Journey's End (Penguin Modern Classics)

Product Information

Trotter : Well, boys ! ’Ere we are for six days again. Six bloomin’ eternal days. {He makes a calculation on the table.) During dinner, Trotter decides to make a chart representing the remaining hours until he and his fellow officers can leave the trenches. On a paper he draws 144 circles, intending to fill them in as the hours pass. By the end of dinner, only Stanhope and Osborne remain in the dugout, and Stanhope is exceedingly drunk. He admits that he’s afraid Raleigh will write to his sister—who’s waiting for Stanhope to return—and tell her about his drinking. Stanhope declares that he’s going to censor Raleigh’s letters, and Osborne puts his drunken friend to bed.

STANHOPE: There’s no need to—you see, this company’s a lot better than A and B Companies on either side of us. She doesn't know that if I went up those steps into the front line—without being doped up with whiskey—I'd go mad with fright." Stanhope, Act I, p. 31 A young officer fresh out of school. Raleigh went to the same school as Stanhope, who is several years older than him. As such, he has always admired Stanhope—so much so that he asked… In this passage, Osborne repeats his earlier suggestion that Raleigh's admiration for Stanhope will persist, despite the war-damaged person Stanhope has become. This quote is significant because it reveals Osborne's wisdom; as Stanhope will see when he hears Raleigh's letter, Osborne's prediction bears true.

OSBORNE: I suppose it amused everybody; I suppose everybody cheered him on, and said what a splendid achievement it was. He was so keen on the fellows in the house keeping fit. He was frightfully down on smoking—and that sort of thing. STANHOPE rises slowly. His eyes are wide and staring; he is fighting for breath, and his words come brokenly.]

OSBORNE: I believe Raleigh’ll go on liking you—and looking up to you—through everything. There’s something very deep, and rather fine, about hero-worship.Journey's End study guide contains a biography of R. C. Sherriff, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

STANHOPE: My God! You bloody little swine! You think I don’t care—you think you’re the only soul that cares! STANHOPE: 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 don’t think I care— Journey's End essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff. A tiny sound comes from where RALEIGH is lying—something between a sob and a moan." Stage direction, Act III, Scene 3, p. 94 In this passage, Trotter blithely recites a grim rhyme about a mother reassuring her daughter at the sight of her husband being run over by a tram. This passage is significant because it speaks to the play's thematic concern with repression, revealing how soldiers use gallows humor to remain in high spirits when faced with the grim reality of war.In this private conversation on the subject of Raleigh's idolization of Stanhope, Osborne and Stanhope touch on the theme of heroism. Having looked up to Stanhope at school, Raleigh and Raleigh's sister turned him into a hero. However, Stanhope reveals in this dialogue his concern that Raleigh will see Stanhope for who he is truly is, having been damaged by the effects of war. Osborne sees things differently, and has faith that Raleigh will continue to see him as a hero, despite Stanhope's drinking and temper. OSBORNE: A hundred yards from here the Germans are sitting in their dugouts, thinking how quiet it is. To forget, you little fool—to forget! D'you understand? To Forget! You think there's no limit to what a man can bear?" Stanhope, Act III, Scene 2, p. 85 The Captain of an infantry company stationed in the trenches of St. Quentin, France during World War I. Stanhope is a young man, but he has already seen three years of combat and has gained…