Stanhope from Journeys End by RC Sheriff Essay - 684 Words

Stanhope from Journeys End Stanhope provides the most obvious candidate for the accolade of â€Å"hero† in Journey’s End: R.C.Sherriff has included many themes in Journey’s End; a play portraying the reality of trench warfare. Some of these include Comradeship, The horrors of war, Heroism and Relationships. My essay will be focusing mainly on the theme of heroism. The audience relate the word â€Å"hero† with mainly one character in the play. But the word hero has many positive connotations. A hero could be a person who â€Å"saves the day† or is a hero in somebody else’s eyes or maybe even his personality and how he interacts with other characters could also give him the status of being a hero. There are many aspects of Stanhope†¦show more content†¦Even though there are some conflicts between Raleigh and Stanhope through out the play, the audience don’t see Raleigh changing his mind about Stanhope being a hero. One of the most memorable dramatic events between Raleigh and Stanhope is the scene where Stanhope forces Raleigh to give him his letter. â€Å"D’you understand an order? Give me that letter!† Stanhope becomes furious at Raleigh and demands to see letter. Even after this argument audience don’t really see a change in Raleigh’s opinion about Stanhope being his hero. R.C Sherriff also cleverly manipulates the character. We are confused about the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope, until the end of the play. The audience are made to think that Stanhope doesn’t really care about Raleigh, but right at the end of the play there is a twist. Stanhope’s true feelings are shown towards Raleigh, when he is dying, and the audience are made aware of the fact that Raleigh was correct in thinking of Stanhope as his hero! Also the name â€Å"Stanhope† could be symbolic of the fact that Stanhope is the hero, since he gives â€Å"hope† to his company and to all the men. The soldiers are influenced by him and the audience come to see Stanhope as a very fine and hard working commander of the company. Not only does Raleigh think of Stanhope as a hero but some of his men might also see Stanhope as a hero in their eyes. Stanhope is also correctlyShow MoreRelated Journeys End by R.C. Sheriff Essay2400 Words   |  10 Pages Journeys End by R.C. Sheriff R. C. Sherriff created characters that aid the audiences understanding of war through their emotions and dialogue. Each character generates an intensive atmosphere and prompts differing emotions and thoughts from the audience, expressing different feelings and reactions towards war, which all aggregate to the same thing, the fear that they are all going to die sooner than later. The play was written to make people contemplate the futility of war. World