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.

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.

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.