Journey's End' was written in the late 1920s, when attitudes towards the First World War began to change and people began to realize the horrors of war and face them. This comedy offers a different take on most commanding officers of the war than in the media seen today, where they are generally seen as comic relief. The character of Captain Stanhope is introduced by several other characters, such as Hardy and Osborne, before entering himself on page twenty-two. Stanhope creates conflict in many ways in the opening act of the play and also creates conflict when he is not on stage, which highlights the importance of the character as a whole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayOne way that Stanhope creates conflict in the opening act is through the use of different opinions that Osborne and Hardy have of him, which creates conflict between them. Osborne describes Stanhope as "the best company commander we have". The use of "we have" shows that Osborne believes this is a common opinion among his fellow officers and may highlight that everyone does not agree with Hardy. This could also highlight the bond the agents have with each other and how they make up a dysfunctional family, which could highlight why they are so loyal to Stanhope. Furthermore, the use of the word "got" could also highlight that Osborne believes that Stanhope will never leave because he can only focus on the war and does not want his family to see the man he has become. To develop this concept further, the word could also highlight that Osborne is possessive of Stanhope because he is the "best" and wouldn't want anyone else to replace him, this is perhaps why Osborne is so defensive of Hardy . Osborne may want to defend Stanhope because he knows that Stanhope's mechanism for dealing with war is drinking and Hardy deals with war in other ways and doesn't understand Stanhope. This ties into the idea that Osborne deals with the war by acting as a father figure to others, which is especially shown when Raleigh first enters. Hardy describes Stanhope as "drinking like a fish, as usual". The use of the simile "like a fish" highlights that Hardy has no sympathy for Stanhope and sees him as an object used for his personal entertainment, rather than a man struggling with mental health issues. The use of the phrase after "as usual" adds to the sense that everyone else knows his habits and that Osborne should be embarrassed about having to report to a man like this. Also, this ties into the idea that Hardy deals with the war through humor and perhaps doesn't know how to be sympathetic towards Stanhope and uses a "fish" as comic relief. This continues further when Hardy uses the phrase "Stanhope really is some kind of monster", pointing out that Hardy has no tact and doesn't care that Osborne might tell Stanhope about this conversation, but this would be out of character for Osborne. Furthermore, this sentence also highlights that Hardy once again sees Stanhope as a source of entertainment and perhaps calls him a "monster" because he is not sure how to express his feelings and cannot do so without being rude, even if he doesn't really mean it. Overall Stanhope's importance is highlighted at the beginning of the first act because he is mentioned by several characters before coming into his own and many different characters have different opinions about him based on their reaction mechanism and attitude towards of the war. One second.