Wars are won and lost, and the true victors are only those who walk away unscathed. At the time of World War One, there were many more battles being fought than just the Great War itself. This is the suggestion that Timothy Findley was attempting to make by naming his book The Wars rather than the war. At first glance, the book seems to be a mere description of Robert Ross and his experiences leading up to and during the war. However, the book is really more of a description of the personal struggles fought within those who surrounded Ross and those within Ross himself. One of the key wars that Ross fights throughout the book is his sensitivity versus his responsibilities as a soldier, and like most of the wars in the book, it is internal. During the entire book Ross is faced with decisions that he would rather not have to make. Ross allows some of these decisions to be jurisdicted by his sensitivity, and other by his responsibility. Another struggle that is fought in The Wars is the one involving Mrs. Ross and her inability to allow Robert to become a man. Before Ross enlisted into the army, Mrs. Ross reveals to Robert that she is adamant about her son not joining in the barbarity of the war, when he finally does, any mention of Mrs. Ross hereafter finds her to be an alcoholic wreck. The final, and most important struggle displayed in The Wars is the war that Ross constantly fights with failure. The book is filled with little goals that Ross sets for him-self to achieve, but rarely does he ever accomplish them. The actual war itself is quite foreshadowed by the internal wars fought within Ross and those who surround him. .
One of the more apparent battles fought within The Wars is the one that Robert Ross has between his sensitivity and his responsibility. All throughout the book we see Robert put into situations where he is forced to do something that his enormous sensitivity would not normally allow him to do.
