comparison of the ways in which the psychological impact of war is presented in Journey s
... This choice gives the audience a visual presentation of the war. ... Sherriff, who fought in the war, wrote Journey’s End in 1929 therefore, because of the time of composition, Journey’s End ‘mirrors the way he lived and fought in the war and re-lives some of its incidents’ thus making Journey’s End biased in the ways it presents war, because of the emotional significance it has for Sherriff. ... The texts are set in two completely different places: Journey’s End in the trenches and Regeneration in ‘Craiglockhart Hospital’. ... The two settings not only offer different ways in which psychological impact is dealt with, they also tell us a little about the authors. It is obvious that Sherriff wrote Journey’s End to express his views and depict the reality of war while Barker is more interested in “examining what war does to people” (Barker) hence setting the story in a ‘lunatic asylum’ to use Sassoon’s description. There are many differences between Journey’s End and Regeneration, although both authors use various techniques to convey the psychological impact of war. ... These devices are based on how the psychological impact of war is shown through the characters’ experiences, characters’ language and setting and situation. ... It is through these men that the reader is able to understand the psychological impact war has on people. By describing their horrifying stories through flashbacks and ‘sessions’ in Regeneration, dialogue and stage directions in Journey’s End, the writers create empathy within the reader or audience. It is through the experiences of a character that the audience or readers learn about the psychological impact war had on the ‘soldiers’ such as Burns, Prior, and a number of minor characters in Regeneration and Stanhope and Hibbert in Journey’s End. There are many experiences that shock the audience and reader of Journey’s End and Regeneration. ... Barker’s portrayal of Burns’ ‘neurosis’ is not only horrifying but it is a constant reminder that ‘shell shock’ will almost certainly stay with a person after their regeneration which is why these ‘men’ are at ‘Dotty Ville’ in the first place. Burns woke up in ‘No Man’s Land’ after an attack with his mouth filled with a ‘decaying corpse’. ... It is in chapter four, when the readers see how severely the war has affected Burns. ... The impact of war has left Burns re living these events over and over again. Although not as extreme, Stanhope in Journey’s End can be with Burns. ... Although Stanhope is still at ‘The Front’ he suffers from ‘neurosis’ but, instead of ‘deserting’, Stanhope stays at ‘The Front’ and it is through his ‘drinking’ that the audience sees the psychological impact war has had on ‘the Commanding Officer’. Sheriff uses Stanhope’s drinking not only to show the effect war has had on him but it allows Stanhope to ‘cope’ with the enormous amount of pressure he has had to deal with. As the play develops, the audience see Stanhope’s imminent ‘break down’. ... It is in this scene that there is evidence of Stanhope’s ‘breaks down’. This is a very emotional scene, which has been brought on by Stanhope’s experiences at war. ... It is the last line, ‘I’m awfully proud to think he’s my friend’ that creates tension within an audience because no matter how Stanhope treats Raleigh, Raleigh still ‘admires’ Stanhope.