Chapter 8-4: 47 Prior Character Analysis

of his patients. Prior was completely fictional, unlike Rivers, and in this scene he has just regained the memory of what caused him to break down and have to leave the army.
SHOW SCENE FROM MOVIE. PART 6 4:08 – 4:47 Prior has just recalled that after a bomb was dropped on their trench, he was picking up the pieces of one of his men, when he sees and picks up an eyeball. He becomes angry that that was all that set him off, and before he starts crying, he shouts “That was nothing!” We can see from the two here that it was hard for them, Prior didn’t know how to seek comfort from Rivers, and he felt as though when he did he had done something wrong. The change in expectations for men often made it difficult for them to anticipate how they were expected to behave and the role they were expected to have.
Rivers seems ahead of his time as he is able to show care for his men without feeling discomfort or uncertain, whereas Prior was brought up in a more masculine environment, where this wouldn’t have been acceptable and so he has trouble adapting to the fact that there is nothing wrong with seeking comfort from Rivers.
Duty was another important conflict within Regeneration, especially as these were men who were used to following orders. Rivers in particular begins to question his
In his declaration he explains that he no longer believes that the war is being fought for the right reasons, and that he says that “I believe that the war upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation has now become a war of aggression and conquest.”, and we see him throw away his medal that he earned “For conspicuous gallantry during a raid on the enemy’s trenches. He remained for 1 ½ hours under rifle and bomb fire collecting and bringing in our wounded. Owing to his courage and determination, all the killed and wounded were brought in.”