When Timothy Findley wrote The Wars, he wrote it with a purpose. He wanted to tell his readers that society changes for the worst during times of crisis. “I don’t think we’ll ever be forgiven, all I hope is they will remember we were humans.” With this novel, Timothy Findley proved that war turns humans into monsters. In this novel animals served as the contrast to humans. Humans represented all the evil in the world. They represented violence, brutality and murder. In the beginning of the novel there is a line that says “The passions involved (in bringing about the war) were as ordinary as me and my sister fighting over who would cook dinner!” This line suggests that a love of drama is an integral part of the human spirit. War is the ultimate drama, and thus human’s are drawn to it. The animals represented all that is good and pure. They represented innocence. This first becomes evident when the reader meets Rowena’s white rabbits. It is often argued that people kill other people, similar to how other animals kill other animals. But in reality, it is not at all similar. Animals are hunters and human’s are murderers. A hunter kills when it has to survive, but is generous when it is not a hunter. A murderer kills because it satisfy’s their thirst for drama. This is evident when Robert is running with the coyote. The coyote runs past all of its prey because it, at that moment, has no need to kill them. There are many examples that human’s kill because of their need for drama throughout the novel, such as when the soldiers torture the cat for no reason but their own enjoyment. In conclusion, Timothy Findley uses animals to serve as the ultimate contrast to savagely violent part of human nature that becomes prominent during times of crisis.