Rowena Ross Character Analysis in The Wars

The eldest child of Mr. Ross and Mrs. Ross and the sister of Robert, Peggy, and Stuart Ross. She is handicapped by a disease called hydrocephalus and spends her life bound to a wheelchair. Robert has taken a special liking to Rowena since she was a young child and he was a baby. As they grow up, he takes on the self-appointed role of Rowena’s “guardian.” At age twenty-five, Rowena accidentally falls out of her wheelchair and dies while she is playing with her beloved pet rabbits in the family’s stable. Although Stuart was the one who was supposed to be watching her when she fell, Robert blames himself for Rowena’s death and enlists in the army in order to escape his guilt and grief. He carries a photo of Rowena in his kit bag during his time overseas and is reminded of her by Rodwell’s love of animals.

Rowena Ross Quotes in The Wars

The The Wars quotes below are all either spoken by Rowena Ross or refer to Rowena Ross. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

All these actors were obeying some kind of fate we call “revenge.” Because a girl had died—and her rabbits had survived her.

Related Characters: Rowena Ross, Robert Ross, Teddy Budge, Mr. Thomas Ross, Mrs. Ross

Page Number and Citation: 20

Explanation and Analysis:

After the tragic death of Robert Ross’s older sister Rowena, Mrs. Ross insists that Robert must kill Rowena’s pet rabbits. He refuses, so Mr. Ross hires his employee, Teddy Budge, to kill them instead. By defining this cast of characters as “actors” and characterizing the act of killing the rabbits as fated revenge, Findley implies that loss has the ability to create an all-consuming blame that causes people to senselessly seek out retribution. Rather than acting rationally, Mrs. Ross is consumed by grief and raw emotion. Killing the rabbits does not bring about any sense of justice, however, and only Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dig

But Mrs. Ross just stood at the windows of the private car and was afraid to go outdoors. Her mind was full of trolley cars and she knew that if she tried to cross the tracks, then she and everyone would be struck down. Instead, she waved from behind the glass and she watched her boy depart and her husband standing in his black fur coat—it seemed for hours—with his arm in the air and the snow falling down around him. “Come on back to the raf’, Huck, honey.” And this was what they called the wars.

Related Characters: Mrs. Ross (speaker), Mr. Thomas Ross, Robert Ross, Monty Miles Raymond, Rowena Ross

Page Number and Citation: 73

Explanation and Analysis:

Robert Ross’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ross, take a train to Montreal to see him before he ships off for war. On the morning of their arrival, Mrs. Ross drinks a third of a bottle of scotch and is too intoxicated to go out with Mr. Ross to meet their son. Having lost both her daughter (Rowena Ross) and her younger brother (Monty Miles Raymond) in accidents, Mrs. Ross is tortured by grief and has slipped into alcoholism and mental instability during the months Robert has been away. Monty was killed by a trolley car many years before, and the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas.

Robert sat on the mutilated mattress and opened his kit bag. Everything was there—including the picture of Rowena. Robert burned it in the middle of the floor. This was not an act of anger—but an act of charity.

Related Characters: Robert Ross, Rowena Ross

Related Symbols: The Four Elements

Page Number and Citation: 195

Explanation and Analysis:

At Asile Desolé, an insane asylum in Bailleul, France, soldiers are allowed to leave their belongings in abandoned cells while they bathe in the asylum’s bathhouse. As water serves as a symbol of significant life transitions throughout the novel, the fact that Robert is bathing (particularly in this dangerous place) foreshadows the violence that he will soon experience. After his bath, he comes back to his cell to retrieve his clothing, where he is ambushed and brutally raped by three of his fellow soldiers. This assault is incredibly traumatic for Robert, robbing him of his last shred of innocence and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero

Rowena Ross Character Timeline in The Wars

The timeline below shows where the character Rowena Ross appears in The Wars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...snapshots feature Robert, his parents Thomas and Mrs. Ross, and his siblings Peggy, Stuart, and Rowena. The Rosses were a wealthy family who upheld a charitable public image and excluded Rowena... (full context)

...He is unsure of which direction go in and feels that he is paralyzed because Rowena was buried the day before. (full context)

Rowena falls on a Sunday, when Stuart is supposed to be watching her. Robert, however, blames... (full context)

The novel flashes back to the days leading up to Robert’s departure. Rowena’s fall happens during her beloved pastime of holding the rabbits that the family keep in... (full context)

Mrs. Ross insists that the rabbits must be killed since they belonged to Rowena, and Robert objects vehemently. He begs his mother to give them away or let him... (full context)

At Rowena’s funeral the following Thursday, Tom and Mrs. Ross are stoic. Peggy’s boyfriend, Clinton Brown, is... (full context)

...the rabbits. Mrs. Ross continues to insist that Robert must kill them because he loved Rowena, and eventually becomes frustrated and goes off to drink in her bedroom. (full context)

After a period of silence, Mrs. Ross suddenly turns on Robert. She tells him that Rowena did not belong to him because “no one belongs to anyone.” Mrs. Ross accuses Robert... (full context)

...at his family cottage in Jackson’s Point and momentarily losing himself in a memory of Rowena. (full context)

...rabbits, and hedgehogs and keeps them under his bed. Seeing these animals reminds Robert of Rowena and her rabbits. (full context)

...confuses Robert, since he has not felt called to support someone in this way since Rowena died. (full context)

...Davenport following behind. On some days, Mrs. Ross gets drunk and Davenport wheels her in Rowena’s wheelchair to the park. She dreads falling asleep, and the bumping of the wheelchair keeps... (full context)

...deaths of 557,017 people thus far in the novel, including Monty Miles Raymond, Harris, and Rowena Ross. (full context)

...say goodbye and Poole leaves. Looking through his bag, Robert finds his only photograph of Rowena and burns it in the middle of the cell floor. (full context)

...and the last thing you see before putting on your coat is a photograph of Rowena on the back of the Ross family’s pony, Meg, with Robert holding her in place.... (full context)

Rowena Ross Character Analysis

Rowena Ross Quotes in The Wars

Part 1, Chapter 9 Quotes

Part 1, Chapter 29 Quotes

Part 5, Chapter 5 Quotes

Rowena Ross Character Timeline in The Wars