Importance of Osborne in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff Essay -- Journeys

Importance of Osborne in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff From the very beginning of the play, Sheriff suggests to the audience that Osborne is the father figure and therefore that he is the voice of reason to the other men. We find out that Osborne is a middle-aged man with 'iron-grey hair'. Osborne however is physically in very good shape and is a 'tall, thin man' who is 'physically as hard as nails.' As Raleigh enters the audience sees a kind, caring side to Osborne. Sheriff puts across the ideas of Osborne being a family man through his calming conversation with Raleigh, where he tells Raleigh from what way he should look at the war. "There's something rather romantic about it all." Sheriff deliberately decides for the other characters in the play to call Osborne 'Uncle', this once again shows his maturity and that he quite responsible. He is always there when something needs to be done and he also very quick to volunteer to do any jobs that may come along. "I'll do the duty roll and see the sergeant major - and all that." For this the men respect him and therefore call him 'uncle'. Osborne is also quite affluent and may be seen as an intellect. This is shown by the fact that he is a teacher and that he doesn't jump to conclusions about people and their actions. The first time that the audience meets Osborne is in his conversation with Hardy who is the introducer of the play to the audience. The audience realises that Osborne is in the trench as he tries to take the men's thoughts away from the war and instead focus them of previous lives of things that have nothing to do with the war. "It's a nice looking sock." .. ... raiding party returns there is chaos amongst the ranks, this could possibly suggest that Stanhope and the other men require Osborne's experience in life and there seems to be a vast emptiness, this is shown by plenty of pauses followed by short, sharp conversations representing chaos. Tension is also built as Raleigh naively sits upon Raleigh's old bed. "Must you sit on Osborne's bed?" This shows that without the experienced, peacemaker, Osborne the men begin to have more heated arguments between themselves. In conclusion, therefore, Osborne added a sense of calmness to the abstract position that the men are put into. I believe that Sheriff has accomplished the task of catching the reader's eye through the voice of experience from Osborne. Work Cited Sherriff, R. C. Journey's End. New York: Brentano's, 1929.