#timothyfindley

Minna, konichiwa, genki desu ka? I’m really happy that most of you guys agreed with my point about war in part 2 being described as absurd because in my opinion, after reading all of your responses, I still find that there’s no other way to describe war in part 2 than absurd. I will be answering two questions that were asked in response to my blog. One of the questions that really stood out to me was “Do you think that he will change because of [Robert not doing anything abnormal so far]?” In my opinion, yes, I do believe he will change because of this. One reason is that again going back to Maslow’s Hierarchy, the highest level on the hierarchy is self-actualization which includes morality, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts, it will relate to Robert changing. Personally, I think that Robert won’t be changing drastically until the war is over for either him (he dies) or for the world (he survives). If he survives the war, I think he will change himself to the point where he won’t recognize himself once he accepts the fact that he’s become a killer in war. Furthermore, I think that the change might be good for him because I feel like he’s losing his connection with animals slowly, so if he changes due to the war, I think he might be able to re-establish his connection with animals. Thanks for the question though, it helped me think about if there’s a possibility for Robert to change drastically in the next books.

Another question I’m going to answer is from @John_R and he wants to know: “Why you think Findley creates this imagery of madness on the battlefield and do you think this carries a deeper meaning?” In my opinion, I think Findley chooses to make the battlefield seem crazy because he wants us to understand how serious being on the battlefield is. Like, what I mean to say is that I think he wants to make the readers understand that being on the battlefield isn’t easy and you can sometime go insane from being on the battlefield. To be honest, I think this does carry a deeper meaning because I think it might foreshadow Robert going insane in the next few books. I think there’s a possibility that the fact that Rowena died will catch up with him which will result in him going insane since he can’t cope with her death properly.

So there you have it folks, these are the two questions. @John_R & @dragonnevin thank you guys for asking your questions, they helped me think about any possible foreshadowing and symbolism used in book 2. Next week, I’m going to be talking about book 3 and answering 2 questions, so if you want to hear my opinion, make sure you read my blog. Until then, stay amazing! Xx

Hey guys, last week one of you asked me “On page 87, Bonnycastle asks, “Are you saying we’re absurd?” How is the depiction of war in part two ‘absurd’?” Well to answer your question, in my opinion, the portrayal of war in part two is absurd because if you think about it, what was once considered to be usually abnormal, becomes normal and then what was once usually normal becomes either irrelevant or even abnormal. For example, being kind to another person on a regular day would usually seem normal and no questions would be asked. However, von Clausewitz disagrees by saying “In such dangerous things as war, the errors which proceed from a spirit of benevolence are the worst”. For those of you who don’t quite catch on to what the quote means, von Clausewitz is basically trying to say that when/if you’re in war, don’t make the mistake of being kind because it can ultimately lead to your downfall. 

If you were to use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to determine if Robert and his allies satisfy the basic physiological and safety needs, it’s quite evident that they do not satisfy the first two levels of the hierarchy. Looking at the depravity of the basic physiological needs that soldiers in war face, they are deprived of food, they are deprived of food, sleep, clean drinking water, and clean air to breathe. This is seen in part two when Robert and Levitt reach their dugout and start talking with their fellow soldiers about what they brought with them to the war, Robert starts taking out and listing that he has “’Eggs…two dozen. Condensed milk … four tins …’” (Findley 86) in his knapsack. To which Devlin becomes excited because he is in shock of how much food Robert brought with him, but Robert does not stop there, he goes on to list that he also has “’Canned peaches-four tins … canned salmon-two tins. Candles … forty-eight … Nestlé’s chocolate-six bars.’” (Findley 86). Furthermore, I believe this relates to how war in part 2 is absurd because it gives the readers an idea of how a small quantity of food can be seen as a very large quantity during a time like war where you might not eat food for at least a week’s time because you have no food that’s given to you and there’s always a possibility your food might get blown up along with the dugout at any time. 

Another reason why I feel that the description of war in part 2 is absurd because again, going back to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the safety needs are not being met. In order for the essential safety needs to be met, there needs to be a security of your body, health, resources, and shelter which they don’t have. For instance, when Robert and Levitt are walking back towards their dugout from No Man’s Land, they’re not sure if their dugout will still be there, but “Miraculously-their dugout was there” (Findley 84). This shows that they don’t have 100% security of their dugout which means that the needs for safety according to Maslow is not being met. Additionally, when Levitt asks Robert if they can walk a little faster on page 83, Robert says no because he knows that if you walk fast or seem like you’re in a hurry, you WILL get shot at. This scene represents how they don’t have security over their own body which means that they don’t satisfy the safety needs resulting in them not being able to move further up the scale. Again, I find this aspect of war in part 2 to be absurd because in a perfect world, you wouldn’t need to worry about the security of your body.

So there you have it, here’s my answer to one of your questions, come back next week to see my answer/opinion on book 3 of The Wars.