Regeneration chronicles the experiences of World War I traumatized British troops. Siegfried Sassoon, a poet and soldier, strongly condemns the war at the outset, calling it cruel and futile.

Due of the publicity this remark garners, Sassoon is transported to Scotland’s Craiglockhart War Hospital rather than being punished. His superiors appoint renowned psychiatrist Dr. Rivers to evaluate him and persuade him to rejoin the front lines because they think he may have mental health problems that contributed to his anti-war sentiment.

In order for Sassoon to return to the battlefield, Dr. Rivers is responsible for assessing his mental health and assisting him in overcoming any trauma or mental disease. Nevertheless, Rivers admires Sassoon’s bravery and wit.

They develop a special bond and trust as Sassoon discusses his recollections and ideas. Sassoon talks candidly about his pacifist beliefs and his ties with other anti-war poets and artists. These discussions provide Rivers a better understanding of Sassoon’s steadfastness in his anti-war beliefs.

There are many other troops coping with serious stress in the hospital where Sassoon and Rivers meet. David Burns is one of them; he is so troubled by his wartime memories that he is unable to eat without becoming ill.

Billy Prior, another soldier, shows in with a complicated array of symptoms, including asthma, nightmares, memory loss, and mutism. At first, Prior exhibits resistance and skepticism toward treatment by refusing to talk about his experience. Rivers finds him to be one of his most difficult clients since he finds it difficult to open out emotionally.

Rivers starts to doubt his own involvement in “curing” troops so they may resume combat as he works with each case. Although he understands that the ultimate objective is for these soldiers to grow well enough to return to the front lines, where they may suffer further stress or perhaps die, his role is to assist them in facing their traumas.

Rivers is troubled by this insight because he understands the suffering and the struggles that every soldier goes through. He thinks back to his earlier medical studies, in which he used pain to learn more about healing by studying nerve injury and regeneration in both himself and others.

The difficult patient, Prior, eventually comes to accept Rivers’s therapies and progressively opens up about some of his upsetting experiences. He remembers an upsetting incident from the war in which he had to clear a trench that was littered with the bodies of his comrades following an explosion. His symptoms lessen as he recalls the incident, which turns out to be the obvious cause of his distress.

Prior attempts to return to a regular life outside of the hospital. He meets Sarah, a young lady employed at a munitions plant, during one of his outings, and they fall in love. Prior still has emotional wounds from his time at battle, but this friendship provides a little reprieve from his hardships.

In the meanwhile, Sassoon develops a relationship with Wilfred Owen, a younger poet and soldier who is also a patient in the hospital. Owen receives mentoring from Sassoon, who encourages him to use poetry to communicate his wartime memories, which helps Owen feel better.

Sassoon becomes a good influence in Owen’s life as he recognizes his skill and developing self-assurance, assisting him in finding a creative method to deal with his tragedy.

Prior is willing to try hypnosis to unearth long-forgotten memories now that he is back in treatment. He recalls, under hypnosis, the horrific event of discovering his colleagues’ bodies in a trench—a recollection that led to his mutism and other symptoms. Prior experiences some comfort from this unpleasant realization, which enables him to move past the event with more awareness.

Even though he still struggles with his anti-war views, Sassoon starts to feel bad about being in the hospital while his comrades are still engaged in combat. He continues to maintain his beliefs, but he begins to feel that he ought to be on the front lines alongside his fellow soldiers.

Because he believes he is failing his buddies by remaining safe while others are in danger, this guilt causes him to reevaluate his anti-war position.

Dr. Rivers’s work is causing him more and more distress. He loses faith in the war’s goal as he cares for these troops and learns about their horrifying combat experiences. When he meets Dr. Yealland, a different psychiatrist who treats patients with excruciating electric shocks, his uneasiness increases.

Rivers is shocked by Yealland’s brutal tactics, which stand in stark contrast to his more sympathetic demeanor. Rivers’s skepticism is heightened by this meeting, as he questions the morality of healing troops just to send them back to fight.

Rivers takes a short vacation from Craiglockhart to see Dr. Head, a colleague, and think about accepting a job offer that could require him to leave his current role. He goes to see Burns at this period, who has sequestered himself in a secluded coastal community in order to deal with his trauma.

Burns has a major breakdown due to an unexpected storm, which highlights the extent of his suffering and serves as a reminder to Rivers of the psychological toll that combat has on young troops. Rivers is further led to doubt the legitimacy of the war by this event.

Upon his return to Craiglockhart, Rivers continues to care for Sassoon, who has made the tough decision to return to the battlefield even though he opposes the war.

He feels that even if it means calling off his demonstration, he should support his fellow citizens. Rivers is torn about this decision. Although he respects Sassoon’s feeling of obligation, he hopes Sassoon will stick to his pacifist principles.

Rivers achieves a bittersweet win when Sassoon is deemed fit for fight in the latter phases of his rehab. Sassoon’s leaving makes Rivers feel both proud of him for getting well and sorry that he will have to face danger again.

Rivers has been deeply impacted by his encounters with his patients, and he now views the conflict as a cause of severe trauma that deprives young men of their humanity. Rivers is left feeling conflicted and sad after considering the moral conundrum of aiding troops in their recovery just to set them up for more suffering.

In the end, Regeneration shows how severely war affects both troops and those entrusted with their care. The narrative depicts the conflict between individual convictions, obligation, and the psychological scars of war via Sassoon, Prior, and Rivers.