Themes In The Wars By Thomas Findley

Greed, ambition, and fear are words that can pressure people to do negative things. People who are overwhelmed by this type of pressure face terrible consequences, which undoubtedly lead to their inevitable downfall. A war is typically fought in order to gain an upper hand over another nation, but at an expense of people dying. No one really knows the reason why sacrifices have to be made and nations have to be divided. Soldiers who have perished are often forgotten and people forget to mourn for those who have fought to save the lives of many others. War has a huge impact on not only the soldiers fighting, but also their loved ones. In the novel, The Wars, there are a group of characters who experiences severe mental pain. Thomas Findley,

Ultimately, Findley demonstrates how mental strain is much more excruciating than physical strain by portraying the experiences that Robert has to overcome, the traumatic experiences that Robert's family members are going through, and the idea of succumbing to overwhelming mental-pressure. First of all, Findley provides an analysis on how the mental scars that the soldiers receive during the war is still lingering inside of them. Robert Ross faces many difficult challenges

Thomas 2 throughout the novel, and the extremely concerning experiences associated with these challenges were no exception. He develops a condition known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is quite evident in the novel based on the narrator's statement. “[Robert] had a great deal of violence inside and sometimes it emerged this way with a gesture and other times it showed in his expression when you found him sitting alone on the terrace or

This concept is evident in the novel when Rodwell saw animals being brutally tortured and it is stated that, “Rodwell wandered into No Man's Land and put a bullet through his ears” (Findley 135). He has a deep hatred for people harming these pure animals and he decides that justice must be served for anyone who does this unethical act. Unfortunately, his fragile mind shatters once he sees his comrades also torturing animals. Rodwell is on the verge of being mentally unstable and in the end, he commits suicide. This portrays that even though soldiers are shown to be brave and valiant warriors, these people still have a glaring weakness that is prevalent in everyone; the excruciating pain of mental pressure. Suicide is always known as an immoral act in society, but this proves that being succumbed by constant mental strain has a huge impact on the health of an individual. Nonetheless, Rodwell's family now has to hear the terrible news that he has committed suicide, which will create a domino effect of mental depletion on Rodwell's loved ones. Therefore, individuals who are impacted negatively on their mental state are shown to have conditions that are more life-threatening than those who were harmed