Contrast is an integral part of everyday life. Without contrast, everything becomes one-dimensional and bland. In a traumatic experience, such as during a war, the very nature of it creates and amplifies these contrasts within the human spirit. Timothy Findley’s The Wars is an excellent example of how contrast is created. Some examples of these contrasts are kindness and cruelty, courage and cowardice, but the most important contrast created by Findley in the novel is the one between loyalty and betrayal. In our society today, loyalty is a trait that is valued by many, despite its relative weakness compared to betrayal. This is because many will remember the times when they were betrayed, yet will only remember a handful of times …show more content…
When Harris’ body is cremated upon his death as a result of a series of unfortunate events, and Robert is left with the box of ashes. Robert decides that Harris deserves a burial at sea, and enlists Taffler to help dispose of the ashes in a small impromptu ceremony. These simple acts show that Robert is loyal to Harris, and shares a strong bond of trust, regardless of whether he is living or not. In disposing of Harris’ ashes in a way he deemed appropriate, it also shows that loyalty transcends life itself. By having Robert taking care of Harris, Findley demonstrates how even in a time of distress, people can still be loyal, and show trust to one another. On the other hand, the horrendous nature of war also creates many occasions where trust is betrayed. The betrayal of trust is much stronger than loyalty, as betrayal causes affects all parties in a negative manner with irreversible effects. One example of this is after the gas attack, Robert and his men are still in a crater when he realizes they are being watched by a German sniper. After a wordless exchange, Robert determines that “whatever [the German’s] intentions – the German obviously intended them all to go free” (Findley 144). This moment shows that a sense of trust can still be shared between individuals in time of distress, regardless of their affiliation. However, Robert betrays this trust, killing
Loyalty is trait that every person in the world should have. An example of loyalty is when
The abundant animal imagery in Timothy Findley's book The Wars is used to develop characterization and theme. The protagonist, Robert Ross, has a deep connection with animals that reflects his personality and the situations that he faces. This link between Robert and the animals shows the reader that human nature is not much different than animal nature.
The topic of war is hard to imagine from the perspective of one who hasn't experienced it. Literature makes it accessible for the reader to explore the themes of war. Owen and Remarque both dipcik what war was like for one who has never gone through it. Men in both All Quiet on the Western Front and “Dulce Et Decorum” experience betrayal of youth, horrors of war and feelings of camaraderie.
Loyalty is heroic. Loyalty is defined as faithfulness or devotion to a person, cause, obligations, or duties. In Homer's Odyssey one can see loyalty in many forms. Odysseus is loyal to the gods whom he realized held his life in their hands. Penelope was loyal to Odysseus, while trying not to offend the rude suitors. Telemachus was loyal to a father whom he only knew from the stories he had been told. Time and time again we see loyalty in the strongest sense, complete fidelity in time of uncertainty.
In the 17th Century, when Macbeth was written , loyalty was highly regarded and had great value. The gunpowder plot in 1605, against King James I, shocked everybody . Treason against your own country was regarded as one of the worst crimes a person can commit and this is why Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered. In the play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare makes the themes of loyalty and family very clear to the audience in the first few scenes in the play. There are many examples of characters that were loyal and trusted, but that turned their back on the people that trusted them. With this becoming the case, it becomes very hard for people to put faith in others as in an instant they could turn their back and try and act on what they truly believe in.
Robert Ross, the protagonist of Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars undergoes a disturbing violation when his fellow soldiers rape him; this is a significant turning point for Robert’s character and a section of the book Findley uses to address many themes. Throughout the book we witness Robert maturing and experiencing many hardships that will help create the man he becomes. The most significant of these trials is the scene at the insane asylum because it is where Robert looses the last connection to his innocence and his faith in humanity’s virtuousness. Findley also uses this scene to address the topic of homophobia in that era, and
Loyalty and honor are of the highest value in the eyes of the samurai. This is a statement that many scholars and young educated persons believe to be true on the basis of assumption. Thomas Conlan challenges this preconceived notion of loyalty and honor in his book State of War by piecing together a much more difficult and situationally based definition of loyalty which differed depending on the samurai and by observing how times of war and hardship truly challenged an individual’s sense of honor.
The Wars, written by Timothy Findley, is a story about World War I, and consists of many shocking images passed over to the reader. Findley accomplishes to pull the reader into the narrative itself, so that the reader manages to feel an impact upon him/her-self about what is read. If it was not for this specific skill, or can also be seen as a specific genre, the novel would not have been as successful as it is now. Also, something that helps the book be so triumphant, there is the fact that Findley never overwhelms the reader with too many gruesome details about the World War I. Instead, he breaks the book down to help the reader calm down from everything that is happening. Throughout the essay, there is going to be some commenting on a
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
Robert Ross is a sensitive, private boy; last person you would expect to sign up to fight in World War One. In The Wars by Timothy Findley, symbols are used in conjunction with Ross’ story to cause readers to reflect on symbols in their own lives, and to allow then to dive deeper into the world of an innocent boy who is placed into a cruel war. The various symbols in The Wars provide for a graphic and reflective reading experience by emphasizing Robert’s connection with nature, his past, and his experiences during the war.
War is a dangerous game, many people would likely agree to this, however, very few have ever seen a battlefront. The truth is that war, no matter how awful we can imagine it, is always exponentially worse. In Timothy Findley’s The Wars, Robert Ross, the protagonist, faces a situation that he finds difficult to come to terms with, and when faced with a similar situation later on in the novel, he must take drastic measures to reconcile the uncertainties of the past situation. Timothy Findley suggests, through the life of Robert Ross, that one’s need to reconcile the uncertainties of past experiences dominate our actions when such situations come up again in our lives. In the words of Hiram Johnson, a US Senator during the First World War,
Another point in history we see an example of loyalty being broken and the consequences - World War Two. Japan and the United States had a peace negotiation and Japan had failed to end the negotiation before launching the attack and catching Hawaii by surprise. This caused outrage throughout the U.S and killed over 2,000 Americans. This loss of loyalty
In this essay, I will discuss how Tim O’Brien’s works “The Things They Carried” and “If I Die in a Combat Zone” reveal the individual human stories that are lost in war. In “The Things They Carried” O’Brien reveals the war stories of Alpha Company and shows how human each soldier is. In “If I Die in a Combat Zone” O’Brien tells his story with clarity, little of the dreamlike quality of “Things They Carried” is in this earlier work, which uses more blunt language that doesn’t hold back. In “If I Die” O’Brien reveals his own personal journey through war and what he experienced. O’Brien’s works prove a point that men, humans fight wars, not ideas. Phil Klay’s novel “Redeployment” is another novel that attempts to humanize soldiers in war. “Redeployment” is an anthology series, each chapter attempts to let us in the head of a new character – set in Afghanistan or in the United States – that is struggling with the current troubles of war. With the help of Phil Klay’s novel I will show how O’Brien’s works illustrate and highlight each story that make a war.
War was a brutal battlefield experience that takes an immense psychological toll of trauma and long-term guilt on an individual. The harsh realities and destructive nature of war result in extreme physiological trauma which has a later effect on the individual. Its vast physical and psychological impact leaves the soldiers with a continuous long term effect. Wilfred Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est further explores the unethical nature of war faced by the forged willingness to serve their country. …………………………….. Similarly, Band of Brothers Breaking Point arrays the harsh psychological impact that war creates for individuals while being on the warfront and the strong bond established between the soldiers showing the importance of camaraderie during
Betrayal is something that many people encounter. John Gottman explains, “I believe that by understanding the dynamics of trust and betrayal, we can work to make relationships more trusting. But more than that we can help people become more trustworthy” (Gottman, 2011). To explain, “…the definition of betrayal involves the act of someone violating your trust in them” (Monica A. Frank, 2004). Thus, in order for me to move past all of the betrayals bestowed to me from my marriage, I need to learn to trust people again. After I was married, there were countless times that I felt like my husband was betraying me. Such as the times my husband, at the time, would leave with his best friend on several Saturdays in a row, to give assistance