Journey's End Raleigh Character Analysis

There are many ways of how the writer uses the character of Raleigh. Sherriff uses Raleigh as a way for some of the audience to relate to the character and as a way to emphasise the reality of death. Raleigh’s character is also used to represent all the keen, enthusiastic soldiers and he’s used to develop the other characters.
Sherriff uses Raleigh as a way for some of the audience to relate to the character. Raleigh is a new character and is introduced in the play early on. The author may be using Raleigh as a way to teach the audience things about war, through him. He goes through the play learning about war and the other characters. The audience learn a lot of things through him: they “play a bit of soccer when [they’re] out of the
line”, “the front line’s about fifty yards further on” showing the audience how close they are and it’s “frightfully quiet” which is not what we were expecting but adds to the feeling of being there. We start the play not knowing much about the war, like Raleigh, and go through the play learning as he does and finally end the play with his death. This bond we have with the character of Raleigh makes us familiar with him and the play and gives the author a character to teach information to the audience.
Sheriff also uses Raleigh’s character as a way to emphasise the reality of death. Contrasting Raleigh’s death with Osborne’s, it shows the clear distinction of circumstances. Sometimes a man survives in the war for years, whereas others seem fated to die early. This shows the truthful, harsh side of the reality of death in war and Sheriff can capture it with the introduction of Raleigh, the new character. Raleigh is the novice; he is innocent, enthusiastic and is so keen to be a good soldier. That’s why the author chose his character to die at the end because the death of him would have the biggest effect. The fact that the audience had known Raleigh’s character for the whole play means that his death is more personal, we can see behind the figures (the death count) into an emotional scene that makes the reality of death greater. Also, the scene is very emotional and this makes the death more effective. The author does this by using turning the tense situation into a caring scene. There is suspense as the audience do not know what will happen to Raleigh but the author chooses to develop the relationship of Stanhope and Raleigh in that scene, making it caring and heart-warming. When Raleigh asks “What’s – on my legs? Something holding them down –” and Stanhope replies “It’s alright, old chap; it’s just the shock – number them” the fact that we know this is a lie makes it more emotional, as Stanhope has to lie to Raleigh to prevent him from knowing the seriousness of his injury.
He also represents all the keen, enthusiastic men in war.
Raleigh joined straight out of school when he was eighteen and after seeing Stanhope freshly promoted, he decided to sign up to the war. In order to capture the true essence of war, the author had to include men from different backgrounds, with different personalities and feelings. The different personalities make sure that Sheriff has got all the different aspects of war in; the young, high officer, the old experienced father-figure, the faker, and Raleigh – The new recruit. The fact that Raleigh has this type of personality means we can then contrast it to the other characters in the trench and how they react to war. For example if we contrast Raleigh with Osborne, we see that Osborne has been in the war for a long time and is well-accustomed to the war lifestyle, whereas Raleigh is completely the opposite, he’s new and inexperienced and this adds to the effect of their deaths. All these different personalities, including Raleigh’s, contribute to the way Sheriff makes the play feel so realistic and Raleigh is definitely an important character to
have.
Raleigh also helps to develop the characters.
Stanhope knew Raleigh before the war and this provides background information about him Stanhope “was skipper of Rugger as Barford, and kept wicket for the eleven” he used to dislike drinking as he “caught some chaps in a study with a bottle of whisky” and “the roof nearly blew off” this shows that Stanhope has obviously changed from school to war, because of what the war has done to him. Raleigh says that Stanhope used to go out with her sister and “she is waiting for [him]”, this is information that gives the audience another view on Stanhope, a more vulnerable and scared captian, and material on him which the audience can then base our views on him on. Another side of Stanhope is seen towards the end. Throughout the play Stanhope is seen as a mean and harsh leader but at the end when Raleigh is dying his character becomes caring and concerned for Raleigh – something the audience hasn’t seen before. On page 101, Stanhope calls Raleigh by his first name for the first time he says “well Jimmy – you got one quickly”, this shows a certain level of affection as he had been refusing to throughout the book. We then see Raleigh slowly dying and throughout the rest of the scene, Stanhope is very caring and concerned towards Raleigh. An example of this would be when Raleigh asks for a light and Stanhope responds “Sure! I’ll bring a candle and get another blanket”, this shows he really did care for Raleigh. Raleigh also provides
with information about Osborne. Osborne “played for the English team on one great occasion”, and Osborne and Raleigh share their views on the Germans which provide some insight into what the war men thought about Germans in war time.
In conclusion, Raleigh is a very important character with many different uses that Sheriff exploits to their full effect in the play. In a way the play revolves around him, and Raleigh’s death is the end of the journey (or play) and the Journey is Raleigh’s short journey from a new soldier to his death in the war. He might be the most important character and this makes Raleigh vital to the play.