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The Changes In Bamforth Essay

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Discuss The Changes In The Character Bamforth

In the Malayan jungle in 1942 a british patrol is cut off from its base camp by the advancing Japanese. This hard hitting play explores what happpens when men have to confront the reality of war: can they kill another human being? It offers no easy answers but reveals the complex reactions of a group of ordinary soldiers under pressure.

The character of Bamforth in the play 'The Long, The Short and The tall, by Willis Hall is a complex one. It seems to undergo a series of changes as the story continues, especially when the patrol come across the Japanese prisoner.

At the start of the play, Bamforth obviously dislikes the Japanese.
When the patrol first captures the Japanese …show more content…

As the play progresses, we start to see a change in Bamforth's character. The Japanese prisoner ignites this apparent change in
Bamforth.

When Bamforth first meets the prisoner, he treats him like a circus animal, and, as previously quoted, compares him to a pig. He likes to do 'flingers on blonce', and finds it funny the prisoner obeys him. He says:- BAMFORTH "Flingers on blonce. Dlop Flingers. Get that! He dlops them like a two-year-old!"

He would be really chuffed that the prisoner is taking orders from him, and he would be telling the other members of the patrol, he is quite happy with the authority.

This quotes shows Bamforth bullying the prisoner and telling him to put his hands on his head. Bamforth enjoys bullying people who can not stick up for themselves (i.e Whitaker).

Bamforth discovers the prisoner's wallet. This is the exact moment in which his attitude towards the prisoner begins to change. Bamforth finds a photo of the prisoner's wife and children. He realizes that the prisoner is not what he first seemed. Bamforth begins to see that the enemy actually has feelings too. He finds out that the prisoner has children and compares him to Smith. Bamforth starts to change his thinking about the prisoner and the Japanese when he finds out that the prisoner is human. He is just like everybody Bamforth knows. It is easy for Bamforth to hate what is different and what he does not

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