Part 1 Summary

Robert Ross has enlisted in the army after the death of his sister which he feels guilty about. His sister, Rowena, has recently died from falling out of her wheelchair in their barn while playing with her rabbits. Robert feels guilty because he was unable to save her since he was making love to his pillow in his locked room. He then joins the army to distance himself from the pain. Rowena was in a wheelchair and Robert watched over her. She had rabbits and loved to play with them. When she died, Robert's mother wanted him to kill the rabbits but Robert refused. Instead, Mrs.Ross called someone else to kill the rabbits. In an attempt to stop the rabbit-killing by Teddy Bulge, Robert was beaten up, covered in bruises. Robert's mother came to talk to him as he soaked his bruises in the bathtub. She was drunk and smoking a cigarette when she confronted him, and said there was nothing she could do to stop him from going to war. This is the end of part one in my book " The Wars" by Timothy Findley.