The Wars of Timothy FindleyIf you took a sensitive, caring person and placed them in the middle of a chaotic area, what do you think would happen? Would these people adapt to this realm and live like everyone else, or would they become a mental mess unable to cope with what is happening around them? That was the theme of Timothy Findley's novel The Wars, and that's exactly what happened. Findley took a sensitive and caring individual, Robert Ross, and sent him to war. Ross became unable to cope with all the events happening around him and eventually went mad. The life Robert Ross had lived before was nothing compared to the one he lived during the war. When Robert Ross was a child, he was the captain of everything, a popular and academic student. His friends and family loved him and he was the ideal of every boy in the community. You would think that Robert would have no problem dealing with the world he lives in, but that would be an inaccurate statement. The first sign of trouble was Rowena's death. Robert and Rowena were very close as brother and sister, losing each other was unbearable for Robert, which started a spiral to the end result, madness. Small things like killing Rowena rabbits couldn't be done, communication with others was difficult, Robert decided he had to run away. But for someone as sensitive as Robert Ross, war was not the place he should have gone. The chaos and destruction of the war, and everything he experienced, such as murder and rape, were unbearable for Robert and led him to the end result of madness and his death. In The Wars, Timothy Findley uses an unusual time sequence to present his story. It is told from the perspective of an author trying to piece together the life of Robert Ross. The very first scene shows Robert Ross riding the horses on the tracks around 1918. The story then picks up in 1915 but returns to the death of his sister. Throughout the story there is also an element of confusion as the people telling the story, and therefore the perspective too, are constantly changing. The time sequence in this novel varies as it tends to move from one person's opinion of Robert's situation to another. If this didn't happen, the novel would be far too depressing to read due to the constant vision of war..