Adversity has the ability to leave an indelible impression on people’s minds, shaping our character and behavior for the rest of our life. Adversity triggers a powerful negative emotional response in people, causing them to get enraged, ashamed, humiliated, dejected, and discouraged (Bachem et al., 2019). People are forced to deal with adversity in the best way they know how when they are confronted with it. People can reach a point where they can no longer cope with the effects of misfortune. People must choose either to allow themselves to be shattered or to rise above their challenges and allow their genuine spirit to return to them at this juncture (Bachem et al., 2019). In Timothy Findley’s “Wars,” humans are essentially innocent in the face of hardship, but upheavals in their life can cause them to lose their innocence, leaving them with a great desire for redemption.
The death of Rowena is the first test Robert is put to. Because he has nothing left at home, he is forced to go to war. Roberts’ mentality and personality began to alter to meet the new conditions as difficulty became a part of his everyday existence, such as artillery, trenches, and the loss of his fellow soldiers. He has evolved as a result of the relentless trials of combat, becoming more seasoned and aware of his surroundings as well as his newly gained talents. The war’s sufferings had a significant impact on his personality. Robert begins to deteriorate from a calm and attentive soldier into a nasty and ruthless individual. “… He had become a really bad-tempered guy… He was shooting at a young tree in the forest when I noticed him… He obliterated it utterly” (Findley, 1977, p.174). This became the most obvious indicator how the personality of Robert due to the adversities he has been put through.
References
Bachem, R., Stein, J. Y., Levin, Y., & Solomon, Z. (2019). What doesn’t kill you makes you feel older: Lifespan adversity and its association with subjective age among former prisoners of war. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 158.
Findley, T. (1977). The Wars. Clarke Irwin