Who Is Robert Ross Sympatheticly In The Novel

How Findlay uses different narratives to present Robert Ross sympathetically in the novel:

• Marion Turner- she could look down on him for his mutiny, however she describes him as a hero- his action was in fact was brave and he acted to according to him what was right- tried to assert life in the face of death. Pg 12/13

“I guess you saw them all as beautiful because you couldn’t see them as broken…” – theme of how delicate life is

End of novel- Marion describes the circumstances and when Robert Ross’ body has been brought to her bottom pg.193 She wanted to help him die- she thinks the wounds are so bad so much pain the best thing she could offer him death.

“No not yet”- essence of life- choosing life no matter how bad it seems to be- sums up Robert Ross
Language bottom 192- she focuses on the word Magdalene- Robert chooses the sacred path- use of Magdalene to represent Robert Ross’ character

• Julia- second interview- a sense of her voice as song, evening church service song, English rain (gentle rain) images of the sacred- using atmosphere and setting to heighten and dramatize the situation of Robert Ross as sacred

• Barbara- freesia- widows, mothers, those left behind, the mourning women, tragedies of war

• Pg 24.
Robert looks for a model someone who could teach him as an example to kill- Tafler

• Robert’s hero before the war was Tom Longboat- won the Boston Marathon, Professional World Champion Marathon Runner (Canadian!)- Why narrator chooses Tom Longboat as a hero- shows the war from a Canadian point of view, with all the Canadian battles, Robert Ross, Canadian hero Tom Longboat- Longboat represents someone who uses his body/trains his body- pushes himself to get the most out of his body- presents the human body and what it can accomplish/potential-the body put to use for good- Robert chooses to run because Rowena cannot- through her inability to run he exerts life/hope by running for Rowena.

• - Robert after the fire- Barbara pays Robert one last visit- dies not quite 26 years old

• Photographs at the end of the novel- One with Robert Ross and Julia one year before his death Julia looking up at Robert saying something, he is holding her hand and smiling- Parallel to Robert and Rowena- even though Robert appears broken he can still be loved, love/life over
death/shame

• Last photograph = Rowena and Robert with meg (the pony)- on the back is written- look you can see our breath – both photographs we see love and aspiration

Findlay wants us to think about war and are there any other possibilities

Robert Ross in effect becomes Tafler at one point in the novel- When he shoots the German soldier- kill or be killed- Findlay dramatically depicts what war was like

Just as the coyote wanted to share the water, the German soldier wanted to share life

Edgar Allan’s Poe: The Cask of Amontillado, all the events come together to create a certain mood, effect, ect. Unity

Timothy Findlay’s unity of effect/theme = pro life and anti war

First question- answer in a paragraph 5 out of 8 (ex parallel scenes in the war) write about this theme, this character, this aspect, etc. (50%)

Essay on the wars- two or three options- unity of effect (50%)

Look at anthology- part about short stories