The Bad Show or The Truth Show?

What many people probably think of truth ;)

The Bad Show or The Truth Show?

After recently listening to a Pod cast called "The Bad Show", from Radiolab, I'm really wondering why it is even called the Bad Show.
Before I took the time to listen to it I read the description because it took me by surprise as beside the description was a picture of a devil figure, something that many consider to be "evil" and scary. Beside the picture this is what it said:

"Cruelty, violence, badness... This episode of Radiolab, we wrestle with the dark side of human nature, and ask whether it's something we can ever really understand, or fully escape"

I took some notes during the Pod cast and I found some really interesting facts that I completely believe are true. That's why I think this pod cast shouldn't have been called 'The Bad Show' but instead the truth show.

Some of the first issues discussed in the pod cast are:

·        Does everyone have something bad in them? Why do people do bad things? How do you tell Bad people from anyone else?

      A story is told in attempt to reflect these questions, but ultimately the answers are YES, everyone has something bad in them. YES, people do bad things for no reason. And, it is impossible to tell a bad person from a good person. 

       

       What I've learned from all of this I can relate back to what I originally said I would blog about, which is that we are all at war and that we are fighting the wars that we encounter in our lives. When we have the free will to be evil, or to be good, we are fighting our morals and therefore we are in a war with ourselves. Although Robert stays positive throughout the entire novel, is he still at war and fighting himself?

There's that over used saying, "You can't handle the truth!"
But I think its truth that we all need to just understand.
If we seek truth, we can understand reality.

We're Nothing But Mammals

We're Nothing But Mammals.
Animals. 
This is a theme that keeps coming up in my mind as I'm reading The Wars.

Well, doesn't he look cute and cuddly?
Welcome to reality.
And the wars in life.
Animals are not cute and cuddly, they are made to kill.

I feel like the character Robert parallels with animals.
When I started to notice this it was through the coyote. Robert is one with this coyote.
The rabbits also play a role in the novel as they are representative of Rowena. They are soft and gentle and need to be cared for.
Then there is the horse, Roberts Companion.

The characters in The Wars show us that yes, we humans are nothing but animals. Yes, we think more, but ultimately we need similar things.

I believe that this is a very significant theme and that it will develop as the novel goes on.

We are all at war aren't we?

We are all at war aren't we?
Thats the name of this first blog post but it really is something that has been keeping me feeling purplexed these last few days.

As I am reading "The Wars" by Timothy Findley, I think im just going to try to understand life and its perplexities (if that is even a word) through the wars that are seen in this book ironically called "the Wars".

Wars = more than one war
Isnt that funny?

From my knowledge of this book it is supposed to be about the tracking of Robert Ross who is fighting in world war one.

Considering by this point in time there were no other grand wars,
1) maybe the author is foreshadowing that there will be more wars and that this "war to end all wars" that he is exploring wont actually end all of the wars
OR
2) Its about the metaphorical "wars" in Robert Ross' life.

For the sake of this blog lets go with # 2.

The novel opens with this quote:
"In such dangerous things as war the erros which proceed from a spitiy of benevolence are the worst." - von Clausewitz

Lets try to understand this. So what does benevolence mean?
Well this nifty Website- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/benevolence
Told me this-
benevolence [bɪˈnɛvələns]

n

1. inclination or tendency to help or do good to others; charity

2. an act of kindness

3. (Historical Terms) (in the Middle Ages) a forced loan or contribution exacted by English kings from their nobility and subjects

For this context I think 1 & 2 are the most appropriate.

"Jesus
 She Fell
 It was Sunday.
 Robert wasn't there."

When Rowena fell toher Death Stuart should have been watching her, but somehow she managed to fall. and died. Died. Rowena Died.

From where I have read so far in this novel I feel like Robert Ross may be the this character refelected in the opening quote who has a spirit of benevolence.

He loved his sister, and he cared for her, but that one time he wasnt there, and he left her to someone else, she died. So was this his fault? As a reader I fell like Robert is feeling ugilty for her death. he keeps replayig moments where he spoke to her, or where he made her a promise.

when she was gone he played with the Rabits because they represent her. they are similar to her, gentle, and in need of someone to help them with their life.

Will Robert Continue to reflect this character for the rest of the novel? We will see.