Robert Ross The Wars Climax

The climax is the decisive moment in the story, the moment of maximum intensity, the most intense point in the development of the story or character. The protagonist can fight many battles on the inside and out. In the book The Wars, Robert Ross struggles through the horrific environment of war in many ways. He fights hard to keep his innocents, trust the other soldiers and keep his sexual tendencies private. The climax of The Wars is when the other soldiers rape Robert in the cell at Bailleul (P.191). Robert’s clash with innocents has been very clear throughout the whole book. He wasn’t able to keep his calm and put a horse with a broken foot down while traveling by boat (P. 68). Even with the war going on around him, he still was able

Robert ends up with a group of different soldiers who he believed could be trusted, especially Rodwell, who reminds Robert of Rowena(P.95). As the book moves forward, that group disperses for many reasons, mostly death. He was naive in thinking that he could trust the other soldiers the same way and it caused him misfortune in the end. Being raped is bad enough on its own, but when it was done by the people who you’re supposed to be fighting a war with, trust is thrown out the window. It explains why Robert wouldn’t follow Captain Leather’s orders to leave the horses(P.201). He is naturally a kind person and very loyal to those around him, but with trust being broken between him and the army, he would go as far as to disobey a commanding officer for commanding him to go against his own

In The Wars, Sexuality is a recurring element that helps the reader understand who Robert is. He is very private about his privacy. He gets embarrassed when confronted about it, like when Robert and other soldiers at the brothel (P.39). Plans don’t go as planned and he believes that he is humiliated, even though Ella wasn’t bothered by his actions at all. Sexuality is a sensitive subject for Robert because it was a part of the cause of Rowena’s death. Before the actual rape scene, in contrast, Robert masturbates himself to sleep, private from anyone around him. His privacy is completely invaded in the most extreme way. Not only is the act of sex forced on him, but also by other male soldiers, which we have found out also at the brothel(P.44), Robert has a problem with. This really impacts his life. Later on, when Robert finds out from Poole that Lieutenant Bonnycastle died, he is unable to hug Poole(P.195). He is permanently scarred by his experience that he is unable to show any emotion to any other