Journeys end Questions: "Journey's End"

Essay by FlaimeA-, March 2006

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8. In the times of the war, everything must have seemed very dull and sad. These horrible feelings inside of everyone will have caused much digression and if people showed there sadness and hopelessness, the atmosphere in the trenches and the dug outs would have been terribly depressing. This is why people like Trotter tried not to express their sorrow, but instead appear to be feeling normal, and happy. Instead of acting as if things were useless and life was drawing close to an end, he would pretend "things were normal". Obviously it would have been very hard for somebody to "make things feel natural" in such a situation, but Trotter still makes several attempts. Generally Trotters whole attitude through scene 2 and in fact later in the play is one of cheeriness and he is very chirpy, but there are certain things we can pull out from his script which emphasize this point.

For example on page 33, Line 17 Trotter says,

"Yes. That plumber was a prize cook, 'e was. Lucky for us one day 'e set 'imself on fire making the tea. 'E went 'ome pretty well fried. Did mason get that pepper?"

There are several things we can pick put from just this sentence. To start with Trotter is talking about something completely 'off-topic', something that may come up in everyday speech. It's obvious that instead of discussing things about the army and the coming German attack, Trotter would prefer to talk about how a cook set himself on fire. He also makes quite a joke of it and moves on very quickly. What can quite easily notice in Scene 2 is the way Trotter always is doing something. He seems never to stop, always trying to do something that might keep his mind and...