Pat Barker, Regeneration

Patricia Wheeler
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What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? - Only the monstrous anger of the guns. (“Anthem for Doomed Youth”, Wilfred Owen).

In Regeneration Pat Barker synthesises fact and fiction to explore the unresolved psychological conflicts in men who are emotionally affected by the horrors of war. To write about men and war is obviously not new and the lives of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and W. H. R. Rivers are not unknown, but Barker explores these contested areas in her own inimitable manner, constructing “moments of being shot through with memories, fabulation and personal associations” to bring fresh perspectives to the lives of men during war (Brown, 188). It is through the shattered and disintegrated minds of the officer patients at Craiglockhart War Hospital that she

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Citation: Wheeler, Patricia. "Regeneration". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 August 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12909, accessed 29 March 2024.]

12909 Regeneration 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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