Explore Sherriff’s presentation of class in Journey’s End and compare this to Barker’s portrayl of it in Regeneration.
In 1914 class distinctions were clear and dominiant within society and the British military. Howver the war’s vast death toll required the classes to mix as the need for soldier arose; temporary commissioning bestowed the title ‘temporary gentlemen’. The large influx of war propaganda extolled many youth to join the forces as the women of Britain say ‘Go!’. Journey’s End is set soley within the dug out where characterisation depicts a clear division between classes which may reflect Sherriff’s authorial experience serving as a military officer. However, Barker’s novel, based on eighty years of hind sight, merges real and fictional characters to give us a glimpse of class; set in Craiglockhart, a requisitioned facilty devoted to the treatment of army officers focusing on phsychological aftermath, successfully excluded those of a lower rank.
Journey’s End is set in the officers’ dug-out. We are able to depict the fact that those soldiers surving within the dug out are those of a higher class through their formal language where talk of ‘fellows’ and exclamations such as ‘Splendid!’ Hardy drying his sock over a candle, not only highlights public school self-suffiency but also gives the reader an insight into the simplistic surroundings. The stoic endurance of the soldiers is emplaphied when Hardy suggests they were ‘frightfully annoyed’ at the dirt in their tea after a harsh bombardment. This humour successfully diminishes the ‘stiff upper lip’ of the British upper classes, portraying them as dominant leaders of men. Raleigh, in my view, represents the ignorance of those who decieved by the surrounding propagander . He describes Stanhope as having a ‘jolly good bat’. This is a referal to cricket, a historically upper class game played at public schools; a cricket bat would be beyond useless against the monstrosity of machine guns. Osborne’s background is conveyed within sub-text but as a public school master he has all the cradentials to fit in with the rest of the ‘gentlemen’. His maturity and guidance of others has earnt him the nickname ‘uncle’- a character, like the other officers, deeply admire.
Regeneration is set too within an officer’s pardox, a haven from the ongoing fighting on the frontline, but there is less of a division. Like Journey’s End we are able to gain various information through the dialogue available: ‘It just occurs to me that a diagnosis of nerasthenia might not be inconvinient with this’. This combined with Rivers’ occupation leads us to beleive he is from an upper-middle class background. We are also able to acknowledge other backgrounds of other officers, such as Owen, who received a respected education and became one of the worlds most prefound poets.
Mason, the designated cook, provides a lower class contrast. It is also noteable he adpots the female role of cooking which may be deemed an aspect of emasculation. This is then confirmed as Sherriff labels him ‘Soldier Servant’. This inferiority is then emplaphied where he ‘brings Trotter’s porrdige’ and ‘arrives with Trotter’s bacon’. However, Mason, is never down