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Pat Barker Regeneration compared with R.C Sheriffs Journeys end

Hi there, for my English Lit coursework I have to compare these two books and the question is "war brings out the best and worst in humanity", can anybody explain how war brings out the best in humanity in these books?

Reply 1

The Empire Odyssey

Original post by White993

It brings humanity closer together. Regeneration: you could argue the fact that homosexuality isn't that much of a problem during WW1. So you could look at that. In 1914, homosexuality was frowned upon and still illegal and I think it was still classed as a mental health disorder such as anorexia, schizophrenia, bi-polar and dementia. So the fact that the abnormal is turned around to be presented as normal is triggered by the inhumane-ness of WW1. It puts the little things into perspective. Such as both men just want to be loved; or they just miss that animal instinct to have sex - initially humanity looks at the silly things rather than the more serious things. As WW1 lost so many lives, it failed to compensate anything good coming out of it.

Journey's End: just the general consciousness of caring for one or another. No matter of social class or background, Stan still cares for Raleigh. So you have that unconditional bond between those two. Stan sees a lot of himself in Raleigh so he tries to protect him because Stand does not want to let Raleigh see the horrific nature of war because that is what ruined Stan's innocence; leading him to his alcoholism.