Hibbert Flashcards
role?
-he is almost our villain instead of the nazi
-his cowardliness can evoke sympathy but most of the time he is seen not to be
-he informs us about the state of life in the trenches and we really see the turret through his eyes
-portrays how not all men were noble. he is not simple, war is to black and white. and by disliking him e fall into the trap where we think war is acceptable when the real point of the play is to convey the tragedy of war
becomes Stanhope, tries to fit in, aspires stereotype of a real man-what is that in war
cowardice and bravery
he makes us rethink what cowardice and bravery is. primarily we would dislike him for this since we see all the other men sticking it out. however the vivid way he describes war brings the horrors alive and makes us question what bravery even is
)cowardice and bravery quotes?
-‘can I have a candle?’ (pg 29) act 1 after he goes down dar passageway. it almost sounds childish to be scared of the dark as it insinuates, but it connotes a certain innocence to him that is being corrupted by the war, as with many others
`hibbert stands quivering in front of Stanhope’ (pg 57) minimises him as a solider standing in front of someone like stanhope who the audience see as brave. he is juxtaposed and made even smaller and unlikable, but however in front could also connate mirroring as if they are each other.
-‘every sound up there makes me all-cold and sick’ (pg 57) he is presented as a coward through negative words such as cold and sick, however alternatively war is presented here as a disease and is made sympathetic. sheriff portrays the reality and tragedy of war as the audience fall victim to the unrealistic expectations of this ‘sickness’ rather than appreciating how truly petrifying it must have been as the death of each soldier was almost inevitable after about 16 million deaths were recorded in tota
-‘with a little moustache and a pallid face’ (pg 28) little connotes not fully a man as a moustache is a symbol of manhood, making him unlikable right from the start. also a pallid face demonstrates an illness and doesn’t seem like a hero at all..makes us question what is in war?
coping mechanisms
he becomes a drinker like stanhope, kind of showing how all soldiers are different versions of each other. we feel sorrow for him but it also makes him more disgusting in a way./sheriff wrote the book as an epitaph for the dead, and so we are shown the ugly truth whether we like it or not through a seemingly ugly character
coping mechanisms quote
‘champagne dries the mouth up so. Makes the tongue feel like a bit of paper’ (pg 90) paper connotates weakness and vulnerability, after/under/the reasons or all the drinking, and in the end they are all cowards and scared and to escape war, but really they are just soldiers, humans who can’t escape the place they are in thus coping mechanisms are futile but so is the war.
–‘he watches HIBBERT go down the tunnel into the dark’ (pg 29) metaphor for him going into the terrible mental path he is already in. sherriff acknowledges the moral issues of Stanhope who is forced to order men into appalling, horrific situations of brutal and more likely lethal circumstance, but suggests its either this or dying so both options are horrible-ugly hard truths
-‘his pale face is shiny with sweat from the heat of the candles’ (pg 77) shiny juxtaposes with pale, as if he is finally no longer sick from war, or s=
-‘Its this beastly neuralgia. It seems to be right inside this eye’ (pg 29) neuralgia made an animal/beast, we suddenly have sympathy for him until stanhope says its a lie we hate him but once again this ‘animal’ is war…he is just trying to cope, make himself feel better. inside the eye is a metaphor for making it hard for him to see, how war alters reality, he may not have neuralgia but who are we to say his feelings arrent as bad as it
futility
hibbert’s fear we think is silly and is almost humorous. it makes us hate him especially compared to brave characters like Osborne and Stanhope who are sensible, but at the end, he walks into that trench and we are just the audience. sheriff makes it pointless for us to judge him when he is just human and we should be understanding him.
futility quotes
-‘he opens his eyes and stares vacantly into Stanhope’s face’ (pg 57) vacantly adverb demonstrates no more meaning in him, fear and war has overcome him thus he is already dead-so was it silly for him to be afraid. it also demonstrates how he has lost himself and is going to be an alernate version of stanhope, as with every solider, scared but pretending not to through mechanisms.
-‘he is the picture of misery’ (pg 90) after drinking a little bit of water. water juxtaposes with misery as its supposed to be a life source. it also causes reader to shift from thinking literally to abstractly, and see how it Iis almost silly he is supposed to be happy when he’s legit about to die.
-Good Lord! You don’t think I’m-‘ (pg 90) earlier on the page stanhope is like ‘what the devil’s the matter with you?” the use of religious connotation creates a sense of impending doom and power as if nothing can save them now except a god. the fact that the sentence is interrupted too, also portrays how we’ve been waiting, with hibbert and the others for the end of this elusive war, and now it has finally finished-their journey-they are dying. even more futile in regards to hibbert who has spent whole book trying to avoid death in war unescapable.
