Silent Protest in Regeneration by Pat Baker

Student's Name:
Professor's Name:
Course:
Date:
Silent Protest in Regeneration by Pat Baker
The devastating effects of war affect both victors and losers. Soldiers often undergo traumatizing experiences being in the epicenter of the unfolding events. It is the case in Pat Baker's Regeneration publication . Baker explains how war is still prevalent in the text, even in places where soldiers should be protected, like in camps. It is expected that some soldiers will revolt against the system, opting for better and more peaceful conditions. In the story, soldiers ironically relied on silence as the weapon of choice to protest against maltreatment in the military camps. This essay aims to discuss how silence was used as a form of protest during the first world war in the book. [Steffens, Karolyn. "Communicating trauma: Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy and WHR Rivers's psychoanalytic method." jml: Journal of Modern Literature 37.3 (2014): 36-55.] [Monteith, Sharon, et al., eds. Critical Perspectives on Pat Barker. Univ of South Carolina Press, 2005. P. 60-69]
Book Overview
Osma (47) points out that this is one of the novels that confront the psychological effects of World War I on soldiers. Baker also highlights the military hospital's treatment methods to cater to soldiers experiencing mental effects after partaking in the war . The story follows an English officer called Dr. Rivers. He was transferred to the hospital after publicly declaring he would no longer fight in the war. The story takes part in four parts. The first portion is centered on an officer called Sassoon as he arrives in Craiglockhart. The second part focuses on the meeting between Sassoon, while the third section centres on solving Sassoon's conflict. This section is also the climax of the novel. Lastly, the fourth part documents the resolution of Rivers' struggle. Consistently, Baker displays men who have graphically suffered dreadful experiences . However, the focus is not on the experiences themselves. Baker shows the reader how these soldiers cannot find a vent for their pent-up emotions like anger, sadness, or anxiety. As a result, they are all tormented by different memories and dreams. [Sadjadi, Bakhtiar, and Farnaz Esmkhani. "Trauma and Narrating World War I: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Pat Barker's Another World." Critical Literary Studies 2.1, Autumn and Winter 2019-2020 (2020): 157-174.] [Nixon, Rob, and Pat Barker. "An Interview with Pat Barker." Contemporary Literature 45.1 (2004): vi-21. P. 21]
Silent Protest
A central example in the novel is a soldier called Billy Prior. Unfortunately, he arrives at Craiglockhart unable to speak. Dr. Rivers explains this phenomenon as a response to an internal conflict (Baker 96). In essence, this selective mutism is because Prior wishes to speak about something but is aware of the consequences of speech while in the military. At the time, the consequences of questioning authority or speaking against the system would cause far worse effects compared to keeping quiet. In the same way, Dr. Rivers also adds that stammering is a symptom of internal conflict. The latter is common among many officers, including Dr. Rivers. They opt to stay silent because...