Timothy Findley's The Wars War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, some resort to suicide to escape their insecurities. Soldiers, however, are not the only ones affected by wars; family members also experience mental hardships when their loved ones are sent to war. Timothy Findley accurately portrays the detrimental effects wars have on individuals in his masterpiece The Wars.
Timothy Findley Creates a fictional world through his novels, where readers can relate to the situations and characters. The protagonists that Findley creates are often similar and connected to the hardships that they eventually encounter and defeat or that which they are defeated by. Findley takes his readers back in time to the First World War, displaying his knowledge of history and research, where the hardships of a young soldier’s battles internally and externally are brought to the reader’s attention in his historical-fiction novel The Wars. Findley writes about the reality and absurdity of the First World War, and takes the reader’s on a journey through the active reading process to find what is “sane” and “Insane” throughout the duration of the novel. Following the journey of the protagonist, Robert Ross as he enlists in the Canadian Army after the death of his sister Rowena, and undoubtedly is the turning point of the text and ideally where Findley initiates the active reading process, and where the contents placed in the story by Findley, are analyzed and opinionated based on the reader’s perception and subjectivity of truth. Essayist Anne Reynolds writes “ Findley manages, through technical prowess, to combine Hemingway-like choices of clear moment searing horror and truth at the battlefront with scenes depicting the effects of war on the families and lovers of the soldiers.” (Reynolds, 4) According to Reynolds Findley has been able to display the absurdity and affect that not only the First World War has caused but the ludicrousness war in general has caused the families of soldiers, and society as a whole. Using the literary theory of deconstruction many aspects and scenarios in The Wars can be analyzed, as Fin...
An article called, “The Real War,” written by Roger J. Spiller, begins with a quote by Walt Whitman, “The real war will never get in the books.” The author writes about an interview with Paul Fussell, who was a soldier in World War Two and has written many books about World War One and World War Two. Fussell is very opinionated and critical about other books written about these wars, asserting they are not realistic or portray the true essence of what really occurred by soldiers and other people participating in the wars. I claim that it is impossible to convey the actual personal feelings and emotions of those involved in a war in books or any other forms of media.
In our life one day or another we will have to face the situation where we have to choose between pursuing a personal desire or choosing to be ‘normal’ by conforming. If pursuing a personal desire makes us happy then one shouldn’t conform just to get accepted to be like others when you have an opportunity to be happy and to achieve your lifetime goals. In “The Wars” by Timothy Findley, Robert Ross a protagonist who refuses to conform in the situation where his personal desire was close to being destroyed.
Many people say that the metal of a man is found in his ability to keep his ideals in spite of anything that life can through at you. If a man is found to have done these things he can be called a hero. Through a lifelong need to accept responsibility for all living things, Robert Ross defines his heroism by keeping faith with his ideals despite the betrayal, despair and tragedy he suffers throughout the course of The Wars by Timothy Findley.
Posttraumatic stress disorder is a psychological disorder that occurs after a person has been through a traumatic event, such as combat warfare. In this essay, I would like to compare Vietnam soldiers to soldiers in the Trojan War, and contrast the similarities and differences between the two, also analyze how soldiers’ lives have been affected similarly throughout two completely different wars. I would also like to show the irony of war, and how war doesn’t only dehumanize soldiers, but it also inspires valuable human qualities. In the movie Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Shay does a great job by showing us how the psychological devastation of Vietnam veterans compares to the one Achilles experienced after losing his beloved comrade, Patroclus.
In this investigation, the personal side of the soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war will be examined- particularly the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that were most common in veterans, and the different experiences in the war or after returning home that could have caused them. The types of warfare, deaths, and differences from methods used in the Vietnam War will be discussed. Technological advancements and mindsets of the different times of the wars will be taken into account. The definition of PTSD and descriptions of different general causes will be mentioned, as well. Different accounts from veterans and reports on PTSD Vietnam War veteran victims will be analyzed for individual cases and examples. Sources used will include Wounds of War by Herbert Hendin and Ann Pollinger Haas and information on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the National Institute of Mental Health’s website.
War changes people. Usually when one thinks of war, blood, battle and death are the first things that come to mind, but psychological trauma is over shadowed by these popular thoughts. Though war, on the surface, is focused on such gory aspects, The Wars by Timothy Findley shows us an angle where the chaos of war significantly affects a soldier’s mind mentally. War definitively effects the life of all soldiers, so much so that they may show signs of insanity after, or even during battle. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder triggered when a victim experiences a significantly traumatic event in their life, and has difficulty returning to life as it was (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). Insanity as defined by Psychology
As a first hand observer of the Civil War, the great American Poet, Walt Whitman once said,"The real war [of the mind] will never get in the books."Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a horrible mental ailment that afflicts thousands of soldiers every year. Besides the fact that it is emotionally draining for the soldier, it also deeply alters their family and their family dynamics. Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier's Home” illustrates how this happens. Harold Krebs returns home from World War I. He has to deal with becoming reaccustomed to civilian life along with relearning social norms. He must also learn about his family and their habits. The ramifications of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have a ripple effect on the lives of not only the victim, but also the friends and family they relate to.
War has a definite effect on the mentality of a soldier, so much so that many result in insanity during or after the leave of combat. Timothy Findley’s The Wars, portrays the “stupidity, futility and the horror of the terrible losses of the First World War, describing war as an image of the worst that can be within a man” (Anne Nothof Interview). Findley portrays mental aspects as well as physical, that lead to Robert Ross’ demises, specifically, the conditions of war, overall aspect of war taking someone’s life and the feeling of loneliness and silence.
If you took a sensitive caring person and set them in the midst of a chaotic area, what do you think would, happen? Would these person adapt to this area, and live like everyone else, or would they become a mental mess unable to cope with what is going on around them? This was the theme of the novel The Wars by Timothy Findley, that is exactly what happened. Findley took a sensitive caring individual, Robert Ross and sent him to war. Ross became unable to cope with all of the events that were taking place around him, and eventually went insane. The life that Robert Ross had lived before was nothing compared to what he was experiencing during war. When Robert Ross was a child he was the captain of everything, a popular and academic student. Friends and family loved him, and he was the ideal of any boy in the community. One would think that Robert would have no problem handling the world he lived in, but that would be an inaccurate statement. The first sign of trouble, was Rowena death. Robert and Rowena were very close as brother and sister, losing one another was unbearable for Robert, which started a spiral down to the end result, insanity. Little things like killing Rowena rabbits could not be done, communicating with others was difficult, Robert decided he had to get away. But for someone as sensitive as Robert Ross, war wasnt where he should have gone. The chaos and destruction of war, and everything he experienced, like murders and rape, was unbearable for Robert, and drove him to the end result of insanity, and his death. In The Wars Timothy Findley uses an unusual time sequence to present his story. It is told from the perspective of an author trying to reconstruct the life of Robert Ross. The very first scene is of Robert Ross riding the horses down the tracks around 1918. The story then picks up in 1915 but jumps back to when his sister dies. Throughout the story there is also an element of confusion as the people telling the story, and therefore the perspective also, are constantly changing. The time sequence in this novel varies because it tends to jump from one person's opinion of Robert's situation to another. If this did not occur the novel would be much too depressing to read because of the constant view of war.
In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross is a sensitive nineteen year old boy who experiences first-hand the horrors of battle as a Canadian Soldier in the First World War in hopes of trying to find who he is. Being named a Lieutenant shortly after arriving in Europe, Robert is thrust into combat. War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Timothy Findley shows the effects wars have on individuals in his novel The Wars. Findley suggests that war can change a persons behaviour in many different ways, however it is seen to be negatively more often then not. Robert Ross, the main character of The Wars, shows symptoms of what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in today’s society.
The United States military continues to engage in one of the longest periods of combat operations in our nation’s history. One of the results is an increase in the amount of persons suffering Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2000), a precursor to PTSD is the experience of an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury to self or others. Grossman (2009) argues that an additional factor, the emotional and spiritual response to killing another human being, also takes a tremendous toll on the mental health of returning soldiers. Forty-eight to sixty–five percent of soldiers returning from Operation Enduring Freedom have reported killing an enemy combatant, while 14–28% have reported killing a noncombatant (Hoge, Castro, Messer, McGurk, Cotting, & Koffman, 2004). This paper will discuss Grossman’s (2009) views on the psychological cost of killing others in combat.
War is one thing that we all know is a necessary evil. The United States has been involved in many wars since being founded in the late 1700’s. There are many reasons that the United States has been involved in, or is currently involved in wars. Although war is not always a popular thing to become a part of, the full effects of the war are not always known and may never be known as long as the United States is a country. Stephen Crane tells us that there are many effects of war in his poem “War is Kind”. From that it can be derived that physical, mental, family, etc are all effects of war needing to be monitored. All of these effects are causing hardships among the people that are coming home from these battles either directly or indirectly. The full effects of any war are never known and are something that is going to need further investigation to allow professionals such as mental and physical health doctors to provide soldiers with the help they so greatly deserve.
The First World War is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history, its more than nine million casualties exacerbated by the advancement in war technology. However, the physical damage the war inflicted on its participants pales in comparison to the emotional scars seared into the minds of these young men. The modest percentage of veterans who had survived the carnage still returned home ruined by the bloodshed. Not only did these warriors have to cope with the trauma that inevitably came with simply being involved in the war, but also with the threat of the rival side weaponizing their subconscious to turn on themselves. The introduction of organized psychological warfare changed the face of combat in a much deeper level than machine guns, poison gas, or tanks and aircrafts ever could. Psychological warfare, or psywar, was used throughout the Great War to ultimately influence the behavior of whoever or whomever it is targeted towards, and, along with other sources of trauma, forced those whom enlisted to detach themselves from their emotions, transforming them to empty shells of their former selves.