Journey's End by R.C Sherriff

‘Journey’s End’ is a play written by R.C Sherriff, which looks at the noble and ignoble points about being at war and looks in detail, at the qualities and personalities of five officers in the British Army during World War I. I am going to decide which of these officers I believe would be the best leader of the platoon.



‘Journey’s End’ is made up of a series of scenes in three acts. There is one scene in the first act, two scenes in the second act, and finally three scenes in the third act. The five characters: Hibbert; Trotter; Osborne; Raleigh; and Stanhope, are in a trench on the front line, opposite a German trench. The Germans are expected to attack soon. However, the British soldiers are planning a raid in order to get information from a German soldier. Later on in Act three, Scene three, they attack the Germans, and come across their Journey’s End.



Hibbert would almost certainly be the worst choice to lead the platoon. His appearance and personality make the audience believe that he is a weakling and a coward. He is in constant fear of death and is always doing what he can to prevent himself from being forced up to fight by Stanhope. An example of him being a coward and trying to run away is when he says:

“It’s this beastly neuralgia.”

We do not know whether he actually has neuralgia or not, but one thing’s for sure, he is trying to run away from the fight.



Trotter, in my opinion, would make a very good commanding officer. As proven throughout the drama, he is brave, enthusiastic, and has lead the men well in the past as Stanhope has given him a share of jobs. Although he has all the qualities required to lead a platoon, the fact that he has a well developed cockney sense of humour gives me the impression that he might not take the war as seriously as it should be.



Stanhope is the commanding officer and has been at the front line for 3 years. He has practically stared death in the...