Regeneration

Key Facts

full title ·  Regeneration

author · Pat Barker

type of work · Novel

genre · Historical fiction; war novel

language · English

time and place written · 1990–1991; Durham, United Kingdom

date of first publication · 1991

publisher · Viking

narrator · An unknown, omniscient narrator

point of view · Third person omniscient; the narrator is not present or obtrusive in the text, yet is able to know the thoughts and feelings of each of the characters

tone · Matter-of-fact, realistic, and resigned; the narrator does not gloss over details or make them any more palatable for the reader

tense · Immediate past

setting (time) · 1917, near the end of the World War I

setting (place) · Craiglockhart War Hospital, Scotland

protagonist · Dr. Rivers

antagonist · Madness; Rivers and his patients must fight against the war neuroses in an attempt to heal, but first they must determine what the madness is

climax · Rivers witnesses Dr. Yealland's electro-shock therapy, reflects on his relationship with Sassoon, and is forced to come to terms with his own role as a doctor and the control he wields over his patients

falling action · The Board finalizes Sassoon's decision to return to active military duty in France; Sassoon leaves and Rivers reflects on how he has been changed by his patient

themes · Madness; love between men; parenthood; duty

motifs · Regeneration; emasculation

symbols · Mutism; trenches; the graveyard

foreshadowing · Pointing out the flooded cave on their walk foreshadows that the cave is where Rivers will find Burns in the storm; the dreary, empty hallway at the National Hospital foreshadows the frightening treatment Rivers later witnesses there