Analysis Of The Wars By Timothy Findley

Timothy Findley in his novel The Wars uses a postmodern device where the narration is nonlinear in chronology, making it subjective and more based on memory, ultimately deeming the reader’s perception of the past and the present to be precarious and unreliable. The Wars focuses on a young Canadian WWI officer named Robert Ross. Robert’s story is recounted after his death through many other characters such as Marian Turner, Lady Juliet d’Orsey, and the archivists. Yet, these characters are separated from Robert Ross through one main medium: time. Since these characters are separated from Robert Ross through time and space, the consistency of their perception comes

John F. Kennedy once said “mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” (Brainy Quotes) This quote describes the message Timothy Findley was trying to convey using the four elements in his novel “The Wars.” The four elements are water, fire, earth, and air. Findley uses Water to show the reader that as Robert goes through the war he slowly loses both his freedom and his clarity. Fire is used to convey the message that as the war continues, people change how they show passion, and fire shows how some of the soldiers have lost their humanity. Earth shows the reader that Earth is human’s home which is supposed to support and protect them, but in times of war, it does the opposite. Finally, air is used to show how war disrupts

An anti-war novel often portrays many of the bad aspects and consequences of war. Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel set in the First World War that is against war. Remarque describes the terrible reality of the war, focusing on the horrors and involved. The novel portrays an anti-war perspective as it brings up issues about the brutality of war, the narrator’s change of attitude towards war, the futility of war and the deaths of the narrator’s friends.

Many novels have been written about the great wars, but few are as absorbing, captivating and still capable of showing all the horrors of the battle as Timothy Findley's "The Wars"1. After reading the novel, critics and readers have been quick to point out the vast examples of symbolism shown throughout the novel. Even the author himself commented at the vast examples of symbolism throughout the novel, "Everything in that book has a life of its own. It's a carrier too -- all the objects are carriers of someone else's spirit"2. Although the novel is very symbolic, the most bare-faced and self explicit symbols are the natural elements that are inscribed on Robert's gravestone, "Earth and Air and Fire and Water"3. The symbolism of the

Ross’s seclusion from the rest of her family. Findley writes, “All she wanted was to sit in the corner of the room and watch the door for Robert’s return” (Findley 69). Findley depicts the effects on everyone in society, such as how a parent loses their child to war, and how society conforms to the changes of war.

The Wars written by Timothy Findley shares a great relation to many of the ideas surrounding postmodern society, thus implementing many of the prominent ideas of the time around politics and societal norms into the plot of the story itself. Findley successfully depicts the plot of the novel taking place in the early 1900's; a time in which the western world was emerging from an industrial revolution, bringing radically foreign ideas on politics in the world, including the materialization of the Marxist political theory. The seemingly negative reception of the Marxist theory has denied it the right as a valid political view. One thing that cannot be denied is that a majority of the foundational ideas of the theory, describe basic human

The four elements of earth, air, fire and water are universally embedded in societies around the world. These elements are simple, yet fundamental principles, to humanity. They are all inadvertently important in all aspects of life and are extremely vital in building the basis of the more complex concepts that are known today. In Timothy Findley’s The Wars, the presence of the four elements act as leit motifs in the novel and help shape the central themes that the novel is based on. Findley uses the elements to enhance certain portions of the story, painting an image for the reader. Water is one of the more recognizable elements of the four, as many people do not consciously think about the air they are breathing or the ground they are standing on. The element of water’s role in The Wars is to assist in the development of characters, mainly Robert Ross, and is shown through the novel’s tropology, weather, and various events that involve water throughout the story.

These lines are taken from The Wars by Timothy Findley. In the Part 1, As snow falls, Robert holds up at the railway station with a bag kept really close to him. He is mindful so as to ensure nobody sees him. He jumps at the noise of the train. This shows that he is very cautious and watchful. He waited until the point that every one of the men have come off the train and wishes for nobody to see him. He sees three ladies, one of whom looks at him. He looks at the other way which exhibits that Robert is quite shy, want his privacy and does not trust women. He is helped to remember Heather Lawson, a lady he once knew who had demanded that he fight another man since that man was attracted towards her. Robert recalls that he found the entire

Timothy Findley’s The War is a wartime novel that mainly chronicles the horrors of the First World War. The novel revolves around a young Canadian officer named Robert Ross and his experiences in trench warfare during The War to End All Wars. In The Wars, Findley effectively depicts the lasting impacts on those involved, not only including the physical injuries and lacerations from battle, but also the inner trauma sustained from the mental and emotional warfare while at war. What is interesting about Findley’s wartime novel is that he utilizes narrative devices to give the novel a detached, factual voice that effectively encapsulates it as a historical piece. He plays around with the role of a nameless researcher who finds, examines and assembles historical pieces like letters/correspondences, family photographs, cablegrams, and other archival means to construct Ross’ compelling story. This use of private texts contrasted and combined with the public texts and the story itself subjects the story to a literary gap that breeds factual indiscretion. The attempts to be as authentic as possible poses the novel to the peril of coming off as too contrived. By straddling the lines between fiction and non-fiction, the author’s voice is at risk of unreliable narration. It is interesting to note that Findley contrasts and interweaves Ross’ personal story against

The Wars by Timothy Findley gives the utmost emphasis on the prevalence of definitions innately built into human perception. It questions the validity of these definitions, as there are so many exceptions to the rule. Robert, as a protagonist going through his archetypal journey finds many unconventional elements residing in the characters that he interacts with. The German soldier that should be a threat, has his life ended by the hands of Robert by nothing more than a coincidence. The soldier relented due to his benevolence, this insinuates that as all the other characters, he is not categorized by the roles of a supporting or adversarial character. Robert as a main character shows signs that confuse the readers. To everyone around him disregarding the final verdict, he is relatively normal. However, during multiple scenes questions arise about Robert's sexual identity. Questions that would possibly be better answered without the assertion of there being an answer. Similarly, there is a connection between animals and humans which is shown through Robert's actions. His interactions with the dog, horses and even Rowena's rabbits clearly portray this. These actions pose interesting questions about whether animals are in many ways better than humans. Reality and fantasy are narrowly divided, yet at the same time very different in their own respects. If life is perceptive to how one feels, that would imply that reality and delusion are no different. Characters in hysteria and insanity deal with life through their own mind states, begging the question of whether their unnatural state invalidates their perspectives. As one views words in different ways depending on their experiences, the

In this article, Ernest Furgurson explains how both the North and South underestimated how long the war would take. Neither side was completely ready for this war. They had no clue what they were getting themselves into. Each side underestimated the other side. Each side took turns claiming they had won when they actually hadn’t.

Many people, especially old veterans, are very excited of reminiscing their war experiences. They are also keen to pass down their experience by telling to other people. Sometimes they share the stories of each other. Many war stories are told. However, a true war story isn’t only about being a hero in the battlefield or generalizing that war is hell. There are some situations should be shared to get the “moral” of a true war story. In his story, “How to Tell a True War Story,” O’ Brien reveals all of the lies and secrets of other war stories that people have been told. Therefore, the author mentions in his story that “True war stories do not generalize” (page 1) and “War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love” (page 2).

One of the main take aways we got from this project is how uneducated most Americans are about these topics. We live in America so we should be able to have an understanding of what is going on. We need to be knowledgeable about what is happening in the world we live in. These passages give us great insight on war and help up be informed.

To discover the truth of darkness that you already possess, one may ask, how could you possibly want to live with darkness, chaos and confusing life. The story of the book The Good Soldier by English novelist Ford Madox Ford. is a tale of passion. Most of Ford’s work leaves the audience with questions that will more than likely be left unanswered. Ford does this writing in this way because he wants to confuse the audience so that they will dig into the content to search for answers. Throughout the book we tend to notice the changes that makes the novel dark and this is an example of impressions, because we are left with the impression that the narrator is obfuscating and that makes the novel dark and unclear. Therefore,

It is evident from looking at World War One (WW1) literature from the beginning, end and after the war that WW1 literature isn’t resolutely anti-war. However, the impression modern readers get from the most memorable pieces of WW1 literature is that of anti-war messages and graphic descriptions of the conditions the soldiers were in.