Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Robert and his Mother

A very, very strange relationship is shared between Robert and his mother. In part 10 of chapter 1, Ross is taking a bath when his mother walks in. She sits down on a toilet seat and Robert looks away. His mother asks "Did he hurt you very badly?"
"No."
She then goes on to talk about the bruise over Roberts shoulder and asks with the smallest hint of generosity "Do you want me to...help in any way?"
"No," followed by "Thank you."
Mrs. Ross starts to talk about how Robert has fallen a lot as a child, and Robert hated the way she used his childhood as a weapon. She then starts to laugh hysterically at Roberts childhood mistakes, which might indicate her bullying personality. Things get really tense and she finally drops the line...
"You think Rowena belonged to you. WEll I'm here to tell you, Rober, no one belongs to anyone. We're all cut off at birth with a knife and left tat the mercy of strangers. You hear that? Strangers. I know what you want to do. I know you're going to go away and be a soldier. Well- you can go to hell. I'm not responsible. I'm just another stranger. Birth I can give you-but life i cannot. I can't keep anyone alive. Not anymore."
These were the last words that the two have shared with each other, and what a horrible way to end a domestic relationship. Mrs. Ross' words have isolated not only Robert out, but her and everyone on the planet. However, her words still share that tiny glimpse of mourning and sadness.. "I can't keep anyone alive. Not anymore."

Robert and Rowena's Rabbits

Shortly after his sisters death, Robert is told to kill Rowena's rabbits... by his own mother. Robert and his mother share a strange relationship, where his mother is very asserting and guarding her emotions from the family. The rabbits were a prized position of Rowena, and she even died while playing with her rabbits. The rabbits are symbolic to Robert and Rowena because 1) They were their favourite pets, and 2) They symbolize the gentle, caring, fragile nature of both Robert and Rowena. Robert however could not kill his sisters precious rabbits because they were the last thing to remember his sister by. Though it seems ideal to treasure his sister's rabbits, Robert's failure to kill or even let go of the rabbits shows his inability to overcome hard obstacles.

Monday, 31 October 2011

Symbolism in The Wars




The author Timothy Findley of The Wars, uses a variety of different methods to expand his story. Through symbolism, Findley uses objects such as animal to represent certain feelings and characteristics of Robert Ross. In the prologue of the novel, the protagonist is show stranded at the rail road tracks, accompanied by a horse and a dog. The three follow down the tracks to find wreckage, and amongst the wreckage is a bunch of trapped horses, which he frees and they all tread simultaneously down the tracks. Ross' dog might symbolize his sense of loyalty, faithfulness and his guardianship for his family. The horse that accompanies him symbolizes his liberty, intelligence, and bravery. In the scene where Ross and the herd is running down the tracks, the herd of horses on the train tracks could represent his long for freedom in his journey.

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

Secondary Sources Summary #3

This article is generally based on war itself and father-son relationships, particularly on World War I and Findley's interpretation of the war in his novel. The article talks about the the horror of war and goes a little into the extreme by saying that the fathers of the war raped their children. Not in a literal sense though, Findley implies that by the fathers creating this war, they are in turn "raping" their own children by pushing them into a war in which they are responsible for.

Lay not thy hand upon the lad, 


Neither do anything to him, the Angel of God commands. 


But the old man would not so - and slew his son ... 


And half the seed of Europe, one by one.... 


And slew his son and half the seed of Europe, one by one. 


It was rape. 


The scene stays. 


- Timothy Findley, Inside Memory ( I 5 055 I) 
A passage by Findley concerning the "rape" of war.

 The article goes on to talk about the novel and how it fails to include actual history of the war itself but focuses more on the life of Robert Ross, outside of the military battlefield. The novel The Wars is based more upon psychological warfare and the effects of war rather than actual military combat and history during World War I.




Hastings, Tom. ""Their fathers did it to them": Findley's appeal to the great war myth of a generational conflict in The Wars." Essays on Canadian Writing. 01 Jul. 1998: 85.eLibrary. Web. 06 Oct. 2011.

Secondary Sources Summary #2

In this article, the author David Williams analyses the history of photography in The Wars. Timothy Findley is an author who was capable of painting such vivid imagery into the readers mind so that it was if the reader were in a cinema. We can see a great example of Findley's wordplay in the prologue of the novel, "Half an hour later, the twelve cars stood quite empty and Robert was riding along the tracks behind a hundred and thirty horses with the dog trotting beside him. They were on the road to Magdalene Wood by 1 a.m. This was when the moon rose--red." (2)The imagery in this passage is incredibly powerful, by using the power of time and numbers, Findley paints an entire canvas in front of the readers eyes. In this image, Robert is seen riding along the abandoned rail road tracks behind a herd of exactly one hundred and thirty horses while his dog trots beside him and the stampede. The use of time is extremely significant to this scene as well, the stampede takes place at 1 a.m. when the moon rose not white... but red.

To help paint this scene into your head imagine these horses, but 130 of them followed by a boy on his own horse with a dog trotting alongside while the moon rises red in the background... all in a side-view shot!

Williams, David. "A Force of Interruption: The Photography of History in Timothy Findle'ys The WarsFindley." Canadian Literature(Vancouver) 194 00/08/2007. 54.ProQuest Learning: Literature. Web. 6 Oct 2011.http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayMultiItem.do?Multi=yes&ResultsID=1323F8AE6F6&forAuthor=0&QueryName=criticism&ItemNumber=1.

Secondary Sources Summary #1

This secondary source is critical essay that focuses on comparisons between "The Last of the Crazy People", "Lemonade", "The Wars", and other short stories that have all been written by Timothy Findley. The essay compares the theme of warfare and militia between the works. Throughout the essay, York establishes a connection between three of Findley's works, "Wars", "Lemonade", and "The Wars". The subject of the short story War, is not military war but rather domestic warfare caused by a father's decision to go to war. (York) Domestic warfare is also shown in Findley's fictional work The Wars, as Robert Ross finalizes his decision on joining the forces after his sisters death, which causes a sense of domestic warfare between him and his family. York also relates the use of missiles in Wars, Lemonade, and The Wars, but these missiles are not explosive military missiles, but stones rather.

York, Lorraine. "Civilian Conflict: Systems of Warfare in Timothy Findley." English Studies in Canada XV. 03/09/1989. 336-47. Gale Literary Database. Web. 6 Oct 2011.http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=4&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=Timothy Findley&TI=The Wars.

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Author Biography and Secondary Sources


Timothy Findley The Wars

What made me interested in the author was the title of the novel. When I read the title I knew instantly what the book was, and what it was about. My teacher had also told me that the author and book was one of her favourites. 


Timothy Findley is a Canadian-born writer, he was born in Toronto, Ontario on  October 30th, 1930. He passed away at the age of 71, on the 21st of June, 2002. A great comparison I found between the Ross family and the Findley both had owned a farm-machine industry. Findley’s grandfather was the president of the Massey-Harris farm-machine company and the Ross family belonged to the Raymond/Ross company. Findley had written two novels before The Wars, which had both been rejected by Canadian authors. His third novel, The Wars made an astounding publication in 1977 and received the Governor General’s award for fiction and was later adapted for film in 1981. 


Timothy also worked on short stories, dramas and memoirs. 
Other novels by Findley include: 
-The Last of the Crazy People (1967)
-The Butterfly Plague (1969)
-Famous Last Words (1981)
-Not Wanted on the Voyage (1984)
- The Telling of Lies (1986)
-Headhunter (1993)
-You Went Away (1996)
-Pilgrim (1999)
-Spadework(2001)


What I really find fascinating about Timothy Findley is that he is a Canadian-born writer, BORN in Toronto, Ontario!  On the year of his death in 2002, Findley had been added to Canada’s hall of fame, which I find to be an amazing accomplishment that ANY Canadian would love to achieve. 










York, Lorraine. "Civilian Conflict: Systems of Warfare in Timothy Findley." English Studies in Canada XV. 03/09/1989. 336-47. Gale Literary Database. Web. 6 Oct 2011. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=4&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=Timothy Findley&TI=The Wars.

Williams, David. "A Force of Interruption: The Photography of History in Timothy Findle'ys The WarsFindley." Canadian Literature(Vancouver) 194 00/08/2007. 54. ProQuest Learning: Literature. Web. 6 Oct 2011. http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayMultiItem.do?Multi=yes&ResultsID=1323F8AE6F6&forAuthor=0&QueryName=criticism&ItemNumber=1.
Hastings, Tom. ""Their fathers did it to them": Findley's appeal to the great war myth of a generational conflict in The Wars." Essays on Canadian Writing. 01 Jul. 1998: 85. eLibrary. Web. 06 Oct. 2011.

Sunday, 18 September 2011

The Wars

The Wars
Author: Timothy Findley
Publish date: 1977
Number of pages: 226


I chose this book for my independent study project simply because of the title of the novel. Plain and simple, "The Wars", gives strong meaning to the novel, and from reading the two words, a reader could instantly tell that the book deals with warfare. I also chose this book because I love warfare history, especially WWI and WWII. My teacher Ms. Breivik also told me that Timothy Findley is one of her favourite authors and that the book itself was also on her list of favourites. 





I am already having a good feeling about this book because it follows through the life of a young Canadian Armed Forces Soldier named Robert Ross. Ross, who enlisted in the forces because he felt guilty for his sisters death faces many issues throughout the novel, within the forces and within himself. I also believe that I will really get into this novel because I too may be enlisting in the armed forces, and from reading this I think that I can really get a feel into the boots of Robert Ross.


After reading part one of the novel and I can get a feel for how sensitive, loving, and how liberal he is. During the prologue of the book, Robert is shown with his horse and his dog on the rail roads. While moving down the rail road, his horse comes to a stop in front of the train wreckage and calls out for the trapped horses. Robert frees the horses brothers and sisters and Ross, the dog, the horse, and a hundred thirty more all run freely down the tracks in synchronization.



Themes that appear to forming throughout the novel already is heroism, family and animal relations. Heroism is portrayed in the first few pages of the book as Robert frees a herd of horses from train wreckage. Roberts love for his family is also shown in the death of his sister, which is the reason of him joining the army. I could also tell that Robert Ross had love for animals as well, because he was accompanied by a dog and horse during the prologue. At the death of his sister, Ross was also given the task of killing his sisters rabbits, which he could not do and had been beaten up trying to protect them.

A line that really speaks to me is also within the first few pages of the book. I find this line to be very symbolic and really defines Robert Ross. When his horse comes to a stop and whines for its family, Ross replies "All right, then we shall all go together." (Pg. 2) This really defines his character because it is a foundation for much of his beliefs, that being his compassion and love for family and animals. I believe that this might also foreshadow events to come during his time in the war, when he makes friends with people in his squad and develops strong relationships.