 Hello and welcome to our video summarizing everything you need to know about the play Journeys End by RC Sheriff. My name is Barbara and in this third part of our video we will be examining themes. Now do remember that this is the third of a three part video series where we examine different aspects of the play including the plot summary which is video number one, the characters and quotes which are included in video number two and now in this final video we examine themes. So let's get started. Now the first theme is to do with friendship and relationships. Now this play showcases the effects that war has on personal relationships in particular sheriff focuses on how wartime power dynamics and interpersonal attitudes alter how people interact with each other. This is most evident in Stanhope and Raleigh's friendship which suffers because of the various stresses of military life. For the majority of his young adult life Raleigh looked up to Stanhope a classmate who eventually went off to war and became a captain. While Stanhope is off in the trenches of World War I Raleigh stays behind and finishes school all the while worshipping Stanhope as a hero. Later when Raleigh joins the military he is placed under Stanhope's command but although he is ecstatic to join his hero's infantry he soon discovers that his relationship with Stanhope is quite different. Not only has the war taken a toll on Stanhope's well being but his high position in the military also often forces him to treat Raleigh with rough indifference. In this way sheriff suggests that human companionship is highly contextual, something that grows according to the emotional circumstances that define their immediate environment. Like human beings themselves then relationships aren't fixed or unchanging but dynamic and adaptive. When Raleigh first reports to duty as an officer in World War I his overjoyed have been assigned to Stanhope's inventory he knows Stanhope from before the war but when the when the captain used to be a rugby hero several years his senior. Raleigh and Stanhope got to know each other and developed a friendship of sorts during the summers since the fathers were friends and Stanhope also became romantically involved with his sister who's now waiting for him to return from the war. Since this period Raleigh has looked up to Stanhope and imagined him as a valorous captain however he doesn't know that while Stanhope isn't indeed a well respected soldier he's also turned into a gruff and pessimistic alcoholic. Upon arriving in the trenches Raleigh speaks with Osborn the second in command and learns of Stanhope's transformation. Osborn is fond of Stanhope and also recognises that the wars had a harsh effect on Stanhope. He warns Raleigh that he shouldn't expect his relationship with Stanhope to pick up where it left off. Now Raleigh doesn't seem to grasp that Stanhope has changed instead assuming that his old friend who's become an alcoholic is still someone who would lose his temper over catching the subordinates drinking. Raleigh's conception of Stanhope is based on a frame of reference that can't effectively be applied to the current war-like circumstances. After all the way Stanhope interacts with the people in boarding school as a role model has little in common with what he must now act which is as a military captain trying to command soldiers in the trenches. Osborn for his part picks up on Raleigh's naive assumption that you'd be able to approach his relationship with Stanhope the way he used to. Now Osborn tries to emphasise that people change according to what's happening in their lives and if a person changes it follows that the relationships will also change. Stanhope himself also seems to understand this which is why he's unhappy that Raleigh has been assigned to his infantry. He knows he's changed for the worse and he comprehends that this means that his relationship with Raleigh will most likely change too for the worse. Of course another reason Stanhope doesn't want Raleigh to understand how he's changed is because he fears Raleigh will write his sister and tell her how wretched Stanhope has become. To ensure this doesn't happen he senses Raleigh's letters and in their tense conversation we find that Raleigh is unable to adjust these new wartime circumstances. However the rough exchange that they have exemplifies how both Raleigh and Stanhope struggle to navigate the new terms of the relationships during the war. Now by examining the painful transformation between Stanhope and Raleigh's relationship the playwright Sheriff makes it clear that friendship and human interaction is greatly dependent upon the surrounding interpersonal context however while relationships are certainly fluid and adaptive Sheriff suggests that there's certain bonds that are more resilient than others. Osborn for instance proposes this idea to Stanhope assuring that the captain rather that though his relationship with Raleigh has indeed changed this doesn't necessarily mean the war will completely ruin their connection. Although Raleigh certainly notices how the emotional and psychological effect of the war has influenced Stanhope as an individual and Raleigh's relationship with Stanhope we still see his admiration for the struggling captain which will enable to let him go on liking him. In this way Sheriff shows people that just because human interactions change according to the circumstances doesn't always necessarily mean that these human interactions are resilient. Though difficult environments like those presented by war force people to adjust in the way they interact with each other this doesn't have to ruin what lies at the core of a friendship and in the final scene of Jenny's end Stanhope treats the gravely injured Raleigh with gentleness and care and the audience sees that these two men have maintained the connection even if the context of the relationship has profoundly shifted. The next theme is expectations versus uncertainty. Perhaps the most challenging thing that soldiers and journeys and face isn't violence itself however they face the threat of violence. Although the trenches are situated just 70 yards from the German enemies the majority of the time is actually spent in nervous waiting and anticipation. In the long hours and even days between bursts of combat the soldiers left to grapple with their fear which grows in intensity when the battlefront is calm. Indeed most of the journey's end focuses on moments of calm suggesting that psychological elements of fighting a war can be just as harrowing and difficult as the physical elements and above all this fretful sense of constant waiting comes as an unpleasant surprise to soldiers like Raleigh who had expected war to bring with it a constant barrage of action and violence. The fact that the lack of activity so unsettles the soldiers suggests that expectations play an important role in how people deal with and prepare for difficult situations. Having come already to face constant violent action Raleigh finds himself psychologically unprepared for the quiet of the battlefront then suddenly he has to face intensely violent moments and once those end he has to settle into waiting again. By putting this cycle of inaction and action on display Sheriff suggests that there's no true way to prepare for war which is simultaneously calmer and crawler than anything the soldier could ever imagine. When Raleigh first arrives he doesn't know what to make of the seemingly tranquil atmosphere in the trenches and it's clear he's disoriented by the fact that the war doesn't really adhere to his expectations. He thought the war would be hectic dangerous at all times however he finds himself in a relatively peaceful situation and he doesn't know what to make of this. Osborne on the other hand is more experienced as a soldier and he understands that this odd quiet is characteristic of most war zones. Still Raleigh is disturbed by the fact that the battlefront is so different than what he had in mind and this ultimately reinforces the idea that knowing what to expect is an important part of staying psychologically grounded during wartime. The sense of anticipation in the trenches also endures Raleigh because of the seeming tranquility which only further emphasises all the bad things that could happen. Now for instance if we think about what he says he calls it uncanny and he refers the calm that presides over the battleground as seeming like they're just waiting for something. Whereas one might think that Raleigh would be glad the battlefront is quiet the uncanny calmness of the trenches only makes him dread the positivity of violence all the more. Forced to spend his days passing the time with baited breath it feels as if he's just waiting for something terrible to happen and this Osborne tells him it's simply the nature of war. Osborne tries to teach Raleigh to predict the very unpredictability of war. The only thing a soldier can know for sure is that he can't know for sure when something bad is going to happen only that something bad will happen. Osborne shows Raleigh the cycle of inaction and action that characterises military combat trying to get the young soldier to see waiting as an unavoidable part of war. Despite the fact that they can never know what to expect and even when to expect it Raleigh's fellow soldiers try to give themselves a sense of control or order over the passage of time for instance Trotter sketches out a chart full of 144 circles one for each hour of the six days which he and others spend in the trenches before retreating to safety and he crosses off the circle one by one which gives Trotter the feeling that he's somehow actively participating in how time passes and once he breaks the days down into smaller measurements of time suddenly everything feels far more manageable to him. Now we then find that in this moment the audience does see Trotter focusing on something that's tangible and constant after all though something terrible might happen in the intervening time hours and minutes they do pass and in turn Trotter this gives himself something to expect managing to ground himself psychologically. In addition to Trotter's time chart Sheriff installs an overarching countdown in Journey's End as Captain Stanhope learns that the Germans will stage a massive attack on the fourth day of his infantry's six day stint in the trenches. As such the entire play becomes something of a ticking time bomb. By suggesting that the Germans will attack on a certain day Sheriff gives the soldiers as well as we as the audience a full sense of certainty. They technically know when to brace themselves but they don't know when the exact time the Germans will strike will be nor do they know what form the attack will take. In turn the supposed certainty only exacerbates the sense of anticipation making them dread the unknown all the more. Thus Sheriff puts us as the audience members in a similar position to the soldiers inviting us to inhabit the turbulent emotional realm of someone awaiting doom in the trenches knowing only that something bad will eventually happen and above all this technique emphasises the terror of anticipating war suggesting that even the mere threat of violence can be just as harrowing as experiencing violence itself. Now another theme is that of fear so all of the soldiers in Journey's End find different ways to cope with their fear in fact their responses to fear can be broken down into three categories acceptance denial and evasion in general most emotionally stable characters are those who accept the situation is people like Osborn and Rally who acknowledge their own fear and unfortunate circumstances but still bravely carry out their soldiers duties. Stanhope on the other hand tries to stifle and thus deny his fear by drinking heavily while Hibbert tries to escape the war altogether by lying about various elements however the soldiers best able to handle fear like Osborn and Rally end up meeting their worst fate whilst the least brave characters like Stanhope and Hibbert apparently escape unscathed. In this way Sheriff the playwright intimates that although fear and cowardice are generally not desirable traits they're perhaps appropriate reactions to the gruesomely violent circumstances of war in other words the coping mechanisms that actually help someone get through war not necessarily those lauded in everyday life. Soldiers like Osborn and Rally don't like their circumstances but they learn to generally accept that they have to live under the constant threat of death indeed they do what they can to normalize the situations. When Rally first arrives he talks to Osborn about his journey to the battlefront a journey that took him through a number of underground passageways and trenches and in this way he looked up and saw the flares known as very lights lights sent into the air by soldiers to track the enemies during the night. Despite the ominous nature of the very lights both Rally and Osborn mentally refrained them to make them less frightening and in this moment the audience find that Osborn and Rally's ability to reframe parts of the war shift their attitude so that they can deal with otherwise quite terrifying circumstances. Thinking of the very lights as romantic ultimately enables them to ignore or at least not focus on ominous notions of violence and death simply put they make the best of the situation. Stan Hope's response to fear thus represents the second category of coping mechanisms one called denial. Everyone in his infantry sees him as a brave captain but in reality he's just as scared and upset as everyone else if not more so. The night Osborn, Stan Hope's close friend and second in command dies in action, Stan Hope hearties the night away eating special foods and encouraging his men to join him in drinking champagne and whiskey. Bradley who can't bring himself to participate in the festivities eventually asks Stan Hope how he can eat and drink so heartily after Osborn's death and Stan Hope shouts at him to forget you little fool to forget you think there's no limit to what a man can bear. With this exclamation Stan Hope straightforwardly shows how he gets through the war he searches for distractions to forget the terrible things that have happened and he recognises that there are limits to what a man can bear so he turns to superficial diversions as a way of moving forward. Like Stan Hope Officer Hibbert also has a hard time accepting the circumstances however rather than drinking he tries to lie his way out of military but claiming he has a bad illness. This is more of an evasive tactic than a coping mechanism something Hibbert uses so he doesn't have to face his fair at all. Now the true reason why Hibbert is trying to leave of course we learn is that he hates the trenches and when he tries to maintain his different to others Stan Hope objects and tells him that he feels exactly the same. Now after saying this he encourages Hibbert to drink the same whiskey that Stan Hope himself drinks. This he upholds is the only thing that enables him to keep from going crazy. In a separate conversation with Osborn about his first few years in the military Stan Hope even confesses there was only two ways of breaking the string one was pretending I was ill the other going home the other was this and he holds his glass up which of course we know that is drinking. Taking in conjunction with his conversation with Hibbert this solidifies the fact that Stan Hope actively uses alcohol as a coping mechanism suggesting the only difference between someone like him and someone like Hibbert is that he's willing to numb himself in the world to reserve his ability to go on functioning despite his fear. Now of all the characters and journeys end Osborn and Riley are perhaps the most emotionally well balanced they don't use alcohol as a psychological crutch and they don't avoid they don't rather adopt escapist attitudes however they are also the only two characters in the play that die. Whilst the playwrights sure if certainly doesn't condemn their bravery there's no overlooking the fact that none of the other characters lose their lives over the course of the play it's only to be expected then that the audience might wonder if Osborn and Riley's brave response to the dismal situation is almost unnatural since it involves an acceptance of the unnatural violence of all although the positive attitude they display is sought after and praise in the military it's also what leads them to danger since they're willing less to carry out their duties as what encourages a colonel to choose them as the only two men fit to lead a particularly risky raid on the German trenches. In a sense then their acceptance of their own fare only invites more violence and danger into their lives. The fact that the only characters who die ultimately cause into question what kind of response is appropriate when it comes to war and fear. Responding level-headedly to the insanity of violence Sheriff intimates is actually unnatural whereas acting out self-preservation is a natural and beneficial human instinct even so even if doing so makes a person appear dysfunctional cowardly. Now another theme is that of fate and futility. So Sheriff presents to us as the audience the cyclical nature of life during war. The soldiers and trenches try to organize the lives around eating meals drinking tea sleeping and taking orders which ultimately adds a repetitive quality to their collective existence indeed they're always either standing watch or waiting to stand watch and what's more the kind of violence that characterizes trench warfare itself is repetitive. The attacks come intermittently such that the soldiers know what to expect or not when to expect it. In turn this leads to the feelings of powerlessness and futility as if no matter what the soldiers do and no matter how they prepare the war will continue forever and this sensation of helplessness its futility pervades the play characters like stan hope undergo what can only be called existential crises questioning the agency he has in his own life he develops new perspectives requiring his position in the world. In this way Sheriff highlights a psychological process that soldiers experience when they feel there is little they can do to influence their lives. Under this interpretation repetition leads to a sense of futility and this futility threatens to significantly restructure the way a person conceives of their own existence. By showcasing this progression Sheriff illustrates to the audience exactly how war alters a person's perspective on life in general. From the very first scene of the play Sheriff infuses journey's end with cyclical imagery. When Oswald arrives in the trenches and speaks to Hardy the man whose position is taken over the two men notice an earwig acting strangely on the table. This is a perfect representation of the way the setting of journeys end and snares its characters keeping them trapped in the trenches doing the same thing over and over again of course the earwig itself might think it's actually gone somewhere rather than simply retrace its own steps. Similarly any sense of progress the soldiers experience in the trenches is superficial fleeting for instance stan hope privately criticizes Hardy for not tidying up the trenches before leaving but when Oswald suggests that he himself will clean the trenches the following day stan hope laughs and makes it clear he doesn't truly believe such superficial concerns actually matter. As stan hope shows his mounting apathy the audience begins to understand that such chores do nothing to truly influence the war. The soldiers can clean the trenches all they want but doing so will only momentarily distract them from the cycle of violence and fear that monopolizes the day in and day out. The circling earwig they're merely kept keeping themselves or rather like the circling earwig they are merely keeping themselves busy without achieving anything substantial. Of all the soldiers stan hope is the most influenced by futility of his wartime efforts however he's the captain of the infantry so he also tries to stick to protocol even though doing so feels futile. As he proceeds in this manner though the repetitous nature of his duties wears on him more and more until starts questioning not only the useful of his own efforts but the entire point of his existence. This soul searching does come out in the conversations that he has with Osborn. He has a desire to break things into tangible parts and see right through them which makes sense for someone struggling to put together his life in a way that creates a greater meaning. As a captain stan hope has to adhere to everyday patterns and duties but nothing it does seems to contribute meaningfully to ending the war. No matter what happens the Germans keep attacking and he and his comrades keep doing the same things over and over keeping themselves pointlessly occupied in the trenches. Thus the components of stan hope's everyday life don't add up to anything significant. It's unsurprising then that he's began to see right through ordinary things wondering how they might all add up to make something of value. Struggling to find the point of his soldierly efforts he begins to question the very nature of his existence. Sheriff doesn't allow stan hope or any of his other characters to ever gain any sort of closure regarding the significance of the military action. This is because as a playwright he's interested in exploring the existential problems that arise when people have trouble finding meaning in their everyday lives not in the conclusions they may or may not reach indeed the play itself ends in the middle of a battle suggesting that the violence to which the soldiers have become accustomed will inevitably continue. This in turn makes the effort seem somewhat pointless and this outlook reconfixes the way they think forcing them to question their purpose. Most importantly stan hope exemplifies how the search for meaning easily turns inwards as he grasps at existential quandaries and reexamines his place in the world. This seems as what sheriff is most interested in revealing the fact that despite its patterns and protocols war is an inscrutable thing that has the power to fundamentally alter the way people conceive of life itself. 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