Pat Barkers Regeneration Essay -- Birth Control Pregnancy Essays

Contraception is a word commonly used in society today. With hundreds of types, brands, and methods of contraception available, it is hard to imagine a world without it or one in which it was against the law. However, decades ago at the turn of the 20th century, birth control was not easy to get or looked upon as socially acceptable. It was during the First World War that society began to see the emergence of contraception and its acceptance. Readers can also see its emergence in Regeneration on page 128, as Billy Prior propositions his new love interest by stating he "always paddles with me boots on," a reference to the fact that he, as an army man, always wears contraception when having intercourse. With this background, we can now see how Pat Barker uses this brief cultural reference to remind readers of the history of contraception for both men and women during the war and to suggest how people can find emotionally fulfilling and loving personal relationships through sex, a main theme in the novel. Many men during the war were soldiers. With the constant travel and movement of their platoons, soldiers did not stay in one place or, for that matter, with one girl. Consequently, during the First World War, condoms were handed out to soldiers as a preventative measure against the spread of venereal disease (Robb 65). Because soldiers would sometimes have many partners, condoms became a necessity to carry. Lesley A. Hall wrote, "It is often stated that condoms gained, as it were, a certain currency through being distributed to troops," by soldiers trading them back and forth to decrease, once again, the spread of disease. Currency suggests that condoms became of value, almost to that of money, during the war. This increase of ca... ...een Prior and Sarah. By seeing these two characters begin the courting process, go through the choice to use birth control, and then fall in love, the reader's understanding of Prior and Sarah’s relationship, and the importance of sex in that relationship, help shape contraception’s significance to the novel. Works Cited Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003. Bullough, Vern L., and Bonnie Bullough. â€Å"A Brief History of Population Control and Contraception.† Free Inquiry. 14.2 (1994): 16-7 Hall, Lesley A. â€Å"Angus McLaren, Twentieth Century Sexuality.† 1999. 12 Apr. 2003. <http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah/mclaren.htm> Hall, Lesley A. â€Å"History of Condoms.† 2003. 12 Apr. 2003. <http://homepages.primex.co.uk/~lesleyah/acbcond.htm> â€Å"Marie Stopes.† 2003. Spartacus Online. 12 Apr. 2003 <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/b33.htm>