Journey's End

Journey’s end

The Great War Bold, heroic and no one will ever forget it. R.C Sherriff was one of the many officers who were involved in World War 1 as he was an officer in the East Surrey Regiment. Everyone’s experiences were very different, but no one expected it to be so intense and scary, but at the same time you had to have a lot patience because of the many moments where nothing happened. The anticipation could sometimes drive you mad. I think R.C Sherriff wrote the play Journeys end not only to entertain, but to inform the reader about his real experiences as well as the soldiers around him and lastly, what encounters with the enemy really felt like.

1914 is when it all began, and England needed all the soldiers they could get! The soldiers under the office of R.C Sherriff were located in a dug-out in the British trenches before S.T Quentin. I believe that this play was set towards the end of the war as many of the soldiers are quite experienced and have formed a day-to-day routine. Stanhope, the leader of the group, is also another clue that this was set towards the end of The Great War because it explains that he has seen many deaths and is too tired to carry on, so he drinks alcohol to keep his spirits up. This is apparent in Act 1 when Stanhope says, “Damn the soup! Bring some whisky!” after Mason explains that he is bringing soup.

First impressions are always extremely important if you want to create a lasting impression of yourself. My first impression of Stanhope, however, wasn’t a pleasant one. To me, he seemed bad tempered and slightly un-predictable. The fact that he was an alcoholic made me feel that if he was in charge of me, I would not feel safe in his hands. The way Stanhope was introduced in the play gave me the impression of his un-predictability as when Mason was bringing the soup, Stanhope seemed annoyed and once he heard that Mason was bringing soup to him, that aggravated him even more. There were also many rumors and opinions...