Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

Page 7 Candidate Number: FYW812

an admission of cowardice’ (Barker 1991, p.112). Rivers even mentions that ‘all the physical symptoms [such as] paralysis, blindness, deafness are… all common in private soldiers and rare in officers. It's almost as if for… the labouring classes illness has to be physical [and] they can't take their condition seriously unless there's a physical symptom’ (Barker 1991, p.96). Through the representation of Willard, Barker illustrates how some soldiers were so embarrassed of their mental illnesses (because mental and emotional weaknesses were perceived as unmanly) that the mental despair and suffering manifested itself physically as a protective device to prevent soldiers from returning to war. Barker also explores the concept of emasculation through one of her key characters, Billy Prior. Prior represents the various struggles of experiencing emasculation during World War 1. When first introduced in the novel, Prior suffers from mutism. Loss of speech was common amongst soldiers suffering from ‘shell shock’ and was a coping mechanism for horrors encountered at war. However, in Prior’s case, his mutism seemed to be his mechanism of defence. His mutism gave Prior a sense of control and power over those around him, especially as it showed that Prior could not be forced into doing anything – even speaking. Further, Prior uses his mutism as a way of avoiding recounting the horrors he encountered at war, whether this be on purpose, or subconsciously. His loss of speech allows him to defer speaking about his emotional shock to Dr Rivers, and anyone for that matter. The readers also experience Prior’s attempts to assert his masculinity as even when he is communicating with a ‘notepad and pencil… [he] scrawled in block capitals’ (Barker 1991, p.41). Not only does the use of block capital letters suggest Prior’s aggression, it also showcases his attempts at proving his authority and manliness, which displays Prior’s determination for maintaining whatever is left of his male identity.