My Final Thoughts

         At first I thought that this book was gonna be about World War 1. As I finished reading it I realised it wasn’t just about the war in Europe in the early 1900's, but it was more about the wars that the main character was fighting in his own head. I found that it had a slow start and took a while to get into. But almost every page you turned it got slightly more interesting and by the end of the book I could not put it down. I really liked it and connected it to my life in some ways. I really care about animals and find a sense of happiness through them just like Robert Ross had done so many times in the novel. My dog was put down the other day and it was a really sad time in my life for me. I had him for 13 years of my life and considered him a best friend. It really upset me to see him go. I was his guardian I took care of him and fed him everyday. This is sort fo what Robert had with his sister Rowena. Connecting my life to the book really helped me to take it in better and thoroughly enjoy it on a whole different level. I do not read much but I think Timothy Findley’s work has inspired me to begin to broaden my horizons and enjoy literature more. All the time and effort I have put into this book really makes it one of my favourite books I have ever read. Timothy Findley really described everything perfectly. With my good sense of imagination I could imagine myself in the novel as if I was Robert Ross. There was definitely some graphic parts that caught my attention and I had to keep reading. But on the other hand there was some parts that I wish would just end. To be completely honest I thought the novel would be completely different. I thought there would be a lot more fighting and a lot less homosexual intercourse. But throughout the course of the novel you only see one of the Axis soldiers die. It was a lot more of the battles that Robert Ross had to face mentally and overcome. But in the end it was to much for his mind and it imploded on himself. Robert was completely corrupted by the atrocities of war. I think it would be very difficult for anyone to overcome what he had to face and it would have ended the same way. My predictions were way off I believed that Robert would become a veteran and a hero of war. But in fact the exact opposite happened he became insane he went AWOL and killed members of his own army. The main themes I found were innocence and corruption to the mind during the awfulness of war. How the madness of battle can truly drive a person mad. All in all I really enjoyed my Novel thank you for suggesting it to me Ms. Breivik

What put Robert over the edge

        It was a mix of everything I believe that finally sent Robert over the edge. His mind was doomed to be corrupted from joining the army. He was never going to be the same again. The first thing that started his insanity was the death of his beloved sister Rowena, he was her guardian and he loved her so much when she died he wanted to escape his feelings for her by joining the army. This was probably not the best idea because someone who is already really upset should not be going to see horrific images and atrocities of war. The second happening that wasn’t good for Roberts mind was when he had to kill the horse, being the animal lover that Robert is it was very hard for him. When the horse did not die on the first shot he realised it was in pain and this really bothered Robert a lot. The next thing that probably rattled Robert was all the mortar shelling that kept hitting all around him. Thinking at any moment he could die. Especially when his trench collapsed on top of him. The next clue to his madness would be the gas attack he nearly escaped and the German soldier he killed who wanted to let them go free. On top of all this Robert gets raped by four other soldiers. Getting raped alone is enough to corrupt your mind but along with all of this other stuff going on around him in his visit to Europe any person would not be ok. Finally the last thing that was detrimental to him that sent him overboard was an artillery strike that was hitting near the stable where all the horses were. He wanted to go save them but Captain leather disapproved. Robert went against Leathers orders and set free all of the animals Robert went AWOL which means he disobeyed orders and could be court marshalled for this act. The theme in my eyes that was the biggest in this novel was the effects of war on a human being and the way they can change and distort someone’s views. Make them insane and drive them mad. Seeing something as terrible as people dying and the fear of death around every corner can really mess someone up. I believe that this is why Robert had no problems killing two of his own nations army.

"He never saw their faces"

     

Robert burned the picture of his beloved sister

               Rape is never a joke or funny. It is one of the most horrible things that could happen to someone. The feeling of losing all control and be taken advantage of and never feeling pure or innocent again. This is how Robert Ross felt part 4 chapter 5. He was raped by 4 men that belonged to the Canadian forces. " He wanted a clean shirt. He wanted a pair of clean underwear. He wanted his pistol." This quote is right after Robert is raped he is just coming back to his senses and realises what has happened. He feels dirty and unsafe this is why he wants clean clothes and his pistol to protect himself. "Robert sat on the mutilated mattress and opened his kit bag. Everything was there- including the picture of Rowena. Robert burned it in the middle of the floor. This was not an act of anger- but an act of Charity." Robert finds the picture of his deceased sister Rowena and he burns it. He feels as long as he has this picture she is always with him. After he had been raped he didn’t want her with him anymore. She symbolised all the innocence in Roberts life and he burned it out of charity to her. This must have been hard on Robert because this is the last item Robert had to remember his beloved sister. The raping of Robert just adds on to the factor that war has on the human mind. The four men that raped Robert most likely all had problems in their own minds from the terrible memories they had witnessed. Which led them to rape one of their officers. On the other end of the spectrum after being raped Robert fell into a state of insanity. Which highlights the corruption war has on a person.

Summary Part 5

Robert leaves Barbara d'Orsey's home and heads back to battle on a small train. Shortly after reaching the bath house, he is brutally raped by an unknown number of his fellow soldiers. When he returns to his room, he finally receives his lost pack, and burns his picture of Rowena as an act of charity, reasoning that it would be horrible for something so innocent to exist in such a messed up world.
Robert then moves back out to the front. The Germans begin firing shells that set everything ablaze. Robert goes to speak to Captain Leather to request that the horses be let out of the barn because if the barn is hit they will all die. Captain Leather refuses Robert's request. Once back at the barn Robert asks his friend Devlin if he would help him release the horses. Devlin contemplates whether or not he should let all the horses die or face the wrath of Captain Leather. Devlin decides to help Robert and runs out to open the gate for the horses. At that moment Captain Leather gets up from hiding beneath a table and looks out the window to see Devlin disobeying his orders. He runs out screaming at him to stop, and calls treason and traitor. Leather pulls out his gun and fires at Devlin killing him. Then he sees Robert and takes aim at him and starts firing but misses because Robert hides between the horses as they are running out. At that moment three shells land and set the barn ablaze, the building where the Captain was and other soldiers were still in, and the field where all the horses had run to ablaze. And soon everything is burning around Robert, even the horses are slowly burning alive. Robert sees Captain Leather struggling to get him, walks over and shoots him in between the eyes.
Robert runs away as he knows he will be court-martialed for disobeying orders. He finds a black horse and a black dog beside it, as he is about to ride the horse down the track he realizes there are horses in the abandoned train and frees a hundred and thirty horses and flees the area. As Robert is riding with all the horses a soldier stops him and asks him to return the horses, Robert pulls out his Webley and shoots him dead. He is a fugitive for some time before finally being caught in a barn with the horses. The soldiers surrounding Robert set the barn on fire in order to force him out. But because it had not rained for days the roof of the barn was extremely dry and lit up in seconds. Before Robert could open the barn doors the roof collapsed on him and the horses, setting them all on fire. Robert is saved but badly burned, and all the horses and the dog are killed. Robert turns down an offer of euthanasia from a nurse before returning home to Canada. He never recovers from his burns but lives for another six years before passing away in 1922.

Summary part 4

Robert receives an invitation to Barbara d'Orsey's home. The majority of this section is told through transcripts via Juliet d'Orsey. Juliet relays through diary entries when she is with them. What she does not tell Robert is that Taffler had both his arms cut off in the war and is just laying on a bed in a room. When Robert sees this he is devastated.
Juliet also tells of Eugene Taffler's attempted suicide. One day she decides to pick some flowers and bring them to Taffler. As she walks in she is faced with a man head first into the floor and bloody streaks all over the walls. Taffler had rubbed his raw stumps where his arms had been against the walls so he could bleed to death. But since Juliet walks in on him she screams and people come and end up saving Taffler.
Juliet has told Robert that the room he had been given had a ghost (Lady Sorrel) who came to it every night to light the candles. And one night Juliet sees Barbara sneak into Robert's room without even knocking. So she thinks it would be a neat prank to dress up as Lady Sorrel carrying a candle and walk into Robert's room to light the candles and leave. As Juliet puts on her costume and walks up to the door she opens a crack and accidentally sees Barbara and Robert Ross make love prior to leaving, which she at first thinks is Robert hurting Barbara. By the end of the chapter, Juliet gives Robert a candle and a box of matches.

PUT YOUR MASKS ON!!!

World War 1 issued gas mask

        The quote, "Put your masks on!" (Findley 123), is shortly after the start of part 3. Robert along with seven men are setting up a mortar turret in a big crater. Half way through setting up this turret all the men get a sense of uneasiness when a bird flies over chirping away. Seconds later they see an ominous noxious green cloud floating there way down into the crater. This is when Robert takes charge and yells for his men to put there masks on. But none of the men have been issued gas masks. "Robert didn’t even think. He just yelled: ‘Jump!’ and leapt into the air. Looking back at the gas and seeing nothing else was to be done."(Findley 124). The men all jumped to the bottom of the crater where there had been many dead corpses rotting. Their death was imminent as the green, pool reeking hands of death sank closer and closer to them. Robert quickly remembered learning in school that urine turns chlorine into crystals. " Piss on them!!!"( Findley 125),Robert yelled to his men. He made them urinate on their shirts and hold it over their mouths as they breathed in the gas it neutralized the toxins. Two men did not survive one inhaled the gas and one died from the shock of braking his legs falling down the crater. This was one of my favourite parts in the novel. Robert really took charge of his men and acted not so innocent and childish for once, he took the lead and saved his men. This is another example of how awful war can really be. Chlorine gas when inhaled burns your insides and your body creates so much saliva and mucus to counteract the burns you basically suffocate yourself in a very painful way. Biological warfare is one of the most scary things to witness and be a part of. This is another reason that war can really make a man go crazy through it’s terrifying soulless acts of death.

Axis soldier shooting chlorine bombs out of a mortar gun

Summary Part 3

Robert is now experiencing trench warfare at its worst. Following a shelling of the dugout, his fellow soldier Levitt loses his mind, and Robert finds himself close to the brink. Ordered to place guns in a location sure to be a deathtrap, Robert and his men find themselves on the wrong end of a gas attack in the middle of a freezing cold winter. Robert is instructed to place the guns in a crater that is formed by the shelling attacks because these provide the best strategical advantage. As he approaches the crater Robert tells the rest of the men to stay back while he tests it to see if it is safe. He begins climbing across the slide of the crater when he slips down but smashes his knees on a rifle sticking out of the wall of the crater. The rifle has at least stopped his fall but has injured Robert's knees pretty badly. As the rest of the men start climbing down and landing on the rifle to set up the guns there is a gas attack. The bottom of the crater is full of freezing water and many begin jumping into it. Robert takes control with his pistol and instructs the men what to do. He saves the men by telling them to urinate on clothes and hold them over their faces. One man is scared to urinate and Robert must do it for him. After pretending to be dead for hours, Robert finds that they are being watched by an enemy German soldier. Rather than shooting the soldiers, the German allows all of Robert's men to leave the area. Just as Robert is leaving, however, the German makes a quick motion, and Robert turns around and shoots the German. Robert thinks that the German was reaching for his rifle when he was actually reaching for a pair of binoculars to look at the bird flying overhead, and is even more horrified to see that the German has a sniper rifle right beside him, meaning he could have killed Robert and the rest of the soldiers if he had wanted to. Robert hears a bird chirping above him and is then haunted by the sound of the bird from then on.

Chaos in their wings…

While reading this novel I have noticed every time that a bird is seen or heard there is danger just beyond its flapping wings. “ They were both trying to joke. But they couldn’t. There must be something terribly wrong and they knew it but neither one knew how to put it into words. The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them. There was an awful sense of void - as if the world had emptied.” (Findley page 76) The birds are symbolising the danger and terrors that are to come. Fleeing from the danger and atrocities of war. Seconds later Robert falls into the big mud pit where he almost loses his life. Then once again later on in the novel “The silence could only mean one thing. The Germans were going to attack. All at once- a bird sang over their heads. Someone swore;  as if the bird had given them away.” (Findley page 122). Robert and his men are planting a mortar gun in a giant crater created by another mortar shell. This crater is twenty feet or less away from the Germans front lines. Seconds after this bird flies above, Toxic chlorine gas is hauntingly approaching the crater that the men are in. It does not say anywhere in the text that the birds are a sign of danger to come, but basically every time any kind of danger that occurs your more then likely to find a bird near by in the reading.

Dear Jesus- he was going to drown

While Robert is leading his men forward through the muddy war grounds he hears noises. As he walks forward leaving his men behind he is engulfed in mud up to his waist.  Trying to twist himself out of the mud he only sank further. Robert is so scared that his hearts pumping and the thought of death in his mind. This is the first time in the novel where Robert feels as if he is going to die.  But after a few more minutes he manages to pull himself free of the muddy hole of doom and save himself. The classic near death experience happens to a lot of people and they are almost never the same after going through the trauma of seeing your life flash before your eyes. I can relate to this I have almost died once in my lifetime which involved me almost drowning in lake Ontario after I flipped my jet ski.This novel is all about Robert trying to save himself from the very start. He tries to save himself from the pain and heartbreak of his little sister by joining with the Canadian Forces only to realise that war is no place for someone who is already slightly mentally unstable. All of the atrocities in war that you can physically smell, touch, taste, hear and see can start to drive a person to insanity. War is no place to forget your problems it will most likely remind you of them and make things a whole lot worse in the long run with all the horrible sightings you may have to endure, which Robert does indeed.

“Something Insidious remarked in Roberts mind”

                  This quote deals with the situation Robert is in while sailing to Europe. After a terrible storm one of the horses on board broke its leg. Robert being the ships stable master had the honour of putting the horse down. After all a horse with a broken leg is useless. Robert being the animal lover he is thinks it is insanity to shoot a horse with a colt pistol. But it must be done. Robert at first thinks he cannot do it he is so afraid. But with an officer watching him he must do it to prove himself as a soldier. He puts the colt behind the horses ear he braces himself but he cant watch because the horse is looking him right in the eyes. Robert pulls the trigger blood manages to get all over him but the horse was not dead it thrashed around as if the devil was trying to take its soul. Robert kept pulling the trigger but the horse would not die “ Jesus; for christ sakes - die “ I need more light ,’ he was shaking; his voice full of anger.” ( Findley page 65)  After Robert pumps the entire clip into the horse he drops to his knees. Imagining this its like a horror movie, the title of this blog and the quote in the novel reminded me of the recent horror movie Insidious that just came out. Robert is so innocent he just experienced his second traumatic experience, brutally slaughtering a horse. The first being the death of his beloved sister. This is hard to do for any person with a heart but for Robert the innocent little animal lover this is insane. After this detrimental experience Robert has had a mental breakdown in which he will never recover from. The Innocence Robert once had is gone. For the first time he has taken the life of a living breathing creature. This really is a huge addition to the theme of innocence and the theme of war corrupting the mind.

Mrs. Ross downfall

          The day after Robert sets sail to go fight in what’s left of the horrific mud wastelands of  western Europe. The rest of the country is paying visits to the church to go root on there boys and pray for them. To put the power of God on the Canadian side. While the rest of the country is all proud of there young men Mrs. Ross feels very differently on the matter. There isn’t any hope left in her mind. She is still very depressed about  her first child’s death. Now that Robert is taking off to Europe to fight Nazi’s, she believes he is as good as dead. “ shaking one another’s hands as if to congratulate themselves that all their sons had gone away to die” (Findley, page 53) This shows how pathetic she thinks everyone is being, getting excited and proud of their country for fighting a pointless war. One of the biggest themes forming within the novel as I read is innocence. Through animals and Robert but the innocence here is all the young men going off to fight in a battle that they did not engage or even need to be a part of. Canada was still just a starting out country during world war 1 and we were just becoming established as our own. In a way World War 1 took away Canada’s innocence which many believe is a good thing but Mrs. Ross believes this war is idiotic. “ What does it mean- to kill your children? Kill them and then … go in there and sing about it!” (Findley page 54) This is a foreshadowing moment to me. She is so set on Roberts death that I can almost guarantee that he dies by the end of the novel. I will be very surprised if it turns out ok for especially since so many people were slaughtered in the early wars. Another theme coming up in the novel is how war can destroy you mentally. Mrs Ross has had a traumatic experience with her Daughter dieing before her which no parent ever wants. Now that Robert has left for war she has become a little strange in the head. This is most likely why she is saying the things she is about all the people in the church.