Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wars, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and War
Blame, Revenge, and Justice
Loss of Innocence
Honor, Duty, and Heroism
Summary
Analysis
The novel returns to the opening passage from the prologue. Having wandered alone for a week since the incident with Captain Leather, Robert sits watching the black mare and the black dog on the railroad tracks. He walks with them down the road and sets the twelve cattle cars full of horses free. At 1 a.m., a red moon rises as Robert rides on the black mare with the rest of the horses and the dog toward Magdalene Wood.
Although this passage is nearly identical to the prologue, it takes on new significance given that the reader now has insight into the events that led up to this scene. Freeing the horses from the train is another attempt to seek justice for the atrocities that Robert has witnessed. With no one left to be the target of his revenge, he is now motivated to save the lives of innocent creatures as a means of retribution.
Themes
