Y13: A very good LA5c essay for you to have a look at.

Discuss how Pat Barker and Siegfried Sassoon use different literary techniques to achieve their different purposes.


Pat Barker’s novel, Regeneration, set in Craiglockhart, a psychiatric hospital for soldiers suffering from neurasthenia or ‘shell-shock’ in 1917, explores the lives of fictionalized historical characters, as well as fictional characters created entirely by Barker, and their developing relationships. The characters include a fictionalized version of Siegfried Sassoon, a soldier supposedly recovering from war neurosis whilst at Craiglockhart. Sassoon’s poetry deals in the imagery of war, and the death and destruction so unnecessarily caused by it. Sassoon wrote as a means of self-expression and as part of his political agenda to alert ‘complacent’ civilians to the terror of the war. In Regeneration Sassoon was able to express his feelings with greater ease than the other patients, which further suggests that he wasn’t suffering from war neurosis. Writing the poems was a method of healing strongly encouraged by army psychiatrist W.H.R. Rivers, who also features heavily in Barker’s work. (pg 26 Regeneration) “Writing the poems had obviously been therapeutic…”

Barker uses a range of literary techniques to give the reader an in depth understanding of her characters; it is widely accepted that one of Barker’s aims in writing Regeneration was to demonstrate that she could create convincing male characters. To achieve her purpose Barker makes her characters accessible to the reader psychologically, which coupled with the specific historical setting makes them convincing and believable. In order to do this she uses literary techniques such as free indirect style, dreams and flashbacks.

Unlike Barker’s, Sassoon’s work was contemporary with the war and written with great passion as he was very much involved with the trench experience. Sassoon also used varied literary techniques; each poem adopts a different style to suit its purpose. For example, in The Death Bed Sassoon captures the last moments of a dying soldier, supervising and commenting on his thoughts as the life drifts out of him, using gentle romantic imagery to capture the sense of days gone by. There is a contrast here between this and the understated but savage irony of the last line. It was Sassoon’s aim to awaken an ignorant public to the horrors of a war that he felt was unjust and causing his fellow men unnecessary suffering, this can be seen in virtually every one of his war poems.

Dialogue is a method recurrently used by Sassoon in his poetry, usually for one of two purposes: either to mimic and lampoon the linguistic clichés associated with the war, (The Hero) “We mothers are so proud//Of our dead soldiers.” or to create an atmosphere similar to that of the trenches, (A Working Party) “Keep to your right – make way!” Sassoon chooses to use voices of the ‘callous’ and ‘complacent’ civilians he so directly criticizes in his Declaration, as he is trying to show that they really have little notion of the reality of war, and their dialogue is in no way representative of any truth. It seems to Sassoon that they lie even to themselves by way of comfort. However, he uses phrases associated with the frontline, as he wants the people at home; reading his poetry to experience in some way what it is to be there. It could be suggested, that Sassoon was conscious in writing his poetry that the public’s view of what was happening in France was distorted by the media and by ‘War Office propaganda’, which he wanted to redress.
The colloquialisms often found in Sassoon’s poetry- the ‘O Christ!’ of Counter-Attack and other such realistic language- shows Sassoon’s commitment to an explicit representation of the realities of war, untouched by generalisations and poetic grand gestures of propaganda poetry.

Dialogue is also heavily used in Regeneration, as you would expect in prose texts of this kind. However, as a novel where the purpose is both socio-historical and psychological realism, Barker uses italics to denote emphasis, silence and stuttering within her dialogue to give a realistic portrayal of fictional situations. Discussion is also a predominant theme of Regeneration, as Rivers is constantly emphasizing the importance of expressing suppressed feeling a therapy for war neurosis. Key character Prior begins the novel as a mute. This further displays the ineffability of the war experience. Prior finds his relationship with Rivers bizarre, and compares Rivers to ‘empathetic wallpaper’, as it is Prior who is made to do all the talking. (pg 64) “So that I…I’m sorry. So that the patient can fantasize freely…” Prior’s hostility and frustration towards Rivers only displays the difficulties the soldiers presumably would have experienced with expressing their feelings.

Another technique adopted by both writers, but more so by Barker, is experimenting with narrative voice, especially free indirect style. Timothy Marshall comments that “The technical resources of narrative in prose (the varieties of indirect discourse in particular) do have an inherent capacity to represent languages other than the author’s.” This is especially important for Barker, as because she is a female writer it is important that her voice isn’t prominent when writing male characters. However, she isn’t completely absent from the text, as it is clear her empathy lies with characters such as Prior who like Barker is from a working class background. Free indirect style is a narrative technique which is artistically favourable for Barker, as it gives her multiple narrative foci, which she could not have if she chose to write in the first person. Writing in this way also allows the reader an insight into the characters’ minds, a psychological transparency usually only possible in first person narration, but with free indirect style all the characters Barker chooses to focus her narrative on can be made equally psychologically available to the reader. It is used especially with Rivers and Sassoon, as their relationship develops throughout the novel and their discussions become more sophisticated, especially regarding the war and duty. “… how much easier his life would have been if they’d sent Siegfried somewhere else. It wasn’t simply the discomfort of having to express views he was no longer sure he held…” Without free indirect style, it would be difficult for Barker to illustrate Rivers’ real feelings, without changing the nature of his character. However, Barker is also able to suggest the way a character may be feeling by describing their body language. “Rivers became aware that he was gripping the edge of the parapet and consciously relaxed his hands.” This was the first of many suggestions by Barker that Rivers himself may be showing symptoms of war neurosis from hearing so many horrific war stories from his patients.

Sassoon also writes in free indirect style in his poetry by way of gaining empathy for the fictional soldier characters he often creates. This is prominent in Counter-Attack, where in the first stanza Sassoon uses free indirect style before the soldier is killed in the later stanzas. “Things seemed alright at first. We held their line//With bombers posted…” Here Sassoon adopts an informal tone, as it is just as important for Sassoon to sound authentic as it is for Barker. It is essential because of his reputation being slaughtered by the government after his Declaration was published, and the need for his poetry to be taken seriously. This can be reiterated by the explicit, unflinchingly detailed description used, almost placing the trenches in the living rooms of those at home. “…rotten with dead; green clumsy legs//High-booted, sprawled and grovelled along the saps…” Despite Sassoon’s position among the upper classes, meaning as an a member of the officer-class he had a duty to always maintain ‘a stiff upper lip’- he chooses not to sugar-coat the harsh realities of trench life, as it would have been Sassoon’s hope that his credible description would shock those at home into taking action.

Sassoon writes in the third person in The Death Bed, which creates a universal sense of being and shows the dying of soldiers to be a regular occurrence. The voice of the poem’s narrator is difficult to identify. It has been suggested that the speaker is in fact the soldier that the poem refers to, and as he’s dying his soul has risen out of his body and is watching himself die. “He stirred//shifting his body…” This creates the feeling of confusion and uneasiness for the reader, which presumably would have been Sassoon’s intention. Although the poem is written in the third person, it is very similar to free indirect style, as the reader is aware of how character is feeling. “He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped//through crimson gloom to darkness…” This again suggests that it could be the soldier’s voice narrating the poem. Sassoon focuses in this poem on the one soldier to show the pain and suffering, and the sad occurrence of losing such a young life. He then proves a point at the end of the poem with a reminder for the public, “Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.” This reinforces this as not being an isolated incident, and that unless the government take action, it will continue to happen.

As free indirect style is used in Regeneration as a result, the identification of the speaker is often quickly changed, to keep with the fluency of the novel. “Sassoon had started pulling a loose thread on the breast of his tunic. Rivers watched him for a while. ‘You must have been in agony when you did that.” Rivers is constantly analysing the behaviour of his patients, and thinks in medical terms, “no obvious signs of a nervous disorder.” By using free indirect style in this way, Barker allows the reader to relate to each individual character, by allowing them to gain an insight into their thoughts and the motives behind their behaviour.

In Chapter 4 of Regeneration, Anderson who had previously worked in medicine describes a particularly disturbing dream he’d had to Rivers. “Eventually they got me cornered and my father-in-law came towards me, waving a big stick.” Here Barker creates a dream which only a Freudian mind could possibly interpret. Rivers, who held Freudian psychological beliefs analyses Anderson’s dream in great detail. This is a way of Barker giving the reader permission to analyse her novel in Freudian terms. As Sassoon was a patient of Rivers, he would also have been aware of Freud at the time and therefore his poetry should also be read in terms of Freudian ideas.

Another effective literary technique used by Barker is hypnosis. In chapter nine of Regeneration Prior is hypnotised by Rivers because of his “Standard issue battle nightmares” and his inability to remember the events leading up to him becoming a mute whilst in France. By using the vehicle of hypnosis, Barker is able to display her literary ability, by making the reader feel as if they’ve just woken up in a trench. “He woke to a dugout smell of wet sandbags and stale farts.” Similarly to Sassoon in Counter-Attack Barker is realistic in her in depth description of the trench, however, as we have established she had no way of knowing if she was being realistic in her descriptions as unlike Sassoon she hadn’t experienced it first hand. However, by writing from Prior’s perspective, “… [Prior] glanced down, and found himself staring into an eye.” Barker is able to make her writing appear genuine, and in her attempt at verisimilitude she gains credibility as an author. It seems plausible that she could have used first hand accounts such as those of Sassoon to establish a picture of what trench life was like. Barker actually makes reference to an image used in one of Sassoon’s poems in Regeneration, in an attempt to make it seem that Sassoon was dreaming up images for his poem whilst at Craiglockhart. In The Death Bed Sassoon uses the image of a billowing curtain, to create a spooky atmosphere, “Night, with a gust of wind, was in the ward, //Blowing the curtain to a glimmering curve.” This image is made reference to in chapter 2 of Regeneration, “The net curtain behind River’s head billowed out in a glimmering arc, and a gust of cool air past over their faces.” This could be Barker trying to relate the uncomfortable situation with Rivers to the horror of The Death Bed. This also shows that Barker was very much aware of Sassoon’s version of the war from reading his poetry.

In Sassoon’s poem Attack again he tries to recreate the trench experience, using descriptive language, and a fast past which is representative of the quick speed of an attack. “With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear//Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.” Like with Prior’s hypnosis, the text places the reader amongst the men in the trenches, making it seem genuine. However, unlike Regeneration this poem could hardly be more genuine, as Sassoon didn’t even create it entirely from his memories of the war. The poem originates “From a note in my [Sassoon’s] diary while observing the Hindenburg Line attack.” Although it was completed at Craiglockhart, which would suggest, that the poem was a way of putting the images from his nightmares onto paper.

A poetic technique recurrently used by Sassoon is that of personification. In The Poet as Hero Sassoon personifies the “Mocking and loathing War…” by describing it as you would a person, and giving it a capital letter like a name. He also gives it a capital ‘W’ in The Death Bed, which creates the sense of their being a lack of control over it. Sassoon makes it seem that the war is something bigger than all of them, which can’t be defeated. He uses this technique again in The March-Past as he describes “Death” in the same way. A subtle technique as this is, it is vital in displaying how Sassoon feels with regards to the war. Another technique adopted by Sassoon is that of enjambment, which usually creates a flowing rhythm, however, Sassoon uses it to stop the rhythm. “Till the tormented slain//Crawl round once again…” (To the Warmongers) By doing this Sassoon goes against the mellifluous poetic convention, this reflects how the war disrupts any harmony there may be in human society and human relationships, and that the usual conventions have been destroyed.

Poetry is usually the shortest form of text, and with such a powerful and essential message to get across to the public, it is questionable that Sassoon as a writer should use this form. However, at the time of The Great War, poetry was a popular source of entertainment, as novels are today. Therefore, Sassoon knew that his message would reach the public effectively, and in a form which they would find entertaining. Sassoon recognises that the public don’t have “sufficient imagination to realize” the horrors of the trenches in his Declaration, and by writing his poetry he is creating images for them from his own experience. Poems tend to explore one central idea in depth, with the opinions of the author being clear throughout. Sassoon often writes in the first person, “The corpse-commander was a Mute; //And death leered round him, taking our salute.” (The March-Past) This displays Sassoon’s involvement in the war and his presence and viewpoint within his poetry. Anger is also demonstrated throughout some of Sassoon’s poetry through the colloquial language used. “Now light the candles; one; two; there’s a moth; //What silly beggars they are to blunder in…” (Repression of War Experience) Sassoon was clearly angry with the continuing war, “I can no longer be a party to prolong these sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust.” After publishing the Declaration poetry was the only way left for him to make a difference, and it is clear that he will no longer be suppressed by the government. This is displayed in his angry tone.

Barker, like Sassoon has chosen a form appropriate to the time in which her work was published (1991), and in a way which suits her purpose. It writing a novel, Barker can use a wider range of literary techniques than those used in poetry, such as plot, story and structure. She is able to mould her characters, they are able to evolve throughout the novel and develop their opinions. Such as Rivers becoming unsure of what his duty is and whether it is right to protest as a military captain. Barker is said to have described the structure of Regeneration to be based around the developing relationship of Rivers and Sassoon, which she depicts as ‘s-shaped’. This is because initially Rivers feels that his duty is to serve his country, part of his duty being to convince Sassoon to return to the frontline, and it is the opinion of Sassoon that it is his duty to protest, no matter what the consequences or implications for him as an individual. It was the 19th century principle social value to do your duty and serve your country. However, because of the horror Sassoon experienced he started to challenge the beliefs which had been enforced into the young men. As a result of much discussion between Sassoon and Rivers throughout the novel, they both start to understand the viewpoint of the other. “…along came Sassoon and made the justifiability of the war a matter for constant, open debate, and that suppression was no longer possible.” The novel has multiple narrative foci, so that the whole novel isn’t about Sassoon and Rivers, but also about other characters who serve as a device for displaying the consequences of war experience.

Regeneration was written for the purpose of entertainment; therefore, there is a need for creating realistic characters, especially for a psychological novel. Barker unlike Sassoon had no political agenda or a dire purpose. Although, it was important that she portrayed the war correctly and did the men who served their country justice. As she wasn’t there it is necessary for her to use literary techniques such as nightmares, hypnosis, free indirect style and the declaration to make her work appear genuine. Sassoon had no choice but to write powerful gripping poetry, which he achieves using shocking images and language alike. He had a political agenda and a duty to protest against a war he felt was ‘unjust’. Each poem had to be striking in it’s depiction of the war, as due to his chosen form Sassoon didn’t have the advantage of having a lengthy prose text to express his views and the horrors he’d experienced.