The ability to possess strength is built on by a continual commitment to personal values. Individuals who are tenacious and who are willing to have faith in their beliefs are capable of being extremely empathetic and have the ability to identify and connect with others. Strength and empathy work hand in hand to create a strong sense of resilience in the face of conflict. Individuals who are able to act in a resilient manner for their personal values live balanced lives and are successful in upholding personal goals. Throughout Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, the power of empathy is demonstrated by Robert Ross; an extremely compassionate and caring young man. Robert attempts to rebuild his sense of resilience during internal and external conflicts. …show more content…
Having strength means individuals are applying themselves but when individuals posses personal resilience, it means they are focusing on a zealously on a task that holds great importance. Roberts’s empathy for the lives of living creatures is built on by the experiences he shared with Rowena and Rodwell. Robert reaches his breaking point with his commanding officer Captain Leather and his order to abandon the horses in a barn during an air raid from the German forces. Robert does not trust his judgement as he does not respect the sanctity of animal life and is often disconnected from the horrors of the real war. Robert applies his compassion to act not only with strength but personal resilience. As him and Devlin are releasing the horses, Devlin is shot by Captain Leather. Robert; being unable to contain himself any longer, kills Leather and rips off his lapels. This signifies not only his removal from the army`s regiment but also a departure from his own values and his empathetic nature. Robert became disillusioned by the war and once he saw how badly the sanctity of life had been violated by Captain Leather and his antics, his actions became irrational. Although he was still trying to uphold his commitment for the protection of life and his empathetic values, he did in such a way that in went in direct contradiction to what he
Using the two other approaches we can further analyze these scenes. Robert’s
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.
Someone’s most important traits aren’t usually seen till something brings it out. War causes many to experience traumatic mental, and physical abuse. In these dire moments what stays the same or changes is what truly defines someone. During World War II, Louie Zamperini was originally deployed as a bombardier, only to be captured as a POW to the Japanese. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, she explored his journey and struggle for survival, showing that war affects people in different ways.
Responsibility often comes with the connotations of burden and sacrifice and most of the time, this is true. In The Wars, by Timothy Findley, the concept of responsibility is demonstrated in the character of Mrs. Ross whose duties as a wife and a mother may be viewed as cold, cruel, and purposefully isolating; the complete opposite of the archetype of a compassionate mother figure. However, like each unique individual in society, the way one responds and takes responsibility varies infinitely; Mrs. Ross attempts to dissociate from society when she feels she has not fulfilled her duties and responsibilities. However, her empathetic nature prevents her from completely isolating herself from all sentiment. Rather, she subconsciously internalizes the welfare and hardships faced by others while sacrificing her own well-being.
For starters, Robert compares himself to how everyone might be feeling by bringing up the fact that he lost a member of his family to a murderer too. This gave people the impression that they were not alone and that Robert had similar emotions to them. A final way Robert makes the reader care is by telling them to do certain things like pray for Martin’s family and the country. Some rhetorical devices used by Robert in his speech were repetition, antithesis, and epistrophe. Repetition is used in the words “we” and “love.”
Just like me, Robert gained from his loss by learning how to manage his
As a nineteen-year-old Canadian soldier from the start, Robert is seen transitioning through an existential crisis, encountering with nothingness to embracing the depths of life. In relation to Findley’s text when Robert enters the war, he is told by his mother that metaphorically put on a new set of attire to toughen up psychologically, emotionally, or physically to face the inevitable everyday battles of war he has to fight by making sacrifices with the unexpected challenges that come up in the future. This can be seen when Robert commands all soldiers to “hold their torn pieces of cloth in their hand[...] ‘piss on them’[...] the ammonia in their urine would turn the chlorine into harmless crystals that could not be breathed” (Findley, 126). Ideally, this was the steps he
War is the graveyard of innocence for boys who become men through the loss of humanity. The book “Fallen Angels,” by Walter Dean Myers, is a story about Richard Perry, a young man who mistakenly joins the Vietnam War to avoid the shame of not going to college. As the book goes on Perry discovers his mistake and in the process, not only loses his innocence, but also his humanity. Wars will always be the dark parts of our history and no war is devoid of horrors that can strip anyone of everything they are, and in war soldiers must use coping mechanisms to deal with these very apparent horrors.
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
Kiowa, Ted Lavender, and Jimmy Cross are three very different people who were brought together to fight for a common purpose. They not only carried their own belongings, but each other too. This story shows how war can affect people and tells of the burdens that weigh soldiers down for a
Over all, this story allows us to observe changes within the mentalities of army officers. First, the trauma of living in a war zone can add a significant amount of intangible weight into someone’s life. In “The Things They Carried,” we discover that Cross’s men “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die (443).” Given that the majority of humans have experienced some form of trauma, we can understand how some men were driven to suicide and others into
Robert’s character development and his constant revaluations are evident through the use of foreshadowing as it allows the reader to make connections to Robert’s road to madness; the implementation of animal imagery depicts Robert’s shift in character; and the many themes throughout the text are symbolic of Robert’s struggle into becoming a sophisticated soldier. Findley’s use of diction shows the complexity of Robert’s character and his overall development which changes how a typical reader would view the novel. The Wars is a microcosmic depiction of inescapable horrors where Findley makes the reader one with his tone and allows them to hear, feel and witness anew; he leaves ineradicable images and reverberations in the heart and mind of the
In retaliation, Alfred went to one of Roberts shows and ruined his performance and getting Robert kicked out of performing his shows at the theatre he was performing. This event tore away at Robert’s mind consuming him with an insatiable rage that could only be quenched by the blood of his greatest foe, Alfred. Robert seeing that Alfred had new and innovating ideas for his performances loathed and hated him for Roberts only desire left in life is to be the greatest magician who ever lived. The only person who stood between Robert and greatness was his once best friend, now foe, Alfred Borden. Robert once filled with such happiness before his wife's death then grief after, is
At the beginning of the novel Robert Jordan doesn’t feel like he is really apart of the world. He feels like he is just going through the motions and not actually doing anything with his life, he fells like he hasn’t lived. Little does he know that this mission will change him forever. He must work through his emotions, while also completing his mission. Robert Jordan is a volunteer for the Republican side during