Violence In Faulks Journey's End All Wars

The First World War, named at its conclusion ‘the War to End All Wars’, is widely considered to be one of the most savage displays of physical violence of its time. The statistics for single battles such as the Battle of the Somme show that in one day alone, 15,000 British soldiers were killed, with one person dying every five seconds. The cruelty of this war has been a source of inspiration for many, with countless poets, playwrights and novelists attempting to capture and convey its brutality, two of the most successful being R.C. Sherriff and Sebastian Faulks. The former, writer of the play ‘Journey’s End’, draws on personal experiences in order to give the audience a snapshot of the war, whilst the latter writes entirely from research and

For example, when visiting water gardens at the Somme in part one, Stephen reflects on his environment, feeling ‘repelled’ by the ‘hectic abundance [which] seemed to him close to the vegetable fertility of death’- he appears almost aware of the cruel mass loss of over 1,000,000 men that is to occur later. This massive display of physical violence is also itself symbolised on a smaller scale within part one; when read from a Marxist perspective the brawl at Rene’s factory following Lucien Lebrun’s failed attempt to unite the people can be seen as a microcosm for the war, with the oppressed proletariat workers fighting amongst themselves and causing unrest not dissimilar to that seen in Europe in the years leading up to the Great War. One of the most unsettling ways in which Faulks uses symbolism, however, can be seen in chapter 13, where Faulks uses simile to liken the shell fire to ‘unexpected stars’, shooting across the ‘blackened skyline’. On the one hand, this description can be seen as evidence of the power brutality has over traditionally positive symbols- it has turned shooting stars, objects which people commonly wish on, into symbols of death and destruction. On the other hand, this image could be seen as a display of the strength and optimism of the soldiers- though faced countlessly with death, they are able to find positivity and beauty, a thing upon which they can direct their hopes. In this sense, it could be argued that Faulks is trying to convey mankind’s resistance to brutality, capturing his innocence and determination. Sherriff also uses symbolism to convey the brutality of war. The raid on the German trenches is one example of this: it is presented to the audience as a suicide mission, a purposeless formality coming from a corrupt authority that cannot be disobeyed. The result of this inhumane raid is tragic: although