Animals’ Roles in The Wars Essay

Written by Timothy Findley in 1977, The Wars is a novel that explores the theme of young human breedingtime under the closet concerns during the war, specifically the First World War, seeing the world of soldiers turn into a world of violence, and how these soldiers maintain dark into brutes themselves. The geek of Robert Ross, a nineteen year-old Canadian officer and whose life is narrated mostly from the third- psyche point of view, is revealed as a character that has a concern for animalsthus prompting Ross to save the horses which cost him his life in the endamidst the brutal turn of events where remnant was almost plastered in the chargeing fields. The birds, brush wolf and rabbits to a fault symbolize certain events in the story. Soldiers are typically k at one timen to be highly sensitive of their purlieu when in the fields for they potful non exactly pinpoint where and when combat might turn up or from what direction the enemy might be coming from. This is mayha p one of the reasons why Ross was able to notice the chirping of the birds while he and the ease of the soldiers were out in the war. Ross was able to take notice of the fact that individually time the birds stopped singing, an attack from the enemy soon takes place.Perhaps it was chaste coincidence, although one sens strongly tie that event with the attacks that followed there by and by as birds are familiar with their environment more than the soldiers slight changes in their environment, in particular changes which have a lot to do with probable dangers cause the birds to locomote away. Taken with the context of the encounters of Ross with the birds, it can be said that those birds served as precedent signs for the young soldier. Whenever the birds stopped singing, it is almost certain that Ross is about to encounter danger along the way. The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them (p. 81), masking how the sudden absence of these birds felt rather unusual, as if to signal something gravid is about to happen. It is unusual as well for man and beast to have a close relationship, especially when the animal is known to be a hunter and can be a threat to the security of man. exactly more than that, any relationship between man and beast can mean simple companionship to a deep friendship. As removed as Ross and the coyote are concerned, it can be said that the animal accompanied the young soldier to a certain extent in the story. One night, Robert ran with a coyote (p. 25) and when the men were out for a present the coyote also drunk at the brink (p. 27) of the water and dead sat (p. 28).An observation of these rather unusual events would tell us that the coyote acted as if it was a member of the soldiers. This is interesting as it presents a telling irony one can not easily notice soldiers in the war, as Ross himself has observed, are violent men who are more standardized beasts who wielded weapons to kill. With the presen ce of the coyote among the group, it can be said that they, too, were much equal the coyote. The soldiers, in fact, gathered like whispering conspirators around the edges of a gleaming sheet of water (p. 27), a sly trait typical to that of coyotes. temporary hookup coyotes symbolize how men in the war have turned into beasts, rabbits on the other hand serve as reminders for Ross to treat animals in popular with respect as if they were human beings. On one occasion, Ross was hesitant to kill the rabbits as ordered by his estranged grow, Mrs. Ross, shortly after the death of Rowena, Roberts older sister, since they gave him memories about his older sister and since Rowena owned those rabbits. Rabbits had to die, and Robert had to do it (p. 18), which presents one conflict in the novelthe conflict between the ascertain to destroy the animals which pin back memories and the apparent weakness of the main star to kill even animals.It can be said that if Ross decides to kill the ra bbits, it was like as if he has killed the memories of Rowena. If he decides not to kill them, it proves that he is unavailing to even wield a weapon against these small animals, which is of course not a good sign for someone who would enlist in the soldiers during the war. It also shows how Ross was more human than anybody else in the story, especially his estranged mother and the rest of the soldiers in his group. His inclination to preserve whatever memory stay from the departed tells us that Ross is not keen to destroy, or that he is not a natural destroyer of animal life which, ironically, cost him his life as he tried to save some of the Army horses after killing two of his fellow soldiers. The point where Ross tries to save the Army horses was also the time when he finally turned to madness and prompted him to kill the lives of his fellowmen. Apparently, it is a contrast which tells us that insanity can push a person to kill other people yet care for beasts.That is because Ross himself has finally effect a beast near the end of the story and, thus, he is now more than inclined to save his own kind rather than entertain and preserve the life of other men. He is no longer the equivalent man at the start of the story who was afraid to kill. This transformation can be attributed to the onslaught of the war, which seemed to have absorbed Robert right into it. As he was now unable to rise above the madness of the war, Robert Ross eventually turned quite like the rest of the army, willing to kill and die retributive so to save other lives although this time he saved the lives of horses. The animals in the story offer an interesting insight into some important events in the novel, especially in terms of how the life of the protagonist, Robert Ross, eternally hanged in the residuum of making crucial decisions. In general, the story is able to reveal how the lives of soldiers always deal with certain conflicts individually and together as a group. Findle ys novel is also able to show how young minds of young individuals black market to fold under pressing moments in their lives.ReferenceFindley, T. (1996). The Wars. Penguin Canada.