Community in Two Novels
Community is often thought of as a town, city, or even neighborhood,but community can refer to just about any group who has common beliefs,common values, or some sort of commonality. Families are smallcommunities, and so are schools, churches, and groups with like ideals orcauses. Both of these novels concern communities, and how many of thenovels' characters interact with communities, both small and large.Communities are made up of individuals, but unless the individuals conformto community standards, or feel comfortable with them, they will have anuneasy relationship with the community, and with themselves, just as thesetwo novels so graphically illustrate. Both main characters in these novels have uneasy relationships withtheir family, which translate into uneasy relationships within their smallcommunity, and thus translate to uneasy relationships with their largercommunity. In "The Wars," Robert's estrangement from his family beginswith the death of his sister Rowena, and his decision to join the army tofight in Europe, as this passage illustrates, "'You think Rowena belongedto you. Well I'm here to tell you, Robert no one belongs to anyone. We're
These communities alter Robert too, but he can never find a fit. Howcan you separate them from the years in which they lived' You can't. Part of successful assimilation in a community isfeeling comfortable and that you belong. Unfortunately, Robert never really discovers this, which is whyhe dies a bitter and unhappy man, whose only comfort is that he savedanimals from slaughter and death. Thus, just like Robert, there is somethingvital missing in his life, and as he searches for it, he discovers how heis at odds with the standards of the "normal" community surrounding him. These communities illustrate the different groups that exist all aroundeach and every one of us. Robert has never been able to reconcilehis identity or his relationship with his community, while Patrick has apromising life because he did reconcile his differences. Unfortunately, he finds the horrors of war are worse than the horrors athome, and while he rises in rank, he never really fits in the community ofwar either, for underneath his unemotional exterior is a man who cannotforget his sister, and the love he has lost. Robert has a stronger sense of identity, but still does not mold tohis parents' model of conformity, which is why his strongest bond is withRowena. fe and left at the mercy of strangers. Patrickalso suffered from alienation from his family, and it affects how he fitsinto the larger community, as well as his estrangement from his family. Unfortunately, Hazin Lewis neglected thisaspect of Patrick's life, and without a mother's influence, he neverreceived the fostering and support he needed to develop into a grown manwith his own sense of identity. As Patrick takeson the identity of some of the other characters - a thief like Caravaggio,a daredevil like Nicolas, or a political protester like Alice, he finds hisown identity, and begins to create his own relationship with his newfoundcommunity.
Common topics in this essay:
Unfortunately Robert,
Abashed Ontario,
Strangers Findley,
Lion Toronto,
,
Wars Robert's,
Hazin Lewis,
Ondaatje157 Patrick,
Temelcoff Cato-,
Clara Alice,
uneasy relationships,
fit community,
relationship community,
community unfortunately,
feeling self,
larger community,
estrangement family,
fits community,
happen feeling self,
familial community,
terrible horizon,
embodies happen feeling,
uneasy relationship community,
uneasy relationships communities,
translate uneasy relationships,
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Acceptance Essays
