The Wars by Timothy Findley #2

I have to say, I did really enjoy this novel. Throughout high school we learned about the effects of war and what they can do to a person, but this book really takes you through the actual journey. Robert Ross started off as an innocent young boy who loved his sister and enjoyed life. He was inexperienced, and hadn't even had his first sexual experience with a girl. I think the part that moved me the most was that he was forced into manhood. He didn't seem like the type to be able to kill anyone, or even point a gun at another living creature. But somehow he managed to rise to the occasion every time a situation called for it. In the trenches when he sees the gas coming over towards them, he takes charge and a memory from his elementary school days gives him the insight to survive. He remembers that the ammonia in urine neutralizes the chemical in the toxic gas, and he's able to save most of the men who are simply scared to tears.
This novel also reminded me of the short story, also by Timothy Findley, Stones. The main character David Max is a loving father who cares for his family. He signs up for war and suddenly everything changes. He returns thin and frail, just a shell of the man he used to be. He drinks constantly and ends up abusing his son, Ben Max, and even his wife. The things that happened while at war had a terrible effect on David Max and it changed him completely. When he died, Ben Max was the only one of his children who attended his funeral. He took his fathers ashes to the stones on the shore of Dieppe and spread them. He returned his father, who was as hard as stone, to the company of the other stones.
Both the novel and the short story are a good example of how the things that happen while at war can be life changing. Robert Ross went from an innocent young boy to a war affected, disturbed man who was beyond recovery. David Max went from being a loving father to a cold, hard man who was nothing like the man he used to be. It just shows that war can take its toll on even the most gentle people and change them for the worst.