Preview

How Does Sherrif Present The Character Of Osborne In Journey's End

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
812 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Sherrif Present The Character Of Osborne In Journey's End
How Does R.C Sherrif Present The Character Of Osborne In 'Journey's End' ?

At the start of the play, R.C. Sherrif introduces us to Osborne, an officer of the company. A conversation ensues between Captain Hardy, an officer of another regiment and Osborne. Osborne manages to catch a quick word with the commander of the platoon before he disappears. The manner in which he reacts tells us a lot about his character. It is clear that Osborne approaches his job with a very professional attitude.

Sherrif, describes Osborne in this notes as middle aged, tall, thin, grey and physically as hard as nails but there is much more to Osborne’s character as the reader discovers as the play unfolds. Principally, Osborne has a fantastic sense of humour which is reflected in his many humorous comments. When drinking whisky without water ' as the water was contaminated' he exclaimed
“ I'd rather had the microbes” p. 10 however, he does not like to laugh at others expense, “ it rather reminds you of bear baiting”.

He sticks up for up for all his colleagues particularly Stanhope, who has taken to drinking heavily to cope with the stress of war. When Hardy criticises Stanhope, Osborne is very strident in his defence of him, “ Iv'e seen him on his back all day with trench fever – then on duty all night” p.13.

Osborne seems to
…show more content…
Osborne did not like shirkers and admired men who stick to their principals, when Stanhope commented, “ it's a slimy thing to go home if your not really ill” Osborne replies “ I think it is” p.32. Osborne shows contempt for Hardy who did not keep control of the trenches and left everything in a poor state, but for those platoon members who worked hard he showed the upmost kindness and respect, “ id wish you'd turn in and sleep for a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    On February 7th he reported to a call about a dispute at the Osborne’s household. When he arrived he notice Mrs. Osborne very upset and had a gash to her forehead. He said Mrs. Osborne was silent and said she was okay. Even though it did not look like she was.…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor.”…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    wold war one year 12 core

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Life in the trenches were constant of boredom, routine, “shell shock”, disease and vermin and the “stench of death”…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the other hand, the poem ‘The Send- Off’ written by Wilfred Owen was set in World War I and is about the departure of soldiers to war. This poem is similar to The Shoe-Horn Sonata as it reflects a shameful image of the operation of war as ‘too few’ will return. Through the use of visual and aural imagery, Owen is able to depict the excited and anxious anticipation of the soldiers at the beginning of the poem through the use of the oxymoron ‘faces grimly gay’. Through the use of juxtaposition, Owen portrays society’s disapproval of sending men off to war to their pointless death; “so secretly, like wrongs hushed up”…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Osbourne respects Stanhope is the only character who properly understands why Stanhope drinks. He says, “Because he's stuck it till his nerves have got battered to bits, he's called a drunkard" This quote shows how much Osborne cares about Stanhope and also how much he respects him. There is also a father- son relationship between them outlined by Stanhope saying, “Dear old Uncle, tuck me up"."You don't think I’m going potty?" Asks Stanhope to Osborne which again shows how much Stanhope trusts Osborne. Also when Osbourne is killed in the raid, Stanhope loses faith in the people higher than him. This is show in the quote "How awfully nice - if the brigadier's pleased" which is sarcastically said. This shows how much contempt and uncertainty Stanhope has about the hierarchical system.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fatigue. Explosions. Blood. Guts. Death. These are only a few of the horrid images that the World War I soldiers endeavoured. Serving in war is not for the faint of heart or those considered not able to stomach the sight of gore and dead bodies every step. In the story, All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, this story depicts these exact horrors during Remarque’s time spent on the German battlefront. Deaths are of the norm. Soldiers become immune to the smell of rotting bodies and bits and pieces of flesh everywhere. Although comradery is a positive aspect of war, corruption and lost youth outweigh comradeship, therefore making war a negative circumstance.…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with Eric isn’t very mature or well established in the ranks of the family. Both of the children are treated as kids even though they are in their 20’s ‘She makes fun of him and Birling cuts him off before he can finish speaking/delivering his speech’. Thus showing Birling’s little respect or opinion of his son. The first we hear about him in the play ‘Eric suddenly guffaws’ he is then unable to explain his laughter and is somewhat nervous about something ‘I don’t know really-suddenly I felt I just had to laugh’. The moment itself wasn’t an amusing one, but this just gives me a picture of a young child sniggering to themselves in a corner, then realising they have done wrong and then persisting to be quite This first line is significant because it builds him up as a character and J B Priestley has cleverly thought of Eric’s opening line. This then impacts the reader by showing them immediately that he is treated like a boy so then acts like a boy. Priestley’s use of dialogue helps to portray Eric as a character of foolishness and…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rat Kiley Effect

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Some soldiers, such as Tim O’Brien from The Things They Carried have a personality change; he became obsessed with taking revenge on a fellow soldier who was shocked by all the massacres going on that he froze and failed to get to wounded O’Brien on time. O’Brien, having to suffer the consequences of not getting treated on time was anxious to get well so he could take his revenge on the medic who was in shock by his surroundings. As a result, O’Brien decided to play a cruel prank on Bobby Jorgenson, the medic who treated O’Brien, by scaring him during his night shift knowing paranoia would get the best of Jorgenson. The soldier knew it was wrong for he admitted “In a way I wanted to stop myself. It was cruel, I knew that but right and wrong were somewhere else. I heard myself chuckle” (198). O’brien was so consumed by all the pain he had to go through as a result of the war and not getting treated on time, that he only focused on his vengeance towards Jorgenson. He was affected by war physically, resulting in his change in attitude as well, something that Steinbeck agrees with O’Brien on as well. Steinbeck asserts that soldiers who have had to experience war are “capable of great cruelties” and that they “laugh at things which are not ordinarily funny” which was the case of O’Brien’s “chuckle” when he knew he was acting on hate and cruelty and not taking…

    • 1359 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This meant that even though they were required to carry the physical load and bear the emotional consequences, they still had to “fight” for survival. Every characteristic or thought was taken in a positive manner and helped them develop confidence and motivation that lead them to overcome the devastation of war. For example there was an epiphany for Jimmy Cross at the end of the story when he realized the predicament of not being focused in war. This lead him to burn the letters, which shows a great deal of confidence and motivation, developed during war. The act of him burning the letter made sure that he was willing to forget the fantasies about his girlfriend Martha and become focused in war. He had managed to acquire the courage by simply an incident that could have potentially proven to be fatal. Therefore this helped in developing confidence and the ability to be focused while also motivating him to be alert in war. Therefore this gives us insight that the author provides details about the consequences of war faced by the soldiers not only physically but also mentally such as fear, love and grief. The ability or mental strength required to overcome the atrocities of war is immense and this is intensified by gravity of the precarious situation. “They carried their reputation.” Thereby leading to this conclusion that war has many social and personal consequences that are reluctantly compelled onto a soldier but it undeniably lead to the development of confidence and…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The communication cycle was discovered by Argyle in 1972. The cycle consists of six areas, all of these six areas are important during communication, if any of these areas of the cycle are disrupted then the receiver would not understand or may interpret the message wrongly.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prophecies of Nostradamus can be highly accurate when they predict very general and broad things, when they predict a specific thing, it usually fails to be accurate. Also, people tent to only notice the things prophecies predict…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wilfred Owen

    • 1776 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Owen's war poetry is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. It is dramatic and memorable, whether describing physical horror, such as in‘ Dulce et Decorum Est’ or the unseen, mental torment such as in‘ Disabled’. His diverse use of instantly understandable imagery and technique is what makes him the most memorable of the war poets. His poetry evokes more from us than simple disgust and sympathy; issues previously unconsidered are brought to our attention. One of Owen’s talents is to convey his complex messages very proficiently. In‘ Dulce et Decorum Est’–‘ If in some smothering dreams you too could pace / Behind the wagon that we flung him in’ the horror of witnessing this event becomes eternal through dreams. Though this boy died an innocent, war allowed no time to give his death dignity, which makes the horror so more poignant and haunting. This is touched on in‘ Mental Cases’–‘ Treading blood from lungs that had loved laughter / Always they must see these things and hear them’. Many of the sights which will haunt the surviving soldiers are not what the officials have ordered them to do, but what they have done to save their own lives. It is the tragedy of war that you are not able to stop to help a dying man. They then, not only physically scarred and mentally changed, carry remedyless guilt with them. They have survived, at the expense of others–‘ Why speak not they of comrades that went under?’ (‘Spring Offensive’). Another dimension is that even the enemy soldiers are just like them, it is the politicians and generals who have caused this war, not these ordinary men. This is explored in‘ Strange Meeting’ - the meeting of an enemy who is really a‘ friend’.…

    • 1776 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once the Inspector officially enters the scene, he is described as a man that ‘...creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.’ This continues consistently throughout the play whilst he delivers his speeches and through the processes of interrogation within the members of the Birling family. The Inspector remains calm and tactful whilst the rest of the Birling family crumble and fall apart due to the relevant and concise questions he asks. His ‘solidity’ is shown constantly throughout the play as he remains on task despite the fact that others are trying to distract the Inspector from making key points and to put him off task. This is seen when Birling asks the Inspector ‘Have a glass of port- or a little whisky?’ which shows that Birling is trying to be have a light and colloquial conversation with the Inspector. However, the Inspector then…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hugh Selwyn Mauberley

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages

    condemnation of war and its effects. Pound writes of the soldiers who were sent off to die…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Osborne’s use of Language is ‘Look Back in Anger’ / Language as a protagonist in ‘Look Back in Anger’…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics