Pat Barkers Regeneration Essay -- Pat Barker Regeneration Essays

Pat Barkers RegenerationAs Pat Barkers Regeneration is set in a mental hospital during mankind War I many aspects of the novel evaluate and discuss thepsychological effects that the War has had on the patients. The novelexplores the internal struggles of WWI soldiers and their attempts toovercome the trauma of struggle experiences. In Strange Meeting adifferent approach to the war is addressed with much of the novelbeing set in the trenches and at the reckon line. The novel closelyexamines the relationship between two soldiers Barton and Hilliard andthe extent of change caused by the war is a prominent themethroughout, showing clearly the stimulated and physical changes the warhas caused.Prior is an initially difficult patient who suffers from mutism,writing that he has NO MORE WORDS when asked what he could rememberfrom his time served in France. Barkers use of block capital lettersand short, blunt statements here leads us to at first believe thatPrior is not that an uncooperat ive patient hindering a possible speedyrecovery but also inwardly angry and agitated. Although Prior givesthe staff at Craiglockhart a hard time, describing the night staff asspies, and with this sarcastic dismissive attitude is perhaps atfirst perceived as though he doesnt want to get better we soonrealise that he is simply a difficult character who actually reallywants to recover and as solid as possible, it isnt fair to say I foolt want treatment. He is one of the many soldiers from WWI who istorn between two desires. On the one hand, he wants to recover,enabling him to return to France as soon as possible,proving himself as a soldier as well as a man. However, he still has aselfish side th... ...Prior share a lot in common both having experiencingtrench life and struggling with the barbarian truths of war. They bothcreate relationships with people throughout the novels and throughBarton and Hilliards relationship and the relationships Prior shareswith Sarah and Rivers we lear n a lot about their characters and thedifficulties soldiers experienced in talk about their experiencesas there were so many people that didnt understand. We see thatalthough the physical scars can be healed quickly it is the excitedscars that do the most injury and ironically are the hardest to heal.Barker and Hill both portray this message about the war using a fragmented discontinuous style, which reflects the disjointed thoughtprocess of many of the soldiers. From both novels we are shown justhow innocent those back at home are and how they really dont.