Реферат: The Struggles Of Life Essay Research Paper

life are not to the same degree comparable to Robert?s, but can be related to everyday life.

Robert struggles in World War One, experiencing brutality and death at its worst. Minna

struggles on the streets of Toronto. Both characters struggle for survival in life. Robert?s

experiences are quite extreme and the average person may not be able to relate to them. Even

though Minna?s experiences are common, they are nonetheless frightening. Minna?s

experiences with the homeless became more terrifying when she had to live on the streets. ?… a

life of inherited privilege mixed with deliberate squalor.? (Stones 11) She spent some nights

on the streets because she could not find work. She was subjected to the horror that people

believe it will never happen to them. ?Queen Street and, in fact, the whole of Parkdale offered a

world of unwanted people…? (Stones 51) Minna was a part of a war that is lasting longer than

World War One. Although the books are set in different time periods, both Minna and Robert

struggle to survive day to day. Their situations are different but the goals are the same; survival.

Robert?s physical accounts of trench warfare and Minna?s physical accounts with the homeless

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displays to the reader the fact that war exists in a physical state. The consequences of the war

with life allow the two characters to justify who they are, and help them to become mentally

stronger.

The psychological change in the character?s dispositions and their increasing awareness

of the importance of life is evident throughout the novels The Wars and Stones. Through

Robert?s experiences with the utter brutality of war, he experiences a psychological change in

character. After being saved a day earlier on the battlefield by one of his comrades, Robert

experiences difficulty trying to get to sleep. ?All he wanted was a dream. Escape. But nobody

dreams on a Battlefield. There isn?t any sleep that long. Dreams and distance are the same.?

(The Wars 102) At the young age of nineteen, dreams are common. The impact of the war has

begun to affect Robert, as he has difficulty even dreaming. Sleep and the night are very

important to soldiers. The ability to dream allows them to leave the horror of war on earth and

enter into a fantasy where they can forget. Robert?s inability to dream is based on the fact that

his mind is filled with the horrors of war which prevent him from entering this dreamworld.

Minna also experiences a psychological change in her perceptions of living. ?She, too, wanted