Symbols in The novel

There are a few things that I have noticed in the novel. There are many symbolic items or beings in the novel that you don’t see right away, but it begins to become more clear the more you read. The first symbolic phrase you could say I found in the novel is the most obvious and easy to see. It is right on the front cover of the book itself. Its in the title.. “ The Wars”.  You notice that it is plural. This means there are multiple wars happening. The only physical actual war being fought is the World War. But there is many other wars happening in the novel. The wars that Robert Ross are fighting emotionally in his head. Trying to forget the guilt he feels for not being with Rowena when she died. The ways he tried to get over this was to run away and join the army to get as far away from his family and home as he could. Another symbol that appears is Rowena’s rabbits. They symbolize the purity and innocence of Robert Ross. He is 19 years old and really hasn’t lived much of his life. He doesn’t know the evil in the world until he joins the army. He realises just how corrupt and self destroying man really is. Finally the last symbol I have found so far from what I have read is a coyote that Robert runs with in training camp. He runs for a very long time with a wild coyote. The coyote represents the relationship between man and beast. It can mean friendship, companionship, and loyalty towards Robert. The coyote willingly ran with Robert. In this section of the book where Robert runs with the coyote you get your third look of Roberts love for animals. The first being him saving the horses and the second trying to save the rabbits.These symbols all give you hints into the mind of Robert Ross and help you to understand him more clearly.