effects on its combatants as a way to cope with the inflicted grief and regret of battle. Throughout the story and through other veterans’ accounts, it is evident how storytelling can be an effective medium to assuage these mental effects of war on a veteran. Most prominently, war’s effects on soldiers are mainly physical with disabilities causing a lasting effect on those who once fought and now wish to adapt to civilian life. However, the idea of not being able to adapt completely lies with the lesser known effects of war inflicted disabilities, with PTSD mentally scarring soldiers for periods of their life and depression following suit. Like how hospitals and bandages heal bullet wounds, O’Brien proves how writing and storytelling serve as remedies to patch up the mental wounds caused by war.

The US soldier at this stage suffers questions one humanity and begins to completely break away and lose sanity.

This makes it more factual and life like than ‘Regeneration’ ; a novel written by Pat Barker in the early 1990s (after the First and Second World War) so was more of a second hand version of the war. Most of her inspiration for this book was from her step- grandfather who served in the war, and had scars both inside and out but refused to talk about the war with her. Both Regeneration and Journey’s End explore the horror of war and psychology effects of war wrought soldiers, in different ways.

For decades, psychologists have studied the ways in which returning soldiers have struggled to cope with the horrors of war, diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in thousands of individuals. While some experience only mild nightmares, others completely lose the ability to communicate, control their emotions, or form rational thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder can diminish or even disappear completely, but more often they worsen with age. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, mental illness in late adulthood can be linked to past involvement in the military. Having worked with electricity and radar signals during the Second World War, Chief Bromden suffers from paranoia and hallucinations

What does it mean to be a man? How does one qualify for the title? Is the term "man" simply referring to male human beings, or does it hold a greater measure of meaning in society. In order to get more insight into this subject matter, I consulted, " The Tormont Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary". As I anticipated, the first definition for man stated as following: "An adult human being as distinguished from a female". This definition, did not surprise me, but what did ,was what followed it , it stated: A male human being endowed with such qualities as courage, strength, and fortitude, considered characteristic of manhood". To be a man in our society one must posses such qualities, along with honor, reliability and endurance. This

When he is brought out of hypnosis, Prior feels intensely angry. He feels responsible for the deaths of his two men. He recalls the story of an officer who commands that his troops fire on another regiment, only to find out that they are English, not German. He says he knows what that officer must have felt like. Rivers consoles Prior that there is no one kind of man who breaks down.

What makes a man, a “man”? Is it how much money he makes? The car he drives? The life he lives? Or, the amount of “Masculinity” that he shows? These are some of the stereotypical question that becomes the ideas of what men should have or strive to achieve. In Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar by Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden, they bring forth the ideas/thought of what the characteristic of men should be, by the overly influential control Disney and Pixar have on us and our future generation. Similar to what Matthew Immergut, in his article Manscaping: The Tangle of Nature, Culture and the Male Body, they both share ideas on the thought of man. The argument addressed in the question is either the way we view masculinity should be changed or not to determine us as men. In which the answer is, yes it should. Male or man, is a gender identity which show/ categorize, us separate from our female counterpart, Female or woman. But then are criticized on their place a “males” by getting in situation the emasculate them. Just because men independent or allowing for help, either overly sensitive or possess a lack of emotion, or whether or not “he” shaves his body or not should deter what the worlds thought on his masculinity

The theme emasculation appears several times throughout the novel Regeneration in variety of forms. Barker’s exploration of emasculation in the novel challenges traditional notions of manliness, showing war as a possible “feminine” experience. Pat Barker is bringing to attention that the atrocities suffered at war are making the soldiers unmanly as they’re facing shell shock and trauma. There are many situations in the novel where emasculation is expressed, where there is loss of power, masculinity, deprive of the male role and identity has taken place.