“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.