How Sherriff presents the true horrors of was through the character of Raleigh?

The difference between the fantasy of war and its true, horrific and demoralizing nature is one of the play's major themes. The theme is most overtly revealed through Raleigh's character arc. When Raleigh first arrives, his boyish excitement at joining the war is shaken when he notices the quiet and the general lack of action, which undermines his expectations of war being chaotic, frantic and filled with triumphant fighting. Even when faced with Stanhope's PTSD and alcoholism, Raleigh maintains his fantasy of war, choosing to portray Stanhope as a hero in his letter to his sister. Raleigh's faith in the war is only shaken after he participates in a raid that leaves Osborne dead. Raleigh finally moves from bearing witness to the horrors of war to being a casualty himself, becoming paralyzed and then dying from a shrapnel fragment. As a final image to cement the true nature of war, Raleigh is entombed in the dugout.