There are many possible ways to analyze The Wars by Timothy Findley. For the purposes of this essay the critical approaches of psychoanalytical and archetypical have been used. Within these two critical approaches there are two main thesis's that apply to this text. The actions and inactions of the characters affect the outcome of the story, and Robert's gun is a symbol of his masculinity. Throughout this essay five sections of the novel are analyzed in order to prove these thesis's. These sections are; when Robert doesn't fight for Heather Lawson, when Robert shoots the horses on the boat, When Robert gives up his mask for someone else during the gas attack, when Robert is raped, and when Robert lets the horses loose at the end of the novel. …show more content…
A character named Tom Bryant is in love with Heather, and she tells Robert that she " think you ought to fight him." Robert decides not to fight Bryant, and Heather decides that she never wants to see Robert again. When making this decision Robert is being dominated by the id part of his subconscious. He is ruled by the id as he is not considering what society would have taught him, which would be to fight for her. Robert's decision to not fight for Heather Lawson leaves him open for a relationship with Barbara d'Orsey later in the book. If Robert had still been with Heather at the time he got together with Barbara it would have tarnished his hero quality, and ultimately the way he is perceived by the …show more content…
Due to the actions of Robert's assailants earlier in part five he is experiencing a state of shock where his mind is just trying to protect itself. Throughout this scene Robert is being controlled by the id part of his subconscious. His mind is giving in to his desires and not caring about what society would say about his actions and the way society would judge them. His decision to go against the army and let the horses free is ultimately what ends him up in the hospital instead of prison, where he does get to see people such as Juliet d'Orsey on a regular
Robert attempts to rebuild his sense of resilience during internal and external conflicts.
he Most Dangerous Game Around the time after World War 1 on Ship-Trap Island, Rainsford, the protagonist of this fantastic prose, goes through a dynamic internal change. In his short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, Richard Connell, portrays and paints a picture of how civilization and society can ever defeat a man’s murderous drive; the instinct in a man that pressures him on to perform a murderous task. Connell also touches on how the roles can change: the dominant can become subservient or less than, and how the forceful and strong minded can become the weaker ones. He tries to make the reader understand that to be successful, the hunter (the strong), must imitate the hunted (the weak); the man must act the animal, and civilization must impersonate and hide its brutality. The major conflict reflects dynamic change in the main
It is sometimes difficult for individuals to settle the discrepancy between truth and illusion, and consequently they drive others away, by shutting down. Mrs. Ross, in The Wars by Timothy Findley, is seen as brittle while she is attending church, and cannot deal with the cruel reality of the war and therefore segregates herself from the truth by blacking it out. As a result, she loses her eyesight, and never gets to solve the clash between her awareness of reality and the actuality of the world. She hides behind a veil, and her glasses to distance herself from reality. Mrs. Davenport has to wheel her around in Rowena’s chair to keep her awake, so she doesn’t harbour up subconscious feeling within her dreams, which she is unable to deal with.
Findley shows how war can adversely affect a man’s deportment through his characters. Robert Ross, the protagonist of the novel The Wars, indicates manifestations of a mental health condition that is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As the novel progresses, Robert is faced with many challenges, which in the essence, transforms him from who he once was to a soldier loaded with madness. “His temper, you know, was terrible. Once when he though he was alone and unobserved I saw him firing his gun in the woods at a young tree…
‘Fly Away Peter’ is a novella written by David Malouf in 1982, set in 1914 in Queensland, Australia. Three very different people were brought together by their location, and share a love of birds and the natural environment, where the Queensland coast in 1914 is a timeless and idyllic world of sandpipers, ibises, and kingfishers. The two young men, Jim Sandler and Ashley Crowther enlist in the army when the Australian Government joins the allied forces in WWI. They soon experience the mud and horror of the trenches of Armentieres. Malouf’s use of narrative techniques such as third person perspective and contrast serve to explore the dangers of patriotism in relation to war.
He and his brother Lyman went on an adventurous road trip for the whole summer after they purchased the car. The description of the trip felt relaxing and a pleasure for them both. A great example of that is the passage were Lyman says” some people hang on details when they travel, but we don’t let that bother us and we just lived our lives here to there.” After that, they pick up a girl named Susy and took her to her home in Alaska. While they are in Alaska, Robert enjoyed time with Lyman and Susy family and had a few good moments of laughter with them before traveling back home with Lyman.
We realize how an innocent nine year old is forced to mature at such a young age. He is trying to watch and learn without realizing how inappropriate it is for him to be present at this encounter. Another symbol with importance in relation the theme is Carlton’s death. His big brother’s death symbolizes one of the most traumatic events in Robert’s life that helps him wake up and realize the reality of life.
The narrator finally understands how Robert can love a woman or even just eat dinner being blind, since looking is not as important as he once thought. The townspeople were also just as wrong about Miss. Emily. When Emily dies, the townspeople are let into
In the novella “The Wars” by Timothy Findley, the setting, plot, and characterization of Robert Ross, shows how a villain is produced. The setting of the story takes place in Canada, British Isles, and France during World War One. A summarization of the plot illustrates that a Robert Ross’s has changed due to war. Robert volunteers to join the war after his eldest sister Rowena dies. As he comes from money, he becomes in charge of a convoy.
For instance, determination in Bob Ewell is involved in a variety of situations throughout the story. Bob Ewell is determined to be victorious in the case between his daughter, Mayella, and Tom Robinson. He is there for her to guide her through it alongside their lawyer, Mr. Gilmer. It is thought to be that Tom Robinson rapes Mayella Ewell one day. Bob Ewell arrives to the scene and sees Tom raping Mayella which leads to where Tom panics and runs off into the distance.
This takes away some resilience from Robert, where he is unable to recover from the scene he witnessed inside the brothel. The ultimate scene out of all sexual acts is where Robert was violated in the cell. This experience strips Robert from both his dignity and privacy and the moment where he felt the greatest shame, where he couldn’t possible recover from such
From the beginning of the novel the narrator shows ignorance and prejudice towards Robert, he is fighting with his own of jealousy and insecurity. Being unhappy with his own life, the narrator sees Robert as a possible threat to his usual evening with pot and TV, without realizing that in order to be satisfied he should step out of his habitual
Catch 22 Paper In Catch 22 by Joseph Heller the book is a complex novel. Heller uses many themes, does not have the storyline in chronological order and often uses irony in his descriptions. Many of the themes can be compared to other literature. One of the themes that can be compared is fear in war.
Comparative Essay How can different perceptions about one topic be expressed in poetry? The main theme that the two sets of poems convey is war, but it’s expressed in different point of views through the use of diction that builds tone. The tones of these poems play a big role in conveying the differences between the different eras that these poems are written in, and shows how societies have changed from the Victorian era till the time of World War I. The diction and tone in Borden and Owen’s poems is so much different than the diction and tone in Lovelace and Tennyson’s poems due to different perspectives and point of views. In all four poems the main idea is war, but each set conveys a perspective of war, a positive perspective
In the spring of the next year, the war has been witnessing the fiercest fighting and at this time Frederic meets Catherine in the gardens of the villa that surrounded the British hospital and with an attempt from him to kiss her, he get a slap from her, but then she grants him a kiss and tells him her recent loss of her fiancé on the Somme front in France, which brought her great shock and then she details that this battle was the most horrific fighting and cost the lives of many British soldiers. Frederic describes his relation to Catherine and his flirtation with her as a game of chess in which the players know what is coming next saying that “She was looking at me in the dark. I was angry and yet certain, seeing it all ahead like the moves in a chess game” ( 24), then he supports his