The story depicts the effects of war on Robert and the hardship and craziness of his immediate family and friends. His mental health starts to deteriorate since he no longer controls his principles or morality due to the battle. In light of this latest incident, Robert’s sanity is again in jeopardy. So many times had he pushed the trigger that when Sergeant-Major yanked him away, the revolver continued to click in his hands,” he said ” (pg. He curled himself into a ball with damp knees and used all of his effort to push himself forward. Due to a deep love for animals, Robert is reluctant to kill the wounded horse and struggles to follow his instructions. When the narrator is confronted with the horse’s injury in the stable, he is informed he was responsible for putting it down. In France, Robert is assigned aboard a boat to care for the horses while learning to fight (Findley 207). Ross enlists in the military to escape his guilt and mother, who eventually keeps pushing him away.Īnimals play an essential part in this work, and the reader can feel Robert’s affection for them. While Robert believes Rowena belongs to him, he learns from his mother that this is not the case and that no one is our own and that we are all in the hands of strangers, she tells him. Ross’s mother appears in the middle of his bath and confronts him.

Robert’s sanity begins to weaken after this shameful and sad incident. Presumably, he shares this view since he was masturbating in his bedroom as his sister died.

His sister’s death has left him with a deep sense of shame, and he believes it is due to his lack of attention. Robert was supposed to be looking after Rowena when she slipped, an incident that led to her demise. Taking care of his sister provides him with a sense of purpose, and he sees her as an extension of himself. His sister, who has hydrocephalus, is dear to him. The reader gets a sense of Robert and Rowena’s bond right from the start of the book.

The wars by timothy findley analysis