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Essay on Fear in Journey's End by RC Sheriff

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Fear in Journey's End

The definition of ‘fear’ is a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. ‘Fear’ is reflected by the continual tension throughout the play. All the characters deal with fear in their own different ways. This reflects their personality and gives us an outline of how they really deal with the troubles, which arise during their experiences in a dangerous surrounding, and also, by dealing with the outcomes that they have to face in life. Stanhope deals with pain and fear through expressing his anger and also by his drinking habits. Hibbert deals with fear by trying to run away from it. Osborne talks about unnecessary topics, such as rugby, to hide his fears. Throughout the …show more content…

An example of Stanhope being in a situation like this, where he becomes very stressed out, is with the situation with Hibbert wanting to leave,

“No man of mine’s going sick before the attack. They’re going to take an equal chance- together.”

Due to Stanhope having to deal with this problem, he is put under a lot of stress, trying to persuade Hibbert to stay. Even the thought that one of his men want to leave, without achieving anything, disappoints him, therefore making him more fretful and therefore more vulnerable to drinking alcohol.

Stanhope deals with his fears by expressing indiscriminative anger towards the rest of the soldiers. He goes out of control. Such as in
Act 2 Scene 2, Stanhope releases his own aggression at Hibbert because of what he fears. All of this started when Hibbert tried to run away from the trenches. Hibbert complained that he was terribly ill,

“This neuralgia of mine. I’m awfully sorry. I’m afraid I cant stick it any longer,”

and forces himself to the doctors in order to run away from fighting at war. This makes Stanhope extremely angry; knowing that one of his soldiers is giving up instead of achieving anything. Stanhope has had to go through many hard times while at war, and knowing that Hibbert has had it easy, makes him furious. Therefore, he holds a gun to
Hibbert and threatens to shoot if he leaves,

“If you went, I’d have you shot- for deserting. It’s a hell of a

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