"The Wars", the film version. By: David Cho and Ari Neville

In the year 1983, the great Canadian novel “The Wars”, written by Timothy Findley, was released to the public in the form of a movie. Brent Carver was cast as Robert Ross, William Hutt as Mr. Ross, Martha Henry as Mrs. Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald as Rowena Ross, Richard McMillian as Harris, Domini Blythe as Barbara D’Orsey, and Abigail Seaton as Juliet D’Orsey. It was Timothy Findley who adapted his novel for the screen, and the characters of the film were put to life by director Robin Phillips. With a budget of 4 100 000 and a runtime of 120 minutes, this movie was initially reviewed as a high quality piece of cinema. In fact, The New York Times, one of the more well-known newspapers, gave this Canadian film a rating of four point five out of five. Sadly though, the movie version of “The Wars” differs in numerous ways to the novel. In the book, Rowena Ross, the beloved and disabled sister of the main character Robert Ross, dies tragically when she falls from her wheel chair while playing with her ten rabbits on the cement floor of her family’s barn. On the other hand, in the movie adaptation, Rowena Ross dies in a car accident. After his sister’s death in the book version of this story, the loss of his greatest companion causes Robert to enlist in the army and fight over seas in WWI. Whilst in the movie version, Robert enlists in the arm due to frequent fights with his family over the death of his sister, and their decision to slaughter Rowena’s ten rabbits. Thankfully though, in all other aspects of “The Wars” plot, the movie didn’t change too much else. But this lack of numerous changes didn’t change the fact that later in time, “The Wars” movie would be viewed in poor taste. Viewers from a younger generation than those of the 80’s, who originally viewed the film, saw the many flaws apparent in this film. Even though the film had a budget of 4 100 000 Canadian dollars, everything about it seemed cheap and poorly done except for the acting. I truly wish this movie could have done this great Canadian novel even an ounce of justice, but it simply fell short. 

Theme

Throughout the novel written by Timothy Findley, with the title “The Wars”, a major theme presented via the beautiful English language is the loss of innocence. At the age of 25, Robert Ross’s hydrocephalic sister, a hydrocephalic being someone who was born with water on their brain, dies when she falls off her wheelchair while playing with her ten rabbits onto the cold cement floor of her family’s barn. Having his sister die in such a tragic fashion, especially a sister he was so close to was very traumatic for Robert and is the first incidence that starts off the gradual breaking down of Robert’s innocence. As if that wasn't enough, Mrs. Ross then ordered Robert to slaughter the ten rabbits Rowena previously owned, for obvious reasons Robert declined the invitation to perform this murder. After having the first layer of his innocence fully shattered, Robert then signed up to fight in the killing fields of WWI era Europe. Aboard the ship, Robert along with the help of a fellow soldier is ordered to do a deed he strongly detests. Robert is forced to kill an injured horse with his six shooter revolver. It takes him six shots to finish the poor animal off. Once in Europe, things don’t get any better. After bathing in a former mental institution in France, Robert is violently raped by thirteen of his fellow soldiers. By now, Robert’s innocence is fully shattered, and the man he was before is fully dead. Sadly, Robert Ross isn't the only character in this novel to lose his precious innocence. Rodwell a dear friend of Robert and a fellow lover of animals not only loses his innocence but commits suicide as a result. In a cruel attempt to taunt the kindhearted Rodwell, his fellow troops killed a cat right in front of his eyes, and the horror of seeing this act of brutality caused him to commit suicide. The character Juliet d’Orsey, a lover of the main character Robert Ross, experiences numerous events that shatter her child-like innocence. Juliet see’s the war hero Eugene Taft attempt committing suicide, and later in the novel by mistake see’s Robert and her sister making love. Incidents like those listed above prove to me that the theme of loss of innocence is a major theme in this book. 

Connections to Economic Systems

To be quite frank, there are limited if not any connections to economic systems in “The Wars”, a great Canadian novel by Timothy Findley. Mr. Ross, father of the main character of the novel, Robert Ross, is an owner of a large business located in the province of Ontario. As an owner of a business, Mr. Ross obviously benefits from the economic system known as capitalism. Capitalism is not only an economic system, but also a political one in which a small group of very rich private business owners control a country’s trade and industry for profit. Capitalism is the economic system most commonly used worldwide, its most avid supporter being the USA. Unlike in communism, another economic system, people are paid depending on the importance of their job in capitalism, while in communist states everyone is paid the same wage no matter the job. Under capitalist rule, with hard work and dedication, the poorest individual can become a millionaire in a matter of years. This is probably why capitalism is such a widely liked economic system, because it offers people the ability to better their life financially. Sadly, capitalism is pretty crappy in how it creates a large economic divide between the poor, the middle class, and of the course the ruling class, the rich. Communism is the exact opposite of capitalism, and for many years capitalist and communist countries “battled” in the Cold War. Communism supports the poor working class, or “the proletariat”, while capitalism supports the rich. The whole point of communism is to create a classless society, the class system being the root of all evil to communists, and in doing so creating a workers utopia. Although communism sounds very noble in theory, true communism has never been attained by any modern state. If true communism were to be attained, by any country, the whole entire world would reap the benefits.                      

Literary Connections to Other Texts

“The Wars”, a novel by Timothy Findley, owes much to the works of other equally, if not better literary works made prior to the making of “The Wars”, although it is distinctly different from the majority of war novels in that it denotes the military and war, and shows it for what it truly is, a life altering multi-year nightmare. Your average war novel reads like pornography for the average army recruiter, telling tales of the glory of warfare, how honorable it is to die for your country, and how dying is a noble affair not filled with tears, soiled underwear,  and the blood of teenagers fighting for a cause they have no knowledge of. But besides its anti-war message, “The Wars” owes a lot to novels written by soldiers who actually fought in WWI. Novels like “Generals Die in Bed”, written by Charles Yale Harrison, a veteran of WWI, another anti-war novel like “The Wars.” “Generals Die in Bed” doesn't gloss over the horrors of mechanized warfare, and if it weren't for it, and novels like it, “The Wars” probably would never have even come to fruition. Timothy Findley also owes much thanks to fellow Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje, a writer commonly associated with the genre of historiographic metafiction. Historiographic metafiction being the genre “The Wars” falls under. A book that falls under the category of historiographic metafiction is any book that is popular, but is also very reflective about the times they were written in, and usually the book is about major historical events or people. Other authors that dominate this genre are: Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, James Joyce, Salman Rushdie, Wu Ming, and Julian Barnes.  But regardless of what Timothy Findley borrowed from other authors, “The Wars” is still an amazing novel, definitely worthy of the title of “masterpiece.” 

Freebie Post: Life in the Trenches

Life for a Canadian soldier in WWI was difficult, from the lowest messenger boy, to an officer like Robert Ross, there were no exceptions. Everyone faced hardships. Bullets don’t differentiate between the rich and poor, the miserable and happy, or between those who are young and those who are more experienced. But bullets don’t have thoughts or emotions, so they have good reason for being careless. Humans aren’t so fortunate; we have feelings, and strong ones at that. That’s what makes it so atrocious when one reads about the evils humans committed against their fellow man during WWI. The Canadian government during WWI would give out arms manufacturing contracts to their high powered friends. Of course the arms produced by these business owners would be of low quality. Faulty grenades, cheap ammunition, and plain crappy clothing resulted in the deaths of many industrious young Canadians. Sadly, the horrors of WWI don’t end there. Perhaps one of the worst inventions of the “Great War” was in the war much more deadly gases were developed, and used on poison gas. Although commonly believed to be the Germans, it was in fact the French who were the first to use poisonous gas in warfare. The French used a type of gas called tear gas although not lethal it was definitely harmful to the human body. Later in the war, much more deadly gases were developed, and eventually used on human beings. Poison gas was deemed so inhumane and awful, that later in time it was banned in the treaty of Versailles. In general, life in the trenches of WWI was pretty horrendous, and something no human being should ever have to experience. What is most important for the modern man and woman is to remember the sacrifices made by those who fought in the First World War. Why should we do this? The answer is simple, if we don’t, those who passed away during this tragic affair will have died for nothing.  

Setting

Throughout the novel “The Wars”, by Timothy Findley, there are numerous settings. During the first part of this book, the setting would be in the year 1914, the location being rural Ontario, Canada from what I can deduce. The Ross family lives in a large house with a barn on the property, probably surrounded with much land. The large house is a result of Mr. Ross being wealthy from being an owner of a business. Thankfully, the Ross family lives close to a bustling city, filled with fast moving automobiles, and lightening quick trams. Through Timothy Findley’s vivid language, one can imagine a Canada both very similar and almost unimaginable.  If one closes one’s eyes, they can see wooden sidewalks resting regally above dirt roads, with old timey candy shops and grocery stores populated by handlebar mustache wearing gents, and fancily dressed plump white women. But then all of the sudden the setting changes and the reader is taken to a land much more similar to the modern era. As Robert Ross travels to the barren prairie of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, to train at a military base, warmth spreads to the heart of the reader, as familiar sights come to mind. Howling winds, and woefully stupid cows bring warms memories of summer vacation road trips. For in all reality, cities rise and eventually fall, and people may die, but vast wilderness stays the time. Sadly the author quickly sweeps away this idyllic scene, and the reader is taken to a land vastly different from their own, a land where a man’s life means little to nothing, a place of terror and unrestrained horror. When reading this section, one wishes they were back in bountiful Canada rather than war torn Europe, so strongly it almost hurts. Thankfully, it’s here where the story ends, and the reader can thank their lucky stars they don’t have to fall asleep in an atmospheric trench. 

Conflict

One doesn’t have to look far in order to find conflict in this book. When Robert Ross’s disabled sister Rowena passes away, due to the fact that she is a hydrocephalic, and she fell off her wheel chair onto the hard ground of the barn, on her family’s property where she was playing with her ten rabbits, Mrs. Ross orders the rabbits Rowena cared for to be slaughtered. Robert was given the task of completing the deed, but promptly refused, probably due to the fact that it is unjust to kill ten rabbits simply because of the fact that they outlived their owner. Not one to be easily deterred, Mrs. Ross hired Teddy Budge to kill the rabbits. As Teddy was completing the task set before him, out of grief for his dead sister, and powered by pure rage, Robert attacked the burly Teddy, which ended with him being severely beaten. Other such cases of man to man conflict occur throughout this novel, some more serious t herhan others. Much later in the novel, after having returned from leave, while staying in a mental institution converted to a washing area for weary and very dirty men Robert Ross is violently raped by thirteen fellow soldiers. Also, constantly throughout the later part of the book, while Robert is serving overseas  in Europe, he has man to man conflict with German soldiers, this encompasses everything from German shells destroying the trenches he dwells in, to German bullets narrowly avoiding his body. The most notable man to man conflict however, occurs very close to the end of the story. This event occurs when an area Robert is in gets shelled by Germans, and in this area is housed hundreds of horses inside a barn, and beside this barn is a house filled with Canadian soldiers. In order to save the horses from an inevitable death, Robert asks the permission of Captain Leather to free them. Leather refuses this request, but Robert disobeys him and with the help of his friend Devlin, frees the horses. Devlin is shot for doing this by Captain Leather. Then all hell breaks loose, and a well-aimed shell lands near the barn killing all the horses, and the soldiers resting in the house. All that survives the attack is Captain Leather and Robert Ross, and for obvious reasons Ross shoots Leather between the eyes.

Characterization

The main character of the novel “The Wars”, by Timothy Findley, is Robert Ross. Loving and caring, but also extremely naïve, Robert Ross is easily my favorite character in this truly classic Canadian book. A truly kind and empathetic individual, Robert cared for his hydrocephalic sister Rowena with the upmost love. Bound to wheel chair, Robert would cart his sister around the house, and would spend a lot of his time in her company, brightening her day with conversation and witticisms. Ever since Robert’s birth, Rowena and the main character of “The Wars” were always very close, so it was particularly devastating when she passed. In fact, it was the death of Rowena that prompted Robert to join the army and fight over seas in the First World War. Amazingly, even amidst the horrors of modern warfare, Robert perseveres, and maintains being a decent human being as people he’s never met before treat him very poorly. Even when he’s forced to kill a horse that’s been severely injured aboard a ship Robert is travelling upon to get too England, a deeply traumatizing event for most people, except for Robert who then proceeds to build meaningful relationships with several of his fellow soldiers, and continues to be a civilized and polite individual. Even after being brutally raped by thirteen of his fellow soldiers, Robert then freed hundreds of horses from a crashed train, saving them from an inevitable and very painful and slow death. These are the traits that make Robert such an exceptional human being. 

Connections Too Political Systems

Throughout “The Wars”, a novel by Timothy Findley, there is numerous situations in which connections too political systems can be found. The very war Robert Ross fought in, Robert being the main character of “The Wars”, was started, continued, and ended wholly by political systems. WWI started when the Bosnian Black Hand terrorist group assassinated the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. The Bosnians wanted to be free from the tyrannical rule of the Austrians, and the Black Hand threatened to kill the Austrian Archduke if he ever set foot on Bosnian soil, which he promptly did, resulting in his subsequent death. After starting an incident that would eventually swallow whole the lives of millions of young men and women in a violent war, political systems then further flamed the problem and turned the incident into a world war. When Austria declared war on Bosnia due to the death of their Archduke, this started a chain reaction of various countries declaring war on one another due to the fact that previous to the beginning of WWI, many countries formed alliances with one another, and if you’re in an alliance with a country, and that country goes to war, you have to fight beside your ally. Little did the countries of Europe know that this chain of reactions would claim the lives of millions of their separate country’s sons and daughters. Thankfully, all things that start must also end, and war is no different. Started in the year 1914, WWI ended in the year 1918, four years of utter hell for the countries of Europe and their respective colonies. Looking back on this tragic affair, the only good thing that came of it really, is that it ended in four years opposed to decades long of brutal conflict.