Robert Ross cannot recognise his hometown and even the world he lives in. How can someone not recognise his home? I can recognise my hometown every time I go back, no matter how many years I have left there. It possible only when someone’s hometown has dramatically changed (or ruined). The World War ruins every single place. Robert Ross cannot recognise his home not only because the place is destroyed, his connection to his hometown is cut off as well. Timothy Findley discusses the tremendous impact on the world of the horrible World War. I always feel thankful that I do not live in an era where my home would be destroyed. Everyone lives in the World War would be a victim. Mrs. Ross is telling Robert that everyone should and must be independent. At my first glance, I thought Mrs. Ross was heartless because she let Robert join the war and it may risk his life. But I then realised that Mrs. Ross’s anger toward Robert is not hatred but love. When people face conflicts that force them to choose the way that contradicts to their aspirations, they tend to vent anger on somebody else. In Mrs. Ross’s case, there is no way to make Robert stay with her, and she knows that Robert will face danger (or even death) if he joins war. So on one hand, she acknowledges the fact that Robert wants to leave her, and she cannot bear this fact so she gets …show more content…
Ross does. Her irruption makes an emotional impact on Robert, which lets him question in his mind: “why are you here?” This is one of the themes that Timothy Findley reveals in this novel: private vs. public. Another example is: Robert’s willingness of joining the army is generated by his sister’s death, and he wants to run away from guilt. However, he does not save his sister’s life because he is masturbating in his bedroom. The deed itself is a private action, and this private action pushes him to go into the
Robert Ross’ is introduced to characters with varying outlooks on the world, based on their own social and economic backgrounds. The soldiers around Robert Ross differ greatly,...
Throughout Timothy Findley’s The Wars novel, Robert Ross has a special connection to nature and wildlife. He is happiest when connected to the animal world, especially horses. By the end of the novel, Robert realizes he has no regard for human life, instead he feels peace and belonging when he is with animals and will do anything to protect them even if it costs him his life. The animals Robert has a special connection to the most and contribute to his ties to nature getting stronger are the coyote, the horses, and the dog.
Robert Ross is a sensitive, private boy; last person you would expect to sign up to fight in World War One. In The Wars by Timothy Findley, symbols are used in conjunction with Ross’ story to cause readers to reflect on symbols in their own lives, and to allow then to dive deeper into the world of an innocent boy who is placed into a cruel war. The various symbols in The Wars provide for a graphic and reflective reading experience by emphasizing Robert’s connection with nature, his past, and his experiences during the war.
Through the novel Robert has to leave and come back to Grand Isle multiple times. Although as stated in the book, Robert has to leave on business, he always returns back to Grands Isle with the underlining reason being that he wants to be with Edna. Because of
She allows her mother to control her and make decisions for her. During their conversation, she asks her mom if she should marry Mr. Jones even if she does not love him. Her mother does not seem to care until Helen mentions that he is Vice-President of the company. Her mother says that she should marry him whether she loves him or not because he will be able to take care of her and Helen. They continue to discuss how Helen can marry this man that she doesn’t like so she will never have to work again and he can support her mother, or she can say no at the risk of losing her job and not being able to support her mother anymore. Helen ties in how life is making her “feel like I’m stifling!” (591). Again, I feel this is another representation of Helen not being able to handle the pressures of society. Helen can’t talk about important decisions she has to make without feeling claustrophobic and blowing up by saying things like “I’ll kill you!” (592). I think she blows up because her mother is always nagging her and she can’t handle it in that moment anymore, especially since it is a conversation about
The narrator’s prejudice makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability stops him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. And while he admits some things are simply beyond his understanding, he is unaware he is so completely blind to the reality of the world.
...ry there are many instances in which the narrator seems to dislike Robert, in which case it is because he is “blind”. Not only is he blinded in the way that he cannot understand Robert, but it leads him to believe that Robert is not human at all because of his disability that he possess. The narrator develops with the aid of Robert, to see Robert as an actual human being. Raymond Carver gives the narrator a transformation through characterization as well as the aid of Robert to show his development and progression throughout the story.
Thus, Lieutenant Cross is weak because he loved Martha, he was always distracted from the real world, and he always wished to return to his normal life not in the war. This will make him both physically and mentally weak, making him an easy target for enemies. This is how love may affect soldiers during battle. Therefore, I think that soldiers should not love when they are at war.
Robert Ross’ whole life he grew up in a household where they did what was expected of them, rather than what was right. The type of people that Findley place in Robert’s life is what molds him into the type of character he becomes. Timothy Findley manipulates what a hero is supposed to be, by making Robert Ross a distorted kind of hero. Robert Ross exemplifies anti-heroism throughout the text because of his need to be a savior but inability to do so, his morals and his connection with animals.
Similar to Victor Frankenstein, Robert feels the need to accomplish something great in an attempt to acquire glory. He travels to the North Pole so that he can bring back to mankind some unknown information regarding the source of the earth’s magnetism. Robert’s sister recognizes his flaw and encourages him to stop his voyage, as does Victor when he meets him at sea. Victor sees the same flaw in Robert as he himself had experienced when he was still desperate and obsessed with the idea of creating life. Robert ultimately realizes that the search for glory is not worth giving his life and returns home to his sister.
Imagination is the action of creating new ideas, scenarios, or concepts that are not present. It is the ability to form a mental image of anything that is not perceived through senses. It’s the ability of the mind to build mental scenes, objects or events that do not exist or are not there or have never happened. “...the pleasures of the imagination exist because they hijack mental system that have evolved for real world pleasure. We enjoy imaginative experiences because at some level we don’t distinguish them from real ones.” (pg.577 parg 4, Bloom)
The husband describes the moment by saying, "I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn't feel like I was inside anything" (357). The previous information of how he saw the world to be and how he sees it now gives him a feeling of a connection with a higher being, more than just Robert. Yet he describes himself being separated (unconnected) from his body, free from this cage that has him materialistic and prejudice to the not-normal. The husband finally sees the world in a more liberal way than what he thought it to be, than what the stereotypes of society told him it was.
In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross is a sensitive nineteen year old boy who experiences first-hand the horrors of battle as a Canadian Soldier in the First World War in hopes of trying to find who he is. Being named a Lieutenant shortly after arriving in Europe, Robert is thrust into combat. War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Timothy Findley shows the effects wars have on individuals in his novel The Wars. Findley suggests that war can change a persons behaviour in many different ways, however it is seen to be negatively more often then not. Robert Ross, the main character of The Wars, shows symptoms of what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in today’s society.
...ow that people do not want to take responsibility to what is happening at the war that they want to remain indifferent and not be an actor in making decisions for what is to occur. This line could also refer to the grief people feel that even behind closed doors that there is much grief being experienced. It makes the reader question what happens after the war is over, how do the families continue after the death of a loved one?
"Oh." Robert and Tom were fairly good friends. They had spoken days earlier about how they were looking forward to seeing their wives. A lump formed in Robert's throat. He spoke with a choked voice. "What happened to him?" What affected Robert the most in situations like this was that they reminded him that his life was virtually meaningless to the country and that he was in serious danger all of the time. He knew that he could very easily be dead within the hour.