Stanhopes problems

Sherriff creates sympathy for Stanhope, he allows us to understand what the war is doing for him and how he reacts; he makes the audience feel pity for him and allows us to realize how bad this war really is, even for one of the highest regarded men. Between pages 31 and 33 Stanhope talks to Osbourne about his drinking problems and the effects of having Raleigh there has on him and the responsibility that comes with it. He talks about home, and the image he has at home, captain of the teams at school and now commander of a company, known as a really decent man. He talks about how he is ashamed with himself about how he feels that he has changed because of the drinking 

Stanhope is known in the company as a drinker. Sherriff shows us that this is true from the moment we meet him, he drinks constantly. He says he does it to take the strain away, 'She doesn't know that if I went up those steps into the front line - without being doped in whisky - I'd go mad with fright.' We learn that the reason he drinks is because he’s afraid, however he doesn’t want to show he is afraid, therefore he drinks. You could say he sees it as some sort of refuge, taking away from reality. 'I knew I'd go mad if I couldn't break the strain, I couldn't bare being fully conscious all the time.' His heavy drinking is also a key dramatic devise which creates sympathy. 

You could almost say that he’s a clever actor, disguising his emotions, bottling it all up, literally. Being sober, to him, means facing reality, facing the fact that every single man he came out with is now dead, the fact that he can’t go home because he is too embarrassed to be seen by Madge as he is, the fact that he has a huge responsibility for Raleigh, a boy who looked up to him from a young age. Reality for him is painful; therefore he needs something to take all that away, even if it’s just for an hour.

Another key point in the play is time. The constant countdown. At the beginning its about counting down till they can go home, Trotter says that he is going to draw 144 circles representing the hours that they are out there for, and circle in every hour to make the time go faster. They wait, they watch and when something happens its over so quickly, they want to avoid something happening during their 6 days so they wait it out. They constantly refer to time, time to go relieve the officer from his duty, time to have supper, time to leave. Furthermore once they find out that the supposed attack is coming while they are there, the morale completely changes, they all start to drink even more. 

‘He says the German prisoner gave the day of attack as the twenty-first. ‘

‘That’s Thursday’

‘Yes and today is Tuesday’

‘Then I’ll come while we’re here.’

‘Yes. It’ll come while we’re here. And we shall be in the front row of the stalls.’

This is when we know that the attack is really coming, and the direction of the play changes. The inevitability, and the count down begins,

‘That means the day after tomorrow.

‘The second dawn from now.’

Stanhope becomes worried, he doesn't want to show it therefore he tries to stay positive but you can tell he's affected by it. 

Stanhope also feels that he has a sense of duty, not only to himself but to his men and his country, he can’t set a bad example. Everyone knows he needs a break, yet he doesn’t believe it, he doesn’t want to seem like he’s skiving, he has a sense of purpose and responsibility, he says to Osbourne about one of his company ‘You suggest that I go sick, like that little worm in there – with neuralgia in the eye?’ he looks down on that man, whether he is ill or not that’s not the problem, Stanhope feels that he’s just trying to run away from what is coming. He doesn’t want people to think of him like that, he wants to stick to his values, maybe because that’s the only thing he can have control on anymore. Everyone recognizes what an amazing leader he is, yet he has no self-awareness, he doesn’t realize that everyone notices he needs a break because he works too hard and never goes home, Osbourne tells him ‘The colonel would have sent you down long ago, only-‘.

‘He thinks I’m in such a state I want a rest, is that it?’

‘No. He thinks its due to you.’

He totally believes that he doesn’t do enough, perhaps that makes him unaware of his ability and allows him to undermined himself greatly, perhaps he feels this because of the drinking.

He also feels that having Raleigh there will allow him to see what he is really like, a drunkard who ‘reeks of whisky’ and is angry and stressed all the time. He doesn’t want word to get back to Madge what he truly is out there, the fact that war changes people; she wouldn’t understand therefore he feels she would run away from him. He hates the fact that Raleigh still ‘worships him’ in a prep-school kind of way, he doesn’t want that during a war, he doesn’t like the fact that he now has responsibility for a boy who he has a personal connection with to see him like this.

He also feels bad for this innocent young boy to see the dramatic change in him, how he isn’t really a school hero anymore, ‘poor little devil’ he tells Osbourne. Young eyes, perhaps he feels, seeing and experiencing things he shouldn’t see and as a result doesn’t understand. War is a serious thing, a big boys thing, there is no room for first names or school hero’s out there, as he tells Raleigh ‘‘Don’t Dennis me! Stanhope’s my name! You’re not at school any more.‘

Stanhope feels that he has changed so much since he’s been in the war, he doesn’t want a boy who saw what he was like before to see him now. To learn what has happened to him and to start to realize what is going on. That scares Stanhope, as a result he is cold and harsh towards Raleigh. Keeping him away for his benefit, to try to still see him as one of his men and nothing more, because if Raleigh died how would he cope. 

Remembrance

Remembrance week at Wellington is a extremely important occasion that is taken very seriously. We lost so many Old Wellingtonians to the First and Second World War, many who were just out of school. It is right to thank them for everything they did, not just the OW's but all the other young men who risked their lives for our country.

Remembrance took place this year on the 11th November at exactly 11 o'clock, when the clock tower strikes 11. We have a service before hand in the College chapel, Father Novis leads a remembrance service, we then all proceed to the Front Quad where we line up in houses; head of house at the front holding the house flag. The orchestra plays and The Last Post is played just before the last strike of 11. We then have two minutes of silence, in remembrance of all who risked their lives for us. After this we are led out of the quad in a silenced orderly fashion, leaving our poppies on the ground. Once everyone has left you can just see rows and rows of poppies.

Wellington will never not take Remembrance seriously and it is a very moving experience to be part of.

Letter home

Dear Mother,

I have arrived safely here on the front line. I am not entirely sure where I am but I know that we are 100 yards away from the German front line, its frightfully exciting but surprisingly quiet. I expected it to be loud all time time, yet for some reason its quite. Someone explained that there isn't fighting all the time, most of it involves waiting, waiting for someone to make a move or do something, from either side.

We are given the luxury of whisky here, washed down with a bit of disinfected water its not at all bad, it takes away the taste of water and the water takes away the taste of whisky. It also helps take our mind of things, its a good way to distract us. We also have a chef; of course the food isn't as good as yours but it's not half bad for trench food, we had soup, meat and apricots for dinner. We also get a endless supply of cigarettes, don't worry I'm not smoking too much but it's a nice treat and makes us feel good and warm inside which is a lovely feeling to have since it gets so cold.

I have to say it's extremely wet, I don't think I'll manage to get dry feet all week, but it's fine because we're not here for that long. One of the men worked out that it's only 144 hours till we get 12 days leave, and he's decided he's going to draw a circle for every hour, and every hour he's going to colour in a circle to make the time go faster. I think it's an excellent idea and makes it all a jolly game.

The rats are so horrid however, they recon there are thousands, of course we don't see them all but we have to be careful that when we're sleeping they don't gnaw into our boots. That would be frightfully bad luck to have a hole in our boots when its this wet. Its also awfully dirty - I'll be needing a bath at the end of my six days that's for sure.

Since I'm the least important, you could say, I get the last bed. Some say it's the worst, but I don't think so. Its fine, but its quite funny because I have to hang my arms and legs off the bed for fear of falling in, but we get a blanket which is lovely. Imagine not changing your clothes for six whole days?! I'll get comfy in them that's for sure.

How is everyone at home? It's such good news that I'm allowed to write every day, so I can keep you posted on everything I'm doing and you can let me know what's going on at home. How's Margret? Send her my love. I miss everyone dearly but its exciting being out here, actually getting out here on the front line and fighting. Doing our bit for our country.

Sending love to all,

Your darling son xxx

Character analysis

Sherriff shows the diversity between the characters once we meet Stanhope.
We learn about the different types of people, how anyone can be in war, from Raleigh who's fresh out of school aged 18; to Osbourne who is a very intelligent older man who was a teacher, yet he's second in command.

Mason - A slightly lower class chef. Cooks for the commanders and isn't really educated.  He is sometimes used as a dramatic devise, bringing the audience down to a completely different level when he worries about the fact that he was brought apricots rather than pineapple chunks. He is almost a comedy role, taking on a totally different side of the war, and almost making it seem funny and stupid that you worry about that sort of thing; the fact that they are in the middle of the First World War and he's worried about pineapples. 

Stanhope - Is in charge, he's bossy and known as a major drinker. However Osbourne is a big fan of him, defending him, saying he's the best company commander in the army and works harder than anyone else. He's shocked when he first sees Raleigh questioning him quite harshly, 'how did you get here?', and as a result of this becomes slightly dismissive, goes quiet and perhaps slightly uncomfortable because he recognises this boy, and for some reason which we learn later on in the play, he doesn't want Raleigh to see what he's really like. Possibly because of his sister. 


'She doesn't know that if I went up those steps into the front line - without being doped in whisky - I'd go mad with fright.'

'I knew I'd go mad if I couldn't break the strain, I couldn't bare being fully conscious all the time.'

These two quotes that Stanhope tells Osbourne are extremely important and a turn in the play, showing what the war was like from a man who was regarded as one of the bravest men out on the front. How must the others have coped?! 
We see Stanhope as a strong man, brave and completely in control the whole time, but from those two quotes we learn that he's still as terrified as everyone else. You could almost say he is a good actor, covering up his emotions, along with a lot of whisky washed down with it. It is funny what a war can do to a man, as Stanhope tells Osbourne, he promised himself that he'd go into the war and be strong and brave and come back fit and healthy for his girl. Yet once he got there he couldn't go through the day not being slightly drunk during some of it. 

Osbourne - a much older man than anyone else in the company, given the nickname 'uncle' by everyone else he's seen as a fatherly figure and perhaps a role model. Second in command to Stanhope, he could be more intelligent since he was a teacher but has little to non-experience compared to Stanhope and believes that wholeheartedly. He comes across as a nice man, who sees the best in people, no matter the circumstances or situation and in this case, war. He looks after Stanhope when he gets drunk and rowdy, worrying about Raleigh and the contents of the letters he might send home. 

Hardy

Hardy - What purpose does he serve in the play?

Hardy is known as a dramatic devise, he only appears at the beginning of the play we don't see him again. Sherriff has only used him to set the scene. Giving a overview on Stanhope, the conditions, what they should expect, what life is like in the trench and some games they could play. 

Drinking water -
'Don't have too much water. It's rather strong today.'

Wet Trenches -
'He's so fussy about the trenches. I expect they are rather dirty. Don't forget to change your clothes if you get wet.'

Fighting -
'Sometimes nothing happens for hours on end; then - all of a sudden - 'over she comes!' - rifle grenades - Minnies - and those horrid little things like pineapples - you know.'

German Attack -
 'Yes, but it's very near now: there's funny things happening over in the Boshe country. I've been listening at night when it's quiet. There's more transport than usual coming up - you can hear rattling over the pave all night; more trains in the distance - puffing up and going away again, one after another, bringing up loads and loads of men.'

Length of stay -
 'Are you here for six days?' 'Yes.'

Size of front controlled -
'We hold about 200yards of front line.'

Sleeping arrangements -
'Five beds you say? Is this the best one?'
                                       "Oh no. That's mine.."

Sleeping Conditions -
'The ones in the other dugout haven't got any bottoms to them, you keep yourself in by hanging your arms and legs over the sides. Mustn't hang your legs too low, or the rats gnaw your boots.''

Number of rats -
'I should say roughly about 2 million, but then of course I don't see them all.'

Anything else?
'What about trench stores?'
'115 rifle grenades - I shouldn't use them if I were you; they upset Jerry and make him offensive. Besides, they are rusty, in any case. Then there's 500 Mills bombs, thirty-four gum boots..'

Raleight's Inexperience

Raleight's Inexperience 

"Will you have a drink?" Raleigh doesn't know what to say, so Osborne has to prompt him,
"You don't drink whisky?" to which he says 'Yes, I do'.

"That's alright. I didn't actually know that Stanhope-"
Raleigh doesn't want to dig himself a hole therefore he replies with, "they're not - er- officially engaged." Showing how much he wants to impress Osbourne but then not get off on the wrong foot with Stanhope already.

"It sort of made me feel -"
"keen?"
Osbourne is prompting Raleigh on how he feels, perhaps showing that he understands, realising how long the boy is.

"You only call me Sir in front of the other men"
"I see, thanks."
Giving Raleigh a heads-up, so he doesn't end up embarrassed.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the others come back and pick the beds they want."
"righto!"
Telling Raleigh that he has to remember that they are higher than him, helping him avoid getting a bad reputation already.

"You can take your boots off now and then in the day time, but it's better to keep pretty well dresses always."
"I see, thanks" answers Raleigh.

"I expect we shall do about three hours on duty at a time and then 6 off. We all go on duty at stand-to. That's at dawn and dusk."
"Yes."

"Whisky takes away the taste of water."
"Oh yes."
"Water takes away the taste of whisky."