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Compare and contrast the techniques employed in portraying the horror of war in Regeneration and Journey's End.

"I chose the First World War because it's come to stand in for other wars…

It's come to stand for the pain of all wars."

Pat Barker wrote "Regeneration" in the 10's and R.C. Sherriff "Journey's End" in 17, the quote is from Barker and illustrates the magnitude of the effect of the First World War, and expresses the appeal of the subject. Both works use different techniques in their portrayal of horror, and their effectiveness will be examined in turn.

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The authors chose different formats with one being a novel the other a play, thus giving them contrasting ways of conveying soldiers' experiences of war.

In "Regeneration", Barker begins by exploring the character of Sassoon and through opening her novel with the declaration immediately demonstrates the adverse affect that war can have on rational young men. Karin Westman states

"When Sassoon asks the public to make use of their imagination, he is asking them to imagine the horrors of the war, to conceive monstrous images, in order to comprehend its destructive force."

Barker utilises the factual document to validate the anti-war stance of the novel. Sassoon has found that the horror of war has lead to the disintegration of his men and has morale shattering qualities stating, "I have seen and endured the suffering of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust." As a man, we later learn, who has won the Military cross, we come to realise that he is certainly no coward, and his reasons for his declaration are valid and just. His one-man-stand illustrates how strongly he feels the war should be ended, and how he is disgusted by its treatment of the men.

Both authors use techniques that introduce their main characters very carefully. Barker does this with Sassoon's declaration and Rivers and Bryce discussing him, in "Journey's End" the audience learns about Stanhope before he appears on stage through Hardy and Osborne discussing his drink problem and then the audience is given the contrasting aspect to his character with Raleigh eulogising him. Stanhope, a war hero, is driven to drink in a struggle to maintain the courage he needs to lead his troops. Sherriff shows the severe effect the war has had on Stanhope

"D'you ever get a sudden feeling that everything's going farther and farther away- till you're the only one in the world- and then the world begins to go away- until you're the only thing in- in the universe- and you struggle to get back- and you can't?"

The use of a long sentence here is a method of conveying his confusion and trauma. War has isolated Stanhope, he has come to realise his own mortality, and alcohol is a comfort helping to dull the realities of it all. Much in the same way as being mute is to prior when he arrives at Craiglockhart. It is a defence mechanism, almost as if by not talking about his experiences it would mean they never took place. Prior exposes the reader to a different attitude to Rivers treatment by being stubborn and defensive showing how different people react to war's horrors. Prior is in stark contrast to Hibbert in "Journey's End" and is determined at all costs to return to the front line. He feels he is letting his fellow soldiers down by having a breakdown. Prior had a horrific encounter when he had to clear up the remains of a comrade who had been blown to pieces and he discovered his eye.

"His fingers touched the smooth surfaces and slid before they could get a hold…"What am I supposed to do with this gobstopper?" he saw Logan blink and knew he was afraid."

Even when he regains his speech Prior attempts to detach himself from the emotions of his experiences and this is essentially what Stanhope does through the use of the bottle.

In Journey's End we are aware of the horror of war through the characters reactions to situations, particularly in rare moments that show real emotion. The argument between Hibbert, who wants to leave the front line, and Captain Stanhope, illustrates this through the characters vulnerability. Hibbert says

"Ever since I came here I've hated and loathed it. Every sound up there makes me all- cold and sick… It's got worse and worse, and now I can't bear it any longer. I'll never go up those steps again- into the line- with the men looking at me- and knowing- I'd rather die here."

It's the last few words that really emphasize how greatly he detests the horror of it all, the fear of not knowing if he will survive the next day. Hibbert is revealed to have certain vulnerability and it is at this point that the audience begins to feel sorry for him. They think of him as less of a coward and more like any one of thousands of young men, called up to serve their country unaware of the realities of war, that don't wish to live in fear. It is this human element that Sherriff brings to his characters which enable the audience to comprehend the terror of war.

The devastating affect that death has is more apparent in "Journeys End". Raleigh cannot come to terms with the loss of Osborne.

"Good god! Don't you understand? How can I sit down and eat that- when- (his voice nearly breaking)- when Osborne's lying- out there- "

Sherriff here reveals what soldiers dealt with every day, but for Raleigh this is a new experience- making it all the more horrific and the audiences experience more intense. Barker, on the other hand, makes the reader more aware of the psychological effects war can have, rather than the physical- conveying the long-term consequences of war such as the slow breakdown of Rivers. Rivers is a character that the reader wouldn't expect to be affected by war in his role as medical officer.

Each character in "Regeneration" is used by Barker to explore the horror of war from a different perspective. Rivers gives the reader a different insight, as a government doctor one would expect Rivers to be pro-war and encouraging soldiers to return to the front line. In a different way Barker illustrates the repercussions of war through the blood fearing doctor, Anderson, showing war affected those who were not even involved in the front line fighting, and the civilian Sarah, who represents the millions of women back home who didn't understand the suffering men endured and were "resented" for their innocence of the horrors of war. The scope of suffering Barker explores is in contrast to "Journey's End", where the focus is solely on the effects of war on the soldiers at the front.The intended audience for each work had an influence over its style/presentation and explains the difference in their portrayal of war and it's horror.

Choosing to present "Journey's End" as a play rather than as a novel, as he first intended, enabled him to convey every last detail of the appearance of the front-line and imitate every resounding sound. The detailed stage directions explain the exact noises Sherriff wanted to create, and the amount of chaos he wished to convey.

"Flying fragments of shell whistle and hiss and moan overhead. The sharp "crack" of the riffle grenades, the thud of the shells, and the boom of the Minenwerfer mingle together in a muffled roar."

These details emphasize the terrifying conditions that soldiers had to endure, day in day out, very effectively. The lighting that is used also plays an important role. It enables Sherriff to express the intended mood to the audience. Following Raleigh's death the lighting heightens its effect on Stanhope. "The solitary candle-flame throws up the lines on his pale, drawn face, and the dark shadows under his tired eyes."

In contrast Baker is unable to use these visual devises, as her novel requires the use of the readers imagination. She has to try to paint a picture with words not with actions on stage, so Barker uses descriptions with vivid imagery to convey her interpretation of the horror of war. To express Sassoon's' experiences of war she uses some haunting images.

"…No more walls. Ruined buildings. Shelled roads. "From to sunlight to the sunless land." And for a second he was back there Armageddon, Golgotha, there were no words, a place of desolation so complete no imagination could have invented it."

Barker wanted to portray all the evils of war in her novel, not shirking from the realities.

In "Journey's End" instead of highlighting the horror of a situation, humour is often used to achieve the opposite effect- as a means of diffusing tension. R.C Sherriff's characters portray the horror of war more often than not, through what they don't say, rather than what they do. There is often a change of subject when something too sensitive or depressing is mentioned, with Mason being a key exponent of this. The topic of food is used as a way of avoiding discussing things that make them uneasy, and tension is dispersed through his use of humour.

"Trotter Sort of cutlet, is it? You know, Mason, there's cutlets and cutlets.

Mason I know, sir, that one's a cutlet.

Trotter Well it won't let me cut it."

Avoiding a subject is an effective way of illustrating how it disturbs the people who don't wish to talk about it.

It must be remembered that R.C. Sherriff was writing soon after the First World War, a war that in which British civilians lost many friends and family. Therefore emotive stage production that portrayed the realities of war was still frowned upon. Sherriff would have been partially restricted in what he said because of this, so he had to portray things realistically otherwise the audience would have been critical. Also performing a play with "no leading lady" meant he was already going against the trend of light-hearted plays. This is why in some respects Sherriff is less extreme in his portrayal, choosing to be subtler than Barker in his representation of horror.

Both authors use a range of literary techniques in their writing that help the reader/audience to comprehend the scale of the horror that is portrayed.

In "Regeneration" Barker uses many similes and metaphors such as "He was staring up at the tower, which gleamed white, like the bones of a skull." These harrowing images are a clever way of conveying the horror of a situation. This kind of vivid imagery enables the reader to envisage the exact scene a character has witnessed, and this in turn is like the hallucinations Sassoon has that force him to relive his horrific experiences.

R.C. Sherriff chooses not to use elaborate descriptions or vivid imagery, as they are not necessary in a play. It is the precise stage directions that can heighten the terror. This is particularly evident in the Final Act, where even though the characters words don't portray the horror of a situation the stage directions reveal their true emotions.

"HIBBERT sits on the bed to the left, his thin white fingers nervously twitching the ash from his cigar. His pale face is shiny with sweat from the heat of the candles; his laugh is high pitched and excited."

This is following on from Osborne's death and although the characters appear to be having a good time the stage directions communicate the tension."Regeneration" and "Journey's End" offer very differing portrayals of the horrors of the First World War. R. C. Sherriff delivers a skilfully accurate portrayal of the situation and events that occurred during the war, as Christopher Stillwell suggests "perhaps only someone who had witnessed the horrors firsthand could tell such a story in a way that is both so simple and so gripping." Sherriff undoubtedly manages to create an authentic atmosphere with realistic characters and expressive stage directions, conveying the real emotive horror of the front line through simple dialogue and an inevitably traumatic finale- with the deaths of Osborne and Raleigh. However, Sherriff was unable to depict the horror of war as expressively as Barker due to the constraints of the stage and the era he was writing in.

Barker, through graphic descriptions, vivid imagery and symbolism enables the reader to envisage the destructive effect of the war, especially on young men such as Burns who had their youth taken away from them. Barkers' motives for this bold portrayal lie firmly in her anti-war beliefs and strong political opinions, however as Peter Kemp in the Sunday Times admires she manages to present a great deal of trauma "without a tremor of sensationalism or sentimentality." It is the varied range of techniques she employs that make "Regeneration" a triumphant portrayal of horror in the First World War. Barker forces the reader to consider the impact of war and how the horrendous nature of the combat affected millions of lives.

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