The Struggles Of Life Essay Research Paper

The Struggles Of Life Essay, Research Paper

The Struggles in Life

Everyone is faced with struggles in life, whether physical or emotional. These struggles

inevitably shape an individual.s personality and outlook on life. Timothy Findley.s novels, The

Wars and Stones, suggest that the consequences of struggles in life result in a journey of self-

discovery. War exists in the character.s physical and psychological accounts of the horror of

life. In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross actually goes to war and fights in World War I . In the

novel Stones, Minna Joyce encounters a war in her life as a child, trying to survive on the streets.

These physical encounters with war lead to a psychological change in the characters and their

perception of living. Robert and Minna.s experiences make them want to escape and help

others overcome the terrible war, in their own lives. Furthermore, experiencing these struggles

leads to the character.s ultimate realization and self-discovery of life and of themselves. The

horrors of war which Robert endures are instrumental in his psychological change. Minna.s

experiences in life, in death and her internal struggles, lead her on a journey of self-discovery.

In the novel The Wars, Robert Ross is a sensitive nineteen year old boy who experiences

first-hand the horrors of battle as a Canadian Soldier in the First World War. Being named a

Lieutenant shortly after arriving in Europe, Robert is thrust into combat. While advancing to the

front with his troops Robert witnesses his first images of the brutality of war:

He was taking his troops to the front and they

were walking along a road that had been shelled

and there was a soldier lying dead by the road

whose head had been smashed. It was an awful

shock. The first dead man he.d seen. (The Wars 99)

Robert has not yet experienced anything that could prepare him for the conditions he faces. In

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this instance, Robert experiences brutality for the first time, in the form of a dead body which

has been gruesomely wounded. The shock of seeing a dead body can be very disturbing to any

individual, and not even an experienced veteran could be prepared for the horrific sight Robert

endures here. Minna Joyce, a writer in the novel Stones, also experiences and reacts to the

horrors of life. Minna.s war is not like the World War in which Robert participates, but is a

struggle with everyday life in the large city of Toronto. Minna witnesses horrific sights on

Queen Street:

… with all its resident rubbies and gentle crazies,

dressed in all weathers in their summer coats ….

….. and their eyes as crafty and innocent all

at once as the eyes of bears…. (Stones 11)

Minna Joyce experiences the harsh reality of individuals who have nothing, and are forced to

live on the streets of downtown Toronto. Minna was brought up in an area of the city inhabited

by many homeless people, or.artists.as she calls them, a little less horrifying. The thought of

having to watch the people suffer is horrifying to her. The war of life is apparent in the

challenges that both Minna and Robert are faced with in their lives. One of the most notable

events which Robert faces is trench warfare during the First World War. After being sent away

with a small battalion to begin the digging of another trench, Robert comes back to the front to

find the trench destroyed and his comrades dead.

When they made their way back through the trench

there was nothing left alive. They had all been

gassed or had frozen to death. Those who lay in

water were profiled in ice. Everything was green:

their faces . and their fingers . and their buttons and

the snow. (The Wars 146)

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In this situation, Robert witnesses many of the horrific ways in which soldiers were killed during

the First World War. Snow and the bitterly cold weather attributed to many Canadian soldiers.

deaths during World War One, and nearly one thousand men died from frost bite alone. The

sight of his friends frozen dead in the water is terrifying, and to look down and see another

soldier in the ice with his entire body green is a gruesome image. One of the most popular and

deadly tactics used by the Germans during World War One was chlorine gas, which Robert was

lucky to survive. He is subjected to the poison when it was sent up into the atmosphere which

produced huge masses of chlorine gas clouds. These clouds made their way across .no man.s

land., to the trenches, killing all in sight including Robert.s comrades. Minna.s experiences in

life are not to the same degree comparable to Robert.s, but can be related to everyday life.

Robert struggles in World War One, experiencing brutality and death at its worst. Minna

struggles on the streets of Toronto. Both characters struggle for survival in life. Robert.s

experiences are quite extreme and the average person may not be able to relate to them. Even

though Minna.s experiences are common, they are nonet

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