The Wars by Timothy Findley on Self Fulfillment (Essay Sample)

The Wars by Timothy Findley Name Institution Self Fulfillment The author of this novel tries to show us what will practically happen when; a caring and sensitive individual is sent into war. Would the individual adapt to the menace, try and survive like everyone else or will the war send him into a state of paranoia, and ultimately death. Throughout this paper, we will explore the act of self fulfillment with our main character Robert Ross been our center of focus (Timothy, 1996). As the novel progress, we learn that Robert could not handle the events happening around him and eventually he became insane. His previous life was exquisite as compared to the life he was going through in the war (Timothy, 1996). As a child, he was popular, good hearted, brilliant academic student and the captain of almost everything. He was therefore adored by everybody in the community. Trouble began with the death of Rowena (Timothy, 1996). After her death, he was unable to do little things like kill a rabbit and communication with other people became difficult for him. He came to the conclusion of leaving home and head into the war (Timothy, 1996). There he witnessed, murder, rape and destructions. This drove him into insanity and at last to his death (Timothy, 1996). The author has mastered the art of switching the scenes from war to other people's lives. This makes the book less depressing as if it could have concentrated on war alone. Through the use of time sequence in the novel, the author is able to derive the theme of self fulfillment especially when it comes to Robert (Timothy, 1996). Often, we see the novel passage's jumping to monologues by a Miss Juliet who tries to point out the kind of person Robert was during the story. At one point when Robert was in the hospital with Harris, we witness his compassionate side been pointed out by Juliet. While Robert is trying to seek a sense of self fulfillment with his life, the author often uses the theme of fire to describe the pain and emotional suffering Robert is experiencing (Timothy, 1996). Robert does not and is unable to kill the rabbits. He sees the rabbits as a part of Rowena, thus by killing them it would truly imply that she is dead. This is the reason behind him stopping the killing of the rabbits (Timothy, 1996). These are the quandary that Robert goes through and in the end they will become the best opportunity for him to rediscover himself and have a sense of self fulfillment (Timothy, 1996). In the end of the novel, the author uses a...