The Pursuit Of Happiness In Timothy Findley's 'The Wars'

However, it soon dawns on him that war is brutal and jeopardous, somewhat contradictory to what he visualizes before. The soldier’s wound, the corpses and the flag symbolize Henry’s most wide-eyed innervations, the cruelty of the war as well as Henry’s maturity. The wound, without a doubt, is the most far-reaching symbol of the story. To Henry, wounds are “ a red badge of courage”, it represents the soldier dignity and offers one with great renown.

That point leads to one of many traits of a tragic hero in a story. In an abstruse turn of events, Creon addresses the civilians to say "...the princes Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other in battle: and I, as the next in line, have succeeded to the full power of the throne" (Sophocles 2). After the prince 's death, Creon

In addition to that, Odysseus is less merciful to others who have wronged him while Harry Potter, though he has suffered much, shows great mercy. Odysseus as soon as he comes home tells his son, “ I came to this wild place, directed by Athena, so that we might lay plans to kill our enemies” ( Homer 1080-1082). Odysseus had such vengeance on his mind that he would start planning as soon as he had come home, yet it seemed that he would spare not one of them, no matter how great or little their involvement. Harry Potter, on the other hand, could have hunted down the rest of Voldemort’s followers, but he left them alone to look for forgiveness and what is right. Finally, Odysseus was a great fighter known for his bow and arrow skills while Harry Potter was just a wizard.

Such passion is seen in Victor’s ‘noble intent’ to design a being that could contribute to society, but he had overextended himself, falling under the spell of playing ‘God,’ further digging his grave as he is blinded by glory. His creation – aptly called monstrous being due to its stature, appearance, and strength – proved to be more of a pure and intellectually disposed ‘child’ that moves throughout the novel as a mere oddity, given the short end of the stick in relation to a lack of familial figures within his life, especially that of parents. Clearly, Victor Frankenstein had sealed his fate: by playing God he was losing his humanity, ultimately becoming the manifestation of Mary Shelley’s hidden desires, deteriorating into The Lucifer Principle by which the author Howard Bloom notes social groups, not individuals, as the primary “unit of selection” in human psychological

The constant struggle to be the best at everything, and to be better than everyone else puts a lot of pressure on the people in our society. We feel as if we need to maintain the facade of perfection because of the standards society places on us, money matters because society judges us based on class. Even though we are one society, we end up breaking the minds of people who tried to realize a life of perfection only to fail. “In spite of its elusiveness, we remain fixated on perfection. Often enough, even when we know the flaws, we still defend an image of flawlessness.

He is not the same person he was when he first appeared. Even though the journey ended with his death, he returned with the Elixir benefiting his Ordinary World. Recognizing the wisdom through the quest he undertook, he accepted personal sacrifice and bloodshed for the greater social good, the country’s peace. The last stage of his journey is not merely a Return but a kind of Resurrection: die to be reborn. Along the way of the Hero’s Journey, Nameless never tried to be heroic, however, he ended up with becoming a source of inspiration to the King who granted him a magnificent funeral to show his respect to a hero in the end of the

At first, he is described as a valiant hero of the land, bravely fighting for King Duncan, but his overreaching ambition causes him to do vile acts, completely overriding his conscience. Macbeth’s conscience, although present, is vastly underpowered compared to his ambition. We see Macbeth’s conscience in scenes where he had just committed an evil act under the influence of ambition. Most notably, after he kills Duncan he says, “What hands are here? Ha, they pluck out mine eyes.

Odysseus has clearly learned not to be impulsive in his decision-making from his past errors, for example on the island of the Laestrygonians and that of the Cyclops, his bad decision making cost many of his men their lives. This decision to wait and contemplate where he is and think about his decision is very smart because at his palace, there is a “world of pain” (11.132). If he ran home, he might have been killed by the suitors. This question shows that after suffering so much, he finally has learned patience. In response to this, and his whole speech, Athena praises him and says he is “so winning” and he is “worldly-wise” (13.377,77).

When Julia hands him the note saying “I love you”, he states, “the desire to live had welled up inside him, and the taking of minor risks suddenly seemed stupid” (2.1.109). Winston is no longer interested in his previously small acts of rebellion. He wants to deepen his actions and carry out a force much greater than simply writing in a journal. Winston enjoys the fact that he’s becoming a rebel, and takes great pride in the fact that he is

He says in the play that, “Seize upon fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babes, and unfortunate souls.” (4.1.173-174) this is shown as cowardly. Not only because he doesn’t want to deal with the deed himself, but also because he goes so far as to slaying helpless people that he does not have to kill because of superstitions. Even though Okwonkwo seems more heroic than Macbeth, they’re still both considered heroes.

This scene demonstrates Paul’s capability to steal and willingness to break the rules, without the consideration of others. Does this change your connation of Paul? How? Would you have done the same, considering the consequences of your actions? Why?

He and I faced similar conflicts and ended up with similar outcomes. The wickedness of someone’s gossip or opinion is quite a challenge to deal with, but

Henry Fleming was a young soldier who felt he had a lot to prove himself and to others. He romanticized the idea of war and death by heroics naïvely. Throughout the book, especially the beginning, he can be easily interpreted as selfish and vein by the choices he makes. Although Fleming’s emotional state and maturity do flourish as he returns to the war and finds some selflessness as he fights alongside others, his glory in battle and intentions in winning is far from noble. Allowing the underlining theme of self-preservation to prevail.

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.

The murder trial had stirred up his thinking on the war. Though he regretted his actions in the incident, he believed that they were the natural extension of the things they were taught and encouraged to do in the war. He was frustrated by military court’s refusal to consider factors of the war. It further inflamed his belief that the war had produced a spirit of brutality, which corrupted the moral condition of those who had engaged in it, and that the military command did not operate with intellectual consistency. A plane could bomb a village of civilians and somehow have it be treated as a legitimate war action, while foot soldiers encouraged to hunt down the enemy at all cost and getting civilians caught in the process was taboo.