Q2. What do you think Barker’s views are on patriarchs and patriarchy?

Barker’s has very opposing views of patriarchs and patriarchy in that society. She disagrees with the way the social classes were structured and how men of a higher class can have so much power over men of a lower class. Barker makes her ideas evident through her characters because none of the three main characters meet the requirements of patriarchs during that time. Rivers may be a patriarch at Craiglockhart, however he is not a true patriarch because he often thinks that what the government is asking him to do at Craiglockhart is selfish because he cures the soldiers from their war neurosis but then sends them back to the place which made them indisposed. Sassoon is also not a patriarch because he has a clear stance against the government and very subversive. He is also a homosexual and a very emotional character, which was against the masculine ideals of that period. Furthermore, Prior is very much against patriarchy and makes it clear to the reader when he talks about how snobbish and stupid the upper class is. He is also from the working class but was an officer in the war, which shows that he is part of the patriarchy society but at the same time he isn’t. This creates a conflict inside of himself because he is against it but part of it.

Barker’s view of patriarchs and patriarchy is also depicted through the way she presents the government. Barker’s presents the government as very controlling and inhumane. However the government has no face so people cannot attack it and the public doesn’t know where to direct their anger and cannot single out certain people. Barker also never mentions government officials in the novel, which also suggests that the government is not a single person because a person would be more humane to the soldiers and the war would not be carrying on. Therefore, Barker’s views on the patriarchal government are that they are very inhumane and forceful.