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My Boy Jack- Act 1

Terms in this set (55)

Rudyard's hubris and optimism about the Army Medical Board meeting
i'm sure it will be thoroughly undaunting. And afterwards we celebrate- we head for the Alhambra pg 5
idea of early maturity, looking older than reality, an appearance/ facade of intelligence and leadership
- insistence on the pince-nez in A1 S1
"i feel ridiculous"
"he has grown a moustache"
Jack's lack of dutiful reason to enlist
well... the army needs volunteers... pg 6
hold on to our perserve?
Rudyard ventriloquising John
Rudyard on masculinity and bravery expectation
"he is not a boy, he is a young men. If you continue to pamper and paw him, you will turn him into something altogether weak and watery"
War as a once in a life time opportunity according to Rudyard
Within a year, by the end of 1914, we shall be fighting for civilisation itself, one wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to be part of that
Act 1 Scene 1
Rudyard ventriloquising his son, pince-nez, Carrie and Rudyard clash of view about the war and sending John into it
Act 1 Scene 2
Army Medical Board, John's severe myopia prevents him from joining the army
Theme of protest from Rudyard in act 1 scene 2
will i'm not calling it a day. I shall write, i think it's utterly gutless
Kipling's poem Recessional
-religion
-empire
"lesser breeds without the law"
"God of our fathers... beneath whose awful Hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine"
John's protest and determination to join the army
i shall enlist as a private soldier. They can't stop me
I'm going to join the army, i don't care how i do it
Act 1 Scene 3
John and Elsie conversation, discussion of home situation/ atmosphere
John disappointing his father
was he angry? No, he was upset i think. Oh God. Even worse
Life for John at home in A1 S3 (simile)
It's like a great big blanket of doom
Elsie as voice of reason, imitating modern readers view
the rules are there for a reason
It seems sensible to me
John about home and his real reason for enlisting
i don't care whether it's sensible or not, or dangerous or not, i don;t give a damn as long as i get away, and get out of this house
It's sufficating
I have to be with other people
Elsie on gender position within the family
The only son. He worshipped you
Where did you fit in? i didn't
John's youth, innocence
'Daddo'. I'm sixteen.
I should have moved onto 'Father' by now
I know but i can't quite say it
Act 1 Scene 4
Rudyard's recruiting speech at a mass meeting
Features within Rudyard's recruiting speech
-dichotomising England vs. Germany
- pastoral imagery contaminated
-euphemism "paint our rivers red"
-hyperbole
- inclusive pronouns= pursuasive
- metaphor of disease
- final demand/ imperative
-irony that this is what the European empire did
Use of understatement in Rudyard's recruiting speech
pernicious minority who do not intend to inconvenience themselves for any consideration
Act 1 Scene 5
in media res- Elsie confronting dad about why John is suddenly in the army
Jack elevated to a hero
He's here! He's here!
It's only Jack. It's not the king
Carrie, futility of protest against the war and her husband, suffering emotionally about prospect of loss
i am terrified that Jack will be killed. I dream of his death- night after night. Two of his friends are dead already, But there is nothing i can do about it
How did John get into the army?
Lord Roberts
"Bobs forced the pace a bit that's all"
"phew! a close run thing, you got to him just in time"
Reality vs. Home Front impression of war A1 S5
lot's of marching?
filthy hot, the men were fainting like flies
class
John is 2nd Lieutenant/ junior commissioned officer despite only being 17
Elsie accusing Rudyard for if Jack dies
Well frankly Father it'll be your fault if Jack is killed
Gender in the family dynamics
but the men ploughed on regardless did them
Rudyards passion for the empire
(passionately) "you don't understand... neither of you understand what is at stake"
Metaphor of family for empire
build up, a family of nations
Britain, as parents, has an absolute duty to protect its children
Elsie's rationality on the empire
and to make money
Dead as an escape for John (or so in the words of Elsie)
It'd be a funny sort of freedom if anything happened to you wouldn't it
Rudyard on sacrifice
there is a price we have to pay
therefore we must continue to pass our children through fire, until somehow we win and destroy her
Carrie's anger displaced through...
-categorising the books
-changing flowers
-angry at intruder in the garden
John showing signs of fright, hint of realism
pg 32 sixteen chaps from Warley barracks have been killed already... and forty-two wounded... frightening... a bit
Rudyard's denial of the realistic possibility of death, optimism, naivety
i wonder if i will die?
i don't think so
You'll be alright
Rudyard's attempt at sharing what he believes is a comparable experience of grief (naivety of home front, gulf)
pg 33
died of Typhoid. He was twenty-seven
but you have to take your dose
(trivialises the ordeal of grief)
Patriotism, glorification of war at the end of A1 S5
i wish i could be in you rshoes now
share with you that clean honourable task
Rudyard's nativity of the impacts and suffering of war
eventually you'll heal up vs. Bowe's enduring shell shock
Act 1 Scene 6
Contrast of setting from home to western front showing that it was not an "honourable task"
- scatological humour
-theatre of the absurd (becket)
lack of comradeship between the Irish guards
you're an un-carin', selfish, city bastard, an' when Jerry blows your head off, i won't feel an ounce o' pity
Against the idea of an honer-able sacrifice
Corporal Donovan
fillin' [the latrine] wi' bromide o' lime... an' the shell landed, blown to f*ckin' pieces he was
Bowe's regression to the pastoral idyll as a comfort
that's where i should be, in the fields, with a dung fork in mi hand an' the sun on mi back
wanting a blighty
Doyle i want my feet to rot... then they'll be after whiskin' me away from here, to a nice, warm, dry, hospital bed
Feet washing allusion
parallel to John 13:1-17 (last supper where Jesus washes disciples feet)
-John as a messianic figure with link to sacrifice
Jack addressing to lack of comradeship and duty from the Irish guards
before we risk our lives together, i'd like you to explain why you grab any chance to disobey me
(about McHugh who goes onto wipe "horse sh*t" on feet)
fraternal rivalry
Religion between Kipling and Irish Guards (link to empire)
don't you find it a little f*ckin' ironic that here we are, in a platoon of Irish catholics, takin' order from the son of a man who gave £30,000 of his own cash to help Mr Carson arm the protestants
Pathetic fallacy
there's no rain left (in County Clare). The Irish Guards have brought it all to France
Act 1 Scene 7
shivering from the cold, Bowe tries to escape to the warmth but McHugh physically hit him
Bowe's desperation to leave the trench and get warm
"Bowe beginning to panic. He tries to barge past McHugh and Doyle"
(shouting) GET OUT O' MY WAY. LET ME PAST!
Impossible requirements placed on soldiers
how are yous supposed to clib out o' the trench, let alone f*ckin' run?
Act 1 Scene 8
five minutes to Zero hour, panic before going over, black comedy with scatological humour
term for toilet humour
scatological humour
Description of the men prior to going over the top, dehumanised
they sand, waiting, over-laden, like three surreal, khaki Christmas trees
John's dramatic monologue at the end of act 1
i'm so frightened
please God i mustn't let them down
Oh Daddo- what luxury- to turn on a hot tap...
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