Journey's End

Question 1

What is the frequency of changing squads?

Answer 1

6 days

Question 2

“Drinking like a fish”

Answer 2

Hardy - Stanhope is an alcoholic, copes with immense amount of stress on the battlefield

Question 3

“One hour and fourteen minutes”

Answer 3

Hardy - Stanhope’s stress is being taken as a game, finished a whole bottle in 1 hr 14 mins, people cheered and admire him for being an alcoholic, like a freak exhibit

Question 4

“Nearly three years”

Answer 4

Osborne - Stanhope has not taken a rest over the three year period, been on the battlefield for this long. Osborne looks up to him and admire his bravery, determination and devotion, staunch, experienced

Question 5

“It’s got a deep yellow flavour”

Answer 5

Osborne - gallows humour, how bad the rations are, do not know the ingredients, just the colour. War conditions are very bad

Question 6

“That’s because you never stop eating”

Answer 6

Stanhope - Trotter’s coping mechanism, very used to people making fun of him for eating so much so didn’t even reply to the comment, war is a stressful environment

Question 7

“Another little worm trying to wiggle home”

Answer 7

Stanhope - Hibbert is showing cowardice and faking the conditions of neuralgia, many soldiers have done this previously, war is a terrifying place. Stanhope looks down on this as he believes in resilience and despite cowardice, perhaps thinking he has made it this far and therefore they can do much better

Question 8

“Small boys at school generally have their heroes”

Answer 8

Osborne - trying to calm Stanhope as Raleigh came to his company, and looks up to Stanhope, Stanhope cannot stand expectations as his former self has died due to the war. Raleigh was a boy at school and he was a senior, Stanhope thinks of Raleigh as an annoying little brother. Osborne tries to make situation better

Question 9

“One thousand eight hundred companies…and, my God! He comes to mine”

Answer 9

Stanhope - infuriated by Raleigh coming into his company as he didn’t want to face anyone that knew him before the war, scared that Raleigh will get to know him now as he will think differently of him

Question 10

“Without being doped with whiskey - I’d go mad with fright”

Answer 10

Stanhope - copes from shellshocked by drinking and trying to forget, without drinking he will collapse under stress and terror of the war

Question 11

“He’d write and tell her I reek of whiskey all day”

Answer 11

Stanhope - horrified of Raleigh telling his sister Madge, who is Stanhope’s girlfriend, about his nerves being battered to pieces and hanging on by a string called alcohol. He is scared that Madge will no longer want to be with him and most importantly, he feels like he doesn’t deserve her in his state right now

Question 12

“Breadth of a rugger field”

Answer 12

Osborne - was an old schoolmaster and played for The Harlequins and England in rugby, remember days without war

Question 13

“It all seems rather silly”

Answer 13

Raleigh - heard Osborne’s story with the Germans helping out the English, naive and innocence, reflects a younger point of view on war, war is pointless

Question 14

“A hundred and forty-four circles”

Answer 14

Osborne - Trotter attempts to make time pass faster by making a chart with each circle representing an hour of them on the battlefield until they can go off duty. Tense and dreading the battle that is coming up, nervous and stressed

Question 15

“Millions of bullets lying in pouches”

Answer 15

Stanhope - imagining the horrors of war, of all the people fighting each other to death, contrasts greatly with Raleigh’s innocent view towards the war. Dread and stress vs excitement and inexperience

Question 16

“I ask for advice when I want it”

Answer 16

Stanhope - rejected Osborne’s advice on treating Raleigh’s letter, not good leadership, as he is too hostile and did not treat Raleigh rightfully, blinded by anger and insecurity

Question 17

“Dennis is the finest officer in the battalion, and the men simply love him”

Answer 17

Raleigh - all the soldiers look up to Stanhope as he works tirelessly even though he is stressed and have a lot on his shoulders, he still cheers the people on and give them motivation, everyone thinks he is a rightful leader and resilient

Question 18

“I’m awfully proud to think he’s my friend”

Answer 18

Raleigh - hero-worship, very excited to be in his company and under his commands, reflects on the earlier treatments Stanhope gave to Raleigh, contrasts greatly with the Stanhope being described, Stanhope might have been filled with regret and shame on how he lashed out in front of someone that looks up to him so much

Question 19

“Better die of the pain than be shot for deserting”

Answer 19

Stanhope - Hibbert is trying to be sent off the battlefield by faking neuralgia, Stanhope denied and despised his cowardice. Threatened him to be shot for his actions unless he stays on the battlefield. Stanhope truly values bravery in a soldier and hates those who cannot stick through the pain and be more determined. Further emphasises Hibbert being a coward and weak

Question 20

“I hate and loath it all…pretend I was paralysed…just lie there till I died”

Answer 20

Stanhope - comforting Hibbert, good leadership, relates to Hibbert for comfort and to reveal personal weakness about himself of being stressed and terrified of the war environment, want to avoid war, shellshocked

Question 21

“Shall we go together”

Answer 21

Stanhope - to Hibbert to encourage him to go onto the battlefield, good leadership and helps Hibbert overcome some of his fear, motivates him and give Hibbert a sense of support

Question 22

“Tied bits o’red rag on each side of the ‘ole”

Answer 22

Trotter - the Germans are flaunting the British to come through the gap that they took days trying to blow open. This is an obvious trap that the Germans set up, however, the raid was told to carry on, signifying how cold and ruthless the commanders are

Question 23

“No need to tell him it’s murder”

Answer 23

Osborne - trying to protect Raleigh from the truth of war and preserve his naïvety. The raid that they are about to carry out is dangerous and yet Raleigh is excited about the mission. He is innocent and Osborne is sensitive enough to understand how important it is to save his purity

Question 24

When Osborne and Raleigh talk about the area they used to take walks in

Answer 24

The nature that they are describing seem like a paradise and a place out of reach compared to the conditions are situation they are in now. The forest juxtaposes with the war, paradise vs hell. They try to distract themselves from the raid and instead try to dream about life after war. So many men of all ages have given up their old lives and happiness for war (hell)

Question 25

“I don’t want the risk of losing it”

Answer 25

Osborne - being sensitive to Raleigh’s excitement towards the raid while he dreads the upcoming of the mission. He doesn’t want to lose his ring just in case he died in the mission, yet he does not say that straight to Raleigh but instead lies. Poignant and gripping scene as Osborne is quite terrified of the raid yet he still tries to sustain Raleigh’s naïvety

Question 26

“That lad’s too keen on his ‘duty’”

Answer 26

Hibbert - betrayed Raleigh’s behaviour to Stanhope, show him as untrustworthy and sycophantic (sucking up)

Question 27

“You eat the men’s rations when there’s barely enough for each man”

Answer 27

Stanhope - confronts Raleigh for eating with the soldiers on the line, little ration and seemed wrong to eat with people with lower rank than you. Raleigh seems inexperienced and innocent, Stanhope not showing good leadership as he is not listening to Raleigh’s side of story

Question 28

“his hand trembles so violently”

Answer 28

Stage direction Stanhope - drunk, stressed and furious, because of war and Raleigh being in his company, Osborne also has just died

Question 29

“You resent me being here”

Answer 29

Raleigh - after being treated like a complete stranger and utterly different by Stanhope, he came to realisation that Stanhope resents him, and Stanhope really does. However, he only resents Raleigh because he sees himself in him of that once childish, naive and innocent him before the war. He is scared to see Raleigh die and rest him for being in the war. But he did not have enough courage to tell Raleigh the truth behind his resentment

Question 30

“To forget”, “prig”

Answer 30

Stanhope - Osborne’s death affected Raleigh greatly and he is angry and confused by why isn’t Stanhope upset or angry, believes he is the only one there that is affected by Osborne’s death. Stanhope calls him a prig as he believes he is self-righteous and morally superior to everyone else just because he cannot see the emotions. Stanhope was affected and finally reveals that he only partied to forget his greatest comrade’s death

Question 31

“Shrinks back and throws his hands across his face, as though a human hand could ward off the hot flying pieces”

Answer 31

Sergeant Major - a human hand is not capable of wielding off hot flying pieces, it presents all the soldiers fighting as helpless and vulnerable. War is dangerous and terrifying

Question 32

“I got kicked in just the same place at rugger”

Answer 32

Raleigh - even after he got hit by a piece of shell and broke his spine, he still sees the war as a game, presents his innocence and childishness, he is also in a state of shock which numbs the excruciating pain. He was warned of walking against the wall to avoid getting hit by the shells yet he still got hit on the back, inexperienced

Question 33

Stanhope taking care of Raleigh after he got hit

Answer 33

He urgently called in stretcher bearers to help Raleigh and laid him on a bed and takes care of him with tenderness and kindness, this reflects the close bonds they had at school and at home

Question 34

“Dennis”, “Jimmy”

Answer 34

Raleigh and Stanhope - poignant, first time Stanhope is willing to call Raleigh’s first name, mirrors the close bonds he had with Raleigh and how urgent the situation is, Stanhope is showing gentleness and tenderness towards Raleigh for the first time in the play, affection

Question 35

“You got a Blighty one, Jimmy

Answer 35

Stanhope - Blighty one, when the injury is bad enough for him to go home, trying to lighten the mood of relieving Raleigh from his duties

Question 36

“I can’t go home just for - for a knock in the back”

Answer 36

Raleigh - displays bravery and contrasts greatly with Hibbert’s attitude towards war, innocent and naive. Still sees it as a game and not a serious situation

Question 37

“Pale, drawn face”, “tired eyes”

Answer 37

Stanhope - drained, effects of war, able to break the strongest of men down and being in pieces