Discuss how Sherriff presents human weakness and frailty in Journeys End
Journeys End was written with the intention of “letting the war speak”. The lives of the officers on the front line during 1917 are examined. A key theme that is explored throughout the play is the reactions of the mind and body, under the stress of the war. Each character represents the weakness of the human being in an individual way, but the character on which frailty is mainly focussed is Stanhope.
Stanhope is the topic of many conversations within the dugout and the first conversation we see, Stanhope is mentioned. The conversation is between Osborne, the second in command, and the commanding officer of the company being relieved. The commander inquires as to
Raleigh has finally achieved his goal of obtaining the intangibles, honour and glory, but the question the audience would be asking is, was his death worth gaining these?

The relationship that is built up between Raleigh and Stanhope is examined from the beginning of the play, especially from the view of Raleigh worshipping Stanhope as a hero, “he’d just got his MC and been made a captain. He looked splendid”. Near the end of the play, Stanhope changes his mood from not liking the fact that Raleigh is a member of his company, to a gentler approach, “he bathes the boys face”. This shows the audience the relationships which were formed by men during the war, even if this specific event does have feminine connotations. These relationships were a necessity to combat human frailty and weakness.

Osborne is conferred in two contrasting ways. In his physical appearance he is “hard as nails” and is seen as second in command of the company, but at the same time Sherriff also presents Osborne as an “uncle” to the men, due to his nature of being gentle. Stanhope seems to have a large dependency upon Osborne and this is shown when Stanhope calls him “dear old uncle”, the use of dear here shows how much Stanhope needs him.

Osborne is a humble and intelligent man. This is expressed when Osborne quotes a line from Alice in