Idealism And Truth In The Wars By Timothy Findley

Idealism and truth are related concepts with the similar functions, but can have different effects on a person’s life. Idealism is a what protects an individual’s state of mind, and gives power to endure a situation. However, when that state of mind is shattered so is a piece of a person. This leads to a series of detrimental choices that leads to the person’s downfall. Truth regardless the shape, form, or bluntness is what gives an individual a sense of reality. Truth does not protect a person from pain, but does give the capability overcome it. The clarity of truth is a way of staying tied to reality, which eventually leads to better choices made by the individual. In “The Wars”, Timothy Findley suggest that although idealism and truth …show more content…
In the middle of death and brutality saving injured animals is his own way of getting through the war. The fact that Rodwell “illustrates children’s books “shows his own innocence and simplicity. He believes in preservation of innocence as well as life. Being in war conflicts with Rowell’s beliefs but rather than understanding the nature of war and what effects it has on people and animals, he blindly gives into his innocent nature. His lack of understanding of the war is his ultimate downfall. His men “[had] forced him to watch the killing of a cat “, he could not watch an innocent creature being tortured and killed, this leads him to commit suicide. Rodwell does not seem to understand that his men have lost sanity, even thought “[it] was understandable “ , considering they were left in the trenches during a fire storm. Rather than understanding why his men are hurting animals, he intervenes. This shows his need to protect life is much stronger than his need to understand people’s actions. His presumption that his fellow soldiers shared the same ideals about conserving life are proven false. This causes him to lose faith and his ideals shatter about his own purpose in war, because he realizes that he failed his purpose and for the first time he realizes that the war takes more lives than he can possibly save. Moreover, that his efforts have no effect in the bigger picture. His carefully structured ideals start to crack in the end crushing him. Rodwell was so focused on the idea that war was meant to protect people that he could not handle the truth, which lead to his mental instability. This caused him to make the poor choice of taking his own