Everyone makes mistakes whether the mistake is intentional or unintentional there is a lesson to be learned from every mistake, similar to what Timothy Findley portrayed in the short story “War”. In this short story there is a boy named Neil who is a young 10 year old visiting a friend, Arthur Robertson over the summer in Muskoka Ontario. Throughout the story Neil shares his experiences of 1940 he has when Neil’s father registers to join the army to fight in World War II. Throughout the story Neil questions himself about what he had done wrong that is making his father leave. Findley examines three different conflicts within the story in which the protagonist must overcome to completely understand why his father is leaving. The first conflict Neil overcomes his thoughts is Neil himself verses his own self-conscious, The second conflict Neil faces is when Neil verses society lastly the final conflict Neil overcomes is Neil verses his parents all of these conflicts help Neil overcome his feelings for his father’s departure. Findley’s short story “War” is about a depressed young boy whose father is being deployed to fight in the war. Findley shows a hidden relation along the lines of how Neil’s character development is shaped by conflicts in the story. Timothy Findley shows young Neil go through a series of events that help him overcome his feelings for his father.
There are multiple ways that help Neil overcome the feelings that he has over his father joining the army. One of the first ways Neil try’s to talk to himself to make him feel more comfortable with the situation. When he first found out of his father one of the first thought he has were “Joined the army? Joined the army? Joined the ARMY! [Neil’s and Bud’s] dad?”(124) after finding multiple reasons why his father is leaving him and why he should stay he then finds himself inside a barn. Neil then decides he does not want to show himself and decided to hide while other are looking for him “Neil,...