Afterthoughts of The Wars

All in all, I found The Wars to be one of the most interesting war books I have ever read. In all honesty, I don’t normally read much literature unless I am forced to for an assignment, for say, like this one, but seriously this book is intriguing to the audience in so many ways. At first I thought this novel was going to be about blood and war, hence why I chose the book. But when you actually get down to the core of the novel, you really see much a more spectacular message sent within the novel. Findley not only shows the physical aspect to war, but also the mental aspect and what the war does to a person psychologically. As you read further into the book, you begin to learn about the main character Robert Ross and his morals and values he abides by. As his character develops further into the war, the reader can analyze the changes that Robert has gone through because of the war. This novel portrays that fact that war changes a soldier in many ways to the point of insanity through its many different conditions and difficulties. There are many themes that come up throughout this book. A few themes that I would consider mentioning are insanity, corruption of power, isolation, abandonment, and manliness. The major theme that is focused on primarily throughout the novel is insanity of a soldier, which is the reasoning why I drew into the depths of insanity in this blog.

The main message I found from the novel was that war in unethical. War is a very serious subject that is argued to be a leading cause of insanity in a soldier’s mind. All of the factors of war and the conditions a soldier must endure throughout WWI take a toll on a soldier’s mentality to the point of madness. Through the use of many literary devices (Stated in earlier blogs), Timothy Findley is able to convey the theme of insanity portrayed through the effects the war has on the mentality of a soldier’s mind. Timothy Findley does an outstanding job of not only portraying the physical aspects of war on a soldier, but as well the mental aspects. War is perceived as a bloody battle of guns and command, but the reality is that the true aspect of war is shadowed by these outer assumptions. The truth of war is displayed in this novel, winning Findley many awards for such that, showing that war is not only a physical battle, but also a battle of the mind to survive. Findley’s message about war is clear to the point where the outer battle of warfare is at equilibrium to the inner battle of warfare, dealing with the affects that war has on the mind of many conditions and factors the war has brought upon a soldier. War is not a game, and Findley made it clear that war has extreme affects on a soldier to the point of insanity, not only during battle, but after the fact as well. “The Wars is a great book, rich in its images, its language, its construction, and, ultimately, its conception.” –Guy Vanderhaeghe

Over the Edge

Here is a collaboration of the many events that pushed Robert Ross over the edge to the point of insanity, war being the culprit.

Ø  Death of Robert’s sister, Rowena

Ø  Broken Relationship of Robert and his Mother

Ø  Witnessing the killing of Rowena’s Rabbits

Ø  Killing the Horse in the Boat to England

Ø  The death of Robert’s friend, Harris

Ø  The suicide of Robert’s war colleague, Rodwell

Ø  The overall conditions of the war taking effect on Robert

Ø  The death of thousands of soldiers that Robert had to witness

Ø  Robert’s morals vs. insanity of the mind

Ø  The stressful bombing of shells

Ø  The sound of silence

Ø  The feeling of abandonment and loneliness

Ø  The final bombing where Robert tried to save 130 horses, and disobeyed Captain Leathers orders, ending up killing Leather and Private Cassles to run to safety

Ø  Witnessing Leather shooting Devlin

Ø  Overall every event that took place in the war that Robert was part of in general.

These are just a broad spectrum of what actually did it in for Robert. There were many other instances that added to the total effect that brought Robert over the edge to insanity that were not stated. The war changed Robert’s state of mind for the worse and Robert ended up going insane because of it. Because of the war, Robert went mentally mad which ended up resulted in his death.

The Essence of Living

Robert, being a soldier, fought for his life and freedom every single day of combat. Robert cherished his life, even in the hardest of times. He has been through so much in his time of enrollment in the war, experiencing conditions fit for the dead, death of many of his friends and family, and images embedded within his mind that no person should ever witness. And through all this pain and suffering, Robert struggled, but managed to survive to see a better day. Life, the essentials of life, and all things living became a delicacy to Robert, much so that he saved a carnivorous rat in the trenches explained in the next quote.

“In another hole there was a rat that was alive but trapped because of the waterlogged condition of earth that kept collapsing every time it tried to ascend the wall. Robert struck a match and caught the rat by the tail. It squealed as he lifted it over the edge and set it free. Robert wondered afterwards if setting the rat free had been a favour- but in the moment that he did it he was thinking: here is someone still alive. And the word alive was amazing.” (Findley 114)

Robert was so amazed to see life in such a dreadful place in the trenches that he felt that he had to save this existence of life. Since he was surrounded by so much death, this little bit of life thrived him forward to survive. This act of life thrust him to live through the war and cherish all the time that he was alive. Robert’s will to live shone at a time where he was offered a way out of life because he was badly injured at a hospital explained in this next quote.

“But that night- surrounded by all that dark- and all those men in pain- and the trains kept bringing us more and more and more- and the war was never, never, never going to end-that night, I thought: I am ashamed to be alive. I am ashamed of life. And I wanted to offer some way out of life- I wanted grace for Robert Ross. (…) –and I said: ‘I will help you, if you want me to.’ And I knew he understood-because he said: ‘Not yet.’ Not yet. Do you see? He might have said “No.” He might’ve said ‘never.’ He might have said “Yes.” But he said “not yet.” There, in those two words, in a nutshell- you have the essence of Robert Ross. And perhaps the essence of what it is to be alive.(Findley 194-195)

This quote proves to the reader that Robert had what it takes to live from all the suffering the war put upon him. as the last sentence of the quote said, this is what it means to be alive. After all the things Robert had been through, he still wanted to fight for his life. This shows that the war changes people, but it also shows that the war teaches one about the essence of life and to cherish what you can live for. In that, it shows the essence of life.

Imagery (Mind)

Moving on to final piece of evidence, this next quote deals with the mental aspect of imagery with the question, what if? Robert deals with many deaths in the war and it shows that it affects him mentally. To have the thought that at any time a soldier in the war could be killed is an awful scenario to think about. As awful as it may seem, soldiers must be prepared for death, and just the thought that each day could be ones last, is enough to make a person go insane.

“The back of his neck was like a board- waiting for the shot that would kill him. Everyone said you didn’t hear that shot. They said if it got you it was silent. How the hell did anyone alive know that?” (Findley 120)

To have that thought that at any moment a bullet could end your life, is a scenario Robert endured day after day, not knowing if it was going to be his last. To picture the situation and the circumstances behind that one stray bullet in one’s mind, day after day, reenactment after another of the last day of one’s life. All of these conditions swirling in a soldiers mind are enough for anyone to go mad. This quotes context is not so much of imagery within the text, but imagery that is developed in the mind from the thought of it happening. Findley used the best method of imagery in this passage, which is making the reader analyze the text and picturing the affects of what the text is conveying. This is the most powerful use of imagery without even using imagery within the passage. The imagery developed in a soldier’s mind of this situation is partially the reason for insanity of a soldier and it is not just thinking of it once because it is placed in a novel like the reader, but because soldiers deal with this unknown scarcity of death each and every day the war thrives. That is why this quote is so powerful to the imagery aspect of the novel.

Findley’s intense use of imagery helps the reader understand what soldiers in the war had to deal with and had to put up with on a daily basis. These war ridden scenes and the mental aspect of imagery within one’s mind, has an effect on the mind of soldiers to the point of insanity.

Imagery (Exterior)

Another example of imagery in the novel is on another occasion of chaos in the war. Soldiers in this war had to face this obscure battlefield each and every day along with the chaos that led towards this broken land, which took its toll on the mentality of these young soldiers. This chaotic description is used, circling around Roberts endeavors in the war, and is faced with many similar dilemmas throughout his time in the war. Robert had been engaged in many of these muddled predicaments throughout his time of war, and after time, this imagery of the scene laid upon him took effect on his mind.

“Fire storms raged along the front. Men were exploded where they stood- blown apart by combustion. Winds with the velocity of cyclones tore the guns from their emplacements and flung them about like toys. Horses fell with their bones on fire. Men went blind in the heat. Blood ran out of noses, ears, and mouths. (…) Levitt had gone quite mad and sat with his books piled up on his knees until they touched his chin.” (Findley 132-133)

The Germans had just introduced flamethrowers, a technology new to WWI, which burned soldiers alive. This passage has great imagery of soldiers literally getting blown away in the wind from the combustion of the flamethrowers. This imagery of soldiers turning to dust imbeds itself within a soldiers mind and if they were lucky to survive, scarred them of this picture in their minds. These soldiers had to endeavor the most excruciating events, which if they were even lucky to survive, had to struggle with these images no young man should ever have to encounter. These pictures of other men dying, like in this instance, stuck with each and every soldier and scarred them mentally to the point of insanity in many cases. Also, this quote has context to how this war ridden chaos affected one of the characters within this event. The quote conveys that Levitt, one of Robert’s colleagues, had gone mad because of this situation and it fundamentally got to his head with a mixture of madness and scarcity. Findley shows these devastating scenes through the use of his words and has a very powerful effect on the reader. Imagine being a soldier in these elements being faced with this every day; no wonder why so many soldiers went mad.

Imagery (Landscape)

Imagery is a very powerful asset in The Wars. Timothy Findley has a talent with his intense usage of imagery throughout the novel. His powerful imagery is able to show the chaos of war and how it affects a soldier’s mind. With his gift, Findley is able to make it seem as though the reader is looking at a photograph through his description of words. It is because of this talent that makes his novel world renowned in comparison to other history novels.

The first instant of imagery in the novel is when Robert has travelled to Magadalene Wood, where he notices the landscape of the area portrayed as,

“The country he passed through now was beautiful and utterly peaceful. The guns had not yet started their pounding, but even when they did they were so far away they seemed to be in another world. The trees were just in the process of shedding their blossoms and the roadside was littered with white and pink petals. The air was filled with the sweet, sad smell of pollen and the bees had begun to buzz. (…) The only signs of war were the ruts in the road. (…) he passed a number of deserted buildings. It was suddenly an empty landscape. Where had all the people gone? Robert felt abandoned. He had lost his pistol.” (Findley 167)

War ridden Landscape

This landscape that Robert once knew has changed a war ridden town of abandonment and emptiness. From a town of such beauty and happiness to a town of sorrow and destruction. The war changes many things throughout its time, to the landscape, to soldiers, to the whole world in most cases. For the most part I have been discussing how the war affects a soldier, but the war affects many other things like the landscape in this case. The whole area of which the war is taking place suffers greatly. It affects the citizens that live here and more importantly the soldiers that have to put up with this tolerance. Soldiers have seen these towns before and what they used to look like, compared to what has happened to them after war has taken its toll there. This greatly affects the mentality of a soldier to see this happen and the destruction that occurs. Although it affects the towns that war has taken over, it affects the soldiers as well to see this happening everywhere they go. Seeing devastating occurrences like these on a day to day basis affects the soldiers much so that many of them go into a state of depression or insanity.

Use of Foreshadowing (3)

The final use of foreshadowing that Findley used in the novel is right at the developing stages of the story. The reader is just starting to get to know Robert, and Findley throws a curve ball into the picture, when he embeds the possibility that Robert did something mad through a transcript of another person’s point of view describing Robert’s life.

“There are enmities in families that have to be foreborne. But oh… when it turns to hate. I gather he refuses to speak to you. ‘That’s right.’ ‘I don’t understand. It’s as if Robert did something evil.’ ‘Some say he did.’ ‘Some maniacs. Oh yes- I’ve heard that too.’” (Findley 98)

Through the use of another’s point of view in the novel, Findley is able to foreshadow that Robert went mentally insane throughout the war. As said in the quote, many people heard that Robert did something evil, something of that a maniac would perform. In the simplicity of this dialogue, it foreshadows a major plot structure that Robert is challenged with in the final chapters of the novel. In the end of the novel Robert does indeed go insane which leads to his death. Findley used this technique in the beginning of the book to try to get the reader thinking and to get the reader to develop parts of the novel where Robert went insane. Findley did an amazing job with this literary device, capturing the reader’s interest right at the beginning of the novel.

Through all the death and rumours laid upon Robert throughout the war, Findley foreshadowed that Robert would end up going mentally insane, in which he did and led to his death. Findley was able to show that Robert was developing insanity even at the early stages of war with hints every so often, that the reader may have picked up that led to the final actions of Robert going mad, leading to his death.