In The Wars, the further the story progresses, the more and more dark the imagery becomes. The Wars in its entirety is a novel which contains many symbols, these symbols provide detailed imagery, in depth meaning’s and themes, thus allowing many different interpretations from reader to reader to be generated. Firstly, through Timothy Findley’s use of Earth elements in The Wars, many different themes can be taken from the use of the symbols and from what context they are used in. Secondly, due to the war taking place in the novel, many different animals are under distress or not acting normally, and are therefore used as symbols illustrating a specific theme. To begin, the Earth element of fire is regularly used all through the novel. Regardless of when or where the symbol of fire is used, fire represents two themes, both the theme of death and the theme of agony. After Robert goes against his own military and decides to release the horses from the barn near the front lines, Robert then tries to hide inside another barn (with his dog, horse, and the other horses) to escape the convoy after him (The convoy lights the barn on fire to flush Robert out). Someone says: “But just as the walls began to fall in on top of the fifty horses-all of them …show more content…
Most might believe that water is a symbol life as all living things need water to survive, however, in The Wars, water is a symbol that illustrates a period of transition. Right after Robert’s sister Rowena died, Robert took a train back to his home he grew up in. Someone says: “Robert had stood so long, the snow had turned to rain” (18). Due to the death of Robert’s sister, Robert underwent a major change in his life as a person he loved very much was now gone and he had to move on and adjust. This quotation backs up the argument that through the use of water as a symbol, the theme of transition is