The Thematic Significance Of The Novel “The Wars” By Timothy Findley

The Thematic Significance of the Novel “The Wars” by Timothy Findley

 

The novel by Timothy Findley “The Wars” depicts the story of a man in the person of Robert Ross; he is the man, son brother and lover in the story.   In addition, the novel also shows the conflicts between   Robert Ross and his mother Mrs. Ross.  Since he was a child he has not able to experience the closeness with his mother as the other child would have experienced.  This conflict even increased when his sister Rowena died on her wheelchair while playing with her most loved rabbits in the barn.   In the early part of the novel, Rowena, his sister suffered from hydrocephalus which stuck her in a wheelchair all her life. This is perhaps the major reason why Robert Ross loved his sister so much, he believed that he was   in charge of her sister’s safety and he should be the one to protect her from any harm and danger.  And, he strongly blamed himself on the death of Rowena.  He thought that she would not have died if he was around with her during that day.  Robert put all the blame on himself for the death of his beloved sister Rowena.  And, what made the situation even worst is the   feeling of being alone and helpless without   the presence of her sister.  The guilt feeling has been always in him all throughout his life.  As Robert cares so much for Rowena’s wishes and possessions; he could not able to kill Rowena’s precious rabbits that he knew that Rowena really cared about.  Despite the fact that her mother commanded him to kill the rabbits; he never did. His dedication and connection to his sister has still lingered on him even after her death.   On the other hand, Mrs. Ross’s indifferent personality to his son Robert has deeply rooted in many losses in her life beginning with her father, followed by the death of his own brother, and now her daughter.  All this unfortunate event made Mrs. Ross to breakdown and is in a deep sorrow, and resulted to blame Robert which even contributed to his total internal confusion devastation.

Furthermore,    Rowena’s death caused their mother to begin drinking alcohol heavily. After Rowena’s funeral, Mrs. Ross talked to Robert expressing her inner most feelings towards him. She told Robert that   she did not even give a damn whether he want to join the military and become a soldier, and eventually die during the war.  The only obligation she had with him was to give him birth, but Mrs. Ross did not take the responsibility to take care of him as her son.  Because of this, Robert finally decided to go away and left her mother;    to join the World War I.  Unfortunately, this decision even caused him to further destruction and ultimate downfall.  However, he met several women in the war but never had the chance to flourish any of these romantic involvements. And, his life in the military even brought him so many disasters and even took him almost to death. And, finally war had badly burned him in one   of his encounters.  From then on, he never recovered from his severe burns; until he died in 1922.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wars)

In view thereof, the thematic significance between Robert and his mother is that they were not given a chance to express their inner love for one another.  It is very obvious that these two individuals loved each other. However, there is an outside factor that hinders them to express this love to one another.   The moral lesson of the story is to learn to forgive and forget yourself for any mistakes that you have done in your life.  Remember, that everyday promises a new beginning and a new hope for every individual.  If only Robert’s mother would have learned to accept her bad experiences in her past life. And, learn how to forgive herself, and learn how to start a new life together with her children Rowena and Robert; things would have turned out in a different way.  Perhaps, Robert did not join in the war, and   at the end of the story, Robert was still alive and would have still    lived happily with his mother.    In the same manner, maybe he would have built his own family together with his wife and his own children.   Moreover, the novel also reveals that a woman is very important part of the mental and emotional stability of a man.  More particularly, in a mother and son relationship, it is hence, very crucial for a son to experience a love and care of his own mother in order to mould his personality into a better one; as well as to strengthen his emotional aspect.  Even in the adult years of Robert’s life, he was still longing for the love of his own mother that he never experienced since he was a child.  This is the most longed and his greatest dream I must say.  However, he just kept it within himself.  But it is very touching to feel his deepest emotion and sentiment towards his mother.  It is very sad to know, that even at the end of the story he did not experience this wonderful feeling with his own mother.  Similarly, I could also feel that Mrs. Ross has loved his son as much as he loved her, but she has been trying to suppress it for many reasons.  Maybe, she was afraid that he might loss him again as what happened to all her loved ones.  So, she just stoned her feelings towards    his son in order not to suffer another pain in her life when the time that he would loss him.

(http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~bcla/e_book/72/7205.pdf)

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wars

http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~bcla/e_book/72/7205.pdf

http://www.coursework.info/University/Linguistics__Classics_and_related_subjects/English_Literature/Drama/Renaissance/William_Shakespeare/Romeo_and_Juliet/The_Wars_by_Timothy_Findley_L89055.html

 

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