Regeneration Conflict Analysis

Conflicts in Regeneration

The WWI novel Regeneration, by Pat Barker, illuminates myriad conflicts brought about by war. Not restrained to the battlefield, these conflicts have wide array of consequences and alter the lives of those whom they affect. In particular, Barker elucidates on the struggles between soldiers and citizens, between ideas and actions, and between parent and child. The main characters of the novel struggle with their identities constantly, largely due to their experiences in the war. Whether they act as a hero or suffer a breakdown, all of the protagonists wrestle with internal issues that ultimately decide their fate.

Barker uses the relationship between Prior and Sarah to show the great struggles between citizens and soldiers that war creates. In some ways, Sarah acts as a translator from Prior. Since she has some stake in the war as a bomb maker, and since the war stole her fiance from her, Sarah has plenty of experience with war. However, she remains a civilian. She can still find pleasure in simple things like going to the beach. Prior describes her as his “haven”, and he goes to great measures to prevent her from becoming tarnished. Late in their relationship, as they see each other naked for the first time, Prior has a flashback to the war. He then has an aside where he discusses his requirement to keep his negative war experiences a secret. Prior claims that “somehow if she’d known the worst parts, she couldn’t have gone on being a haven for him” (Barker 3463). As a result, he himself cannot confide in her. As a soldier, he has to bear the burden of his memories, and this creates a deep problem for him. He loves Sarah, “he want[s] to know and to be known as deeply as possible”, so he has a huge problem (Barker 3470). He can either reveal his troubled past to his girlfriend, spoiling her, or he can keep his past obscured, possibly sabotaging his relationship with secrets. His civilian side wants to tell Sarah, but the soldier in him...