Journey's_End

Journey's End is the seventh and most famous play by R. C. Sherriff. It is set in the trenches at Saint-Quentin, France, in 1918, and gives a brief glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company in World War I. In this play, two of the outstanding and important characters namely Osborne and Raleigh meet their death in war at different times. Their death has great impact on the officers and soldiers alike in that company, “Company C”, and particularly on Stanhope, the commander of their infantry company. In the cause of this essay, I will be highlighting on the significance and symbolism of the death of the two officers Osborne and Raleigh in “Journey’s End”, and the effects it had on Stanhope. Firstly, in Act One, both main characters Osborne and Raleigh are introduced into the play. In the British trenches before St. Quentin lies conversation between Hardy, an officer of another regiment, and Lieutenant Osborne. Hardy talks about the commander Stanhope’s addiction for drinking whisky, whereas Osborne defends Stanhope by saying “His experience alone makes him worth a dozen people like me” and “You don’t know him as I do; I love that fellow. I’d go to hell with him.” From this, it can be seen that Osborne has a close relationship with Stanhope. Later, Raleigh enters the play and is introduced as a new officer in the company, and he is described as a young, enthusiastic, keen as well as naïve newcomer. He can be seen as inexperienced as he just joined the army from school and knows nothing about war in reality. In the conversation between Osborne and Raleigh, Raleigh talks his relationship with Stanhope and his anxiety to come into the same company as Stanhope. Raleigh and Stanhope were at school together, and Raleigh reveals “our fathers were friends, and Dennis used to come to stay with us in the holidays……we were terrific pals”. Later on, it also can be seen that Stanhope and Raleigh’s sister were attached. From this, it can be seen that Raleigh had a close relationship with Stanhope outside war. In Act Three Scene One, one of the major events in the play happens, and in this event, Osborne dies. This happens when Osborne and Raleigh, together with ten other soldiers takes part in a raid of the German trench to capture a German soldier so that intelligence of the great German attack can be extracted from him. In this raid that was considered absurd by Stanhope as it was preceded in daylight, Osborne gets hit by a hand grenade and dies. The death of Osborne here is significant as he is a major character of the play and is represented as the paternal figure of experience. In my opinion, R.C.Sherriff uses Osborne as a symbol of the many great and honorable men who died in World War I with bravery. Osborne is represented as a paternal and wise figure as he has a fatherly attitude and is being known as “Uncle” to Stanhope. He is not demanding and treats the others well, as can be seen in many areas such as tucking Stanhope into bed. In this play, there is no scene which shows Osborne losing his temper or getting frustrated, and that shows Osborne wisdom and maturity as he learns to cope with the stress of war with calmness, unlike Stanhope who indulges in alcohol to fight his stress and cowardice. In the play, Osborne can also be seen as the symbol of bravery and courage, as he does not show any signs of cowardice or weakness, and is ready to give his all to the raid that he was assigned to. Thus, it can be seen that Osborne, the paternal figure, is a symbol of the many great middle-aged men of bravery and courage who died in World War I for their country. Osborne’s death had tremendous effects on Stanhope and this is clearly reflected right after the raid of the German trench. When Stanhope returns to the dug-out after checking on the safety of the raid party, he has a dead and blank tone when he talks to the colonel. Stanhope then stares dumbly at the possessions Osborne left him before the raid that was to be returned to Osborne’s wife if he did not make it back safely. Following that, Stanhope asks Raleigh “Must you sit on Osborne’s bed”, as he cannot bear to be reminded of Osborne’s death. This scene is significant as it shows the grievance of Stanhope on losing his best companion. Further on, in Act 3 Scene 2, Stanhope, Trotter and Hibbert are at dinner in “celebration” of the successful raid. After awhile, Trotter brings up the raid in a conversation and that angers Stanhope. Stanhope says “Oh, for God sake forget that bloody raid! Think I want to talk about it'” Following that, Raleigh comes into the dug-out and Stanhope questions him on the fact that Raleigh did not join them for dinner. Raleigh admits that he has no appetite due to the fact that Osborne is dead. That angers Stanhope and in an explosion of emotion he says, “My God......You think I don’t care – you think that you’re the only soul that cares!” and “The one man I could trust – my best friend – the one man I could talk to as man to man – who understood everything – and you think I don’t care –”. This speech shows that Stanhope is greatly affected by the death of Osborne, described by Stanhope as the “the one man I could trust”. There is a great sense of anger that is perpetuated by Stanhope at the loss of his comrade. Stanhope explains that he had to force himself to forget the death of Osborne as there is a limit to what he can bear. In Act 3 Scene 3, the last scene of the play Journey’s End, the German attack comes and another important character, Raleigh, dies while trying to fight. Raleigh gets hit in the back by a German shell that breaks his spine and paralyses his legs. After a short while with the company of Stanhope, he dies in the dug-out. There is much significance in the death of Raleigh, who dies in the war just after three days of his arrival. Raleigh is represented by a figure of innocence and naivety, and he symbolizes youth and the injustice of war. Raleigh had to meet his fate of death just after three days of his arrival to the army, and this shows the injustice of war. Raleigh, described as young, enthusiastic and innocent, probably was used by R.C.Sherriff to symbolize the many young, innocent and enthusiastic men that fought bravely and died for their country in the war. The young officer's death is one of immense sadness and brutality. Stanhope must deal with another loss, this time of his school friend and new arrival Raleigh. The effects of Raleigh’s death are extremely great on Stanhope, probably due to the fact that he did not treat Raleigh well during his arrival to the company. There were many scenes of conflict between Stanhope and Raleigh, as Stanhope was partially annoyed by the fact that Raleigh’s sister was his girlfriend and that Raleigh could write all about his imperfections to his sister. At the last scene, when Raleigh was brought down to the dug-out, Stanhope treated him well and comforted him. This was probably because of guilt too, as Stanhope had been unreasonable towards Raleigh many times. After Raleigh’s death, Stanhope must leave his fallen friend as he is called for duty. He ruffles Raleigh’s hair and walks stiffly out of the dug-out. It can be seen that the effect of Raleigh’s death is immensely great on Stanhope, as Raleigh was a true friend of Stanhope in school and hero-worshipped him. The significance and symbolism of the two major characters in the play is great, as well as their effects on Stanhope. Osborne symbolizes the fatherly figure whereas Raleigh symbolizes the young and innocent men. Their death has great impact in the play Journey’s End, and it is also one of the major themes of the play. Their deaths show that war has no justice, and the brutal and unforgiving fate of war.