Parts I and II (3-144). It
would help if you read right away the historical background at the back of the book since
it will tell you a bit about the non-fictional figures in the book (especially about Dr.
Rivers). Also there are some sections of the novel that are highlighted in
bold print below. I will assign students (in groups of two) to be responsible for
creating questions, which they will raise with the whole class, about these sections.
-- What is the exact nature of Sassoon's protest? How is it tied to his poetry that
you have read?
Is Sassoon responsible for his actions?
For whom is he speaking?
Why is he so dangerous? What predicament has he
created for the British government?
Why is Robert Graves so angry with his friend?
Why has it led to Sassoon being sent to Rivers?
-- What kind of man is Sassoon? Barker builds his character primarily through having
many other people talking about /evaluating/judging him. What are all the things we
learn about him either implicitly or explicitly? About his family? his
sexuality? his friendships? his view of war? his personality? (see 71-72).
-- The other patients are important because they are often doubles for Sassoon
and help Barker create a fulleer portrait of the war's effect. So we'll try to
quickly get to the heart of all of them, except for Prior, who is more important (other
than Rivers, he is the one character who has a major role throughout the trilogy).
-- Anderson?
-- Burns?
-- Campbell?
-- Willard?
-- Captain Broadbent?
-- What kind of man is Rivers? What is his view of the war? What is Rivers' view of
the Sassoon situation? What dilemma does he pose for Rivers?
-- see (47-48)
-- see (106-108)
-- see (115-118)
What is Rivers' psychological state? What kinds of inner conflict
is he feeling?
What is his view of the soldiers?
What kind of medicine does he practice? In your
opinion, is he a good doctor?
Why does Sassoon have such a great effect on him?
-- Prior: What do you make of his character? Why is he such an insolent patient?
Why is he always testing Rivers?
-- Look at his background in England, his asthma, his experiences in war, his attitude
toward England when he comes back, etc.
Parts III and IV (rest of novel):
-- We begin with the first section of part III on pp. 149-150. It is a central
summation of many of the novel's major concerns before we enter the second half of Regeneration.
-- see (149-150)****
-- Sassoon's relationship with Wilfred Owen -- why are they so instantly drawn together?
Even though it begins earlier in the novel, we will look at their relationship all
together.
-- How is Owen portrayed by Barker?
-- How is he like/unlike Sassoon?
-- Barker tries to give us a sense of the creative
process through their conversations about Owen's
poems. What is it like? Why do they feel
so much excitement? We will talk about this in light
of our reading of Owen's great poems about WWI.
-- We will also tie Owen's poems to Sarah's disturbing experience in the Vets' Hospital.
-- see (158-60)****
-- How does Prior's relationship with Sarah evolve?
-- Why can't he tell her about the war?
-- Does he love her?
-- What has the war done for/to her? Mostly
negative or positive?
-- Why does Sassoon make the decisions he does in the final part of the novel? Why
does he decide to go back to the war?
-- see (196-198)****
-- see (202-205)****
-- Rivers:
-- We learn more about his past in this part of the novel.
How does his past relate to his character, his
view of the war, and to his methods of practice?
-- His visit to Burns? Why is it finally so
disturbing
for Rivers?
-- see (182-84)****
-- He comes to many final conclusions about the war and about its effect on the
soldiers. We will look closely at some of them.
-- see (220-222)****
-- see (235-239)****
-- What effect has the war had on him finally? How does he relate it to his
earlier experiences in the tropics?
-- see (240-242)****
-- see (249-250)****
-- Why is this novel called Regeneration?
