Birdsong Regeneration Analysis

Examine how writers present the reality of war and the impact on characters in Birdsong, Regeneration and selected WWI poetry.

The reality of war and the mental and physical impact on the involved characters is an important theme in WWI literature. The texts that will be considered involve Birdsong by Sabastian Faulkes, Regeneration by Pat Baker and selected poetry. Specific poems focus on the horrific conditions in the trench and the gruesome action soldiers had to witness; this can be associated with Birdsong which describes the accounts from soldiers and their difficult experiences. Mental cases addresses the issue of the mental impact that the war had on shell-shocked soldiers which relates to Regeneration that portrays the life of shell-shocked soldiers.

Faulkes in particular resents the reality of the war thorough character perspective narration because it gives a detailed description of what the character is experiencing and how they are reacting to
By signing up to fight in the war it was showed that the men were tough and brave which are masculine traits. However a theme that occurs in Regeneration is emasculation which is a result of the horror and awful conditions of the war. The men reacted to this by feeling more vulnerable and. A particular example of this theme occurs to Anderson during a bizarre dream where he is tied down with “a pair of lady’s corsets”; the female underwear is relevant because it represents the breakdown of the characters masculinity which is portrayed through his subconscious mind. He also describes part of the dream involving his father-in-law attacking him with “a big stick” that “had a snake wound round it”. This represents the character being in a vulnerable state and being attacked by something he fears. It reflects the reality war and the effect it is having on Anderson in his subliminal