The Wars

If you took a sensitive caring person and set them in the midst of a chaotic area, what do you think would, happen? Would these person adapt to this area, and live like everyone else, or would they become a mental mess unable to cope with what is going on around them? This was the theme of the novel The Wars by Timothy Findley, that is exactly what happened. Findley took a sensitive caring individual, Robert Ross and sent him to war. Ross became unable to cope with all of the events that were taking place around him, and eventually went insane. The life that Robert Ross had lived before was nothing compared to what he was experiencing during war. When Robert Ross was a child he was the captain of everything, a popular and academic student. Friends and family loved him, and he was the ideal of any boy in the community. One would think that Robert would have no problem handling the world he lived in, but that would be an inaccurate statement. The first sign of trouble, was Rowena death. Robert and Rowena were very close as brother and sister, losing one another was unbearable for Robert, which started a spiral down to the end result, insanity. Little things like killing Rowena rabbits could not be done, communicating with others was difficult, Robert decided he had to get away. But for someone as sensitive as Robert Ross, war wasnt where he should have gone. The chaos and destruction of war, and everything he experienced, like murders and rape, was unbearable for Robert, and drove him to the end result of insanity, and his death. In The Wars Timothy Findley uses an unusual time sequence to present his story. It is told from the perspective of an author trying to reconstruct the life of Robert Ross. The very first scene is of Robert Ross riding the horses down the tracks around 1918. The story then picks up in 1915 but jumps back to when his sister dies. Throughout the story there is also an element of confusion as the people telling the story, and therefore the perspective also, are constantly changing. The time sequence in this novel varies because it tends to jump from one person's opinion of Robert's situation to another. If this did not occur the novel would be much too depressing to read because of the constant view of war. The author switches from a war scene to a lighter subject in order to grasp the reader's attention and keep the novel interesting. At first glance this story seem chaotic with the time sequence. I believe that using this time sequence, to create a chaotic atmosphere just like, the world Robert Ross is in. The time sequence is very carefully laid out and is very important to the story line. Often the story jumps to monologues by miss Juliet D'orsey to explain what kind of a person Robert Ross was during critical points in the story. Right after the scene when Robert is with Harris in the hospital his compassion is reinforced with a transcript from Juliet D'orsey discussing the relationship that Robert had with her sister. Through out the story, Timothy Findley keeps bring up the use of fire. The symbolism of fire in the novel illustrates a feeling of pain and emotional distress, which Robert Ross experiences. The following quotes will help prove my views on the symbolism of fire. Robert looked to one side from under the peak of his cap, hoping that no oneh had seen him flinch from the steam or stepping back from the fire. He was wishing that they would leave. His shoulders hurt. His arm was sore. There were bruises on his back. He ached. He wanted all the others who had got off the train to depart the station before him. page 18 This quote expresses the pain both mentally and physically that Robert Ross experiences. It hurts Ross mentally that he is having to go to war, when the violence is not in his nature. It hurts him Physically because of the training that he will have to go through to train for the war. This next quote shows how war has emotionally scared Robert Ross by making him commit acts that he doesn뭪 believe he should do. 밫he air in front of him was filled with little fires but the horse was not dead. (page 65). This symbolic theme of fire through out the novel, The Wars is a constant reminder of