Religion in Relation to the Wars
Literature Analysis Seminar
Julian Cambruzzi / Michael Graham / Nicholas Meyer / Michael Rizzuto
In times of war individuals strive to believe in something, most use religion to
explain their purpose but more often than not religion is obliterated by the chaos
that is amassed by war.
Mrs. Ross in Comparison to Juliet
Mrs. Ross
-
“Pews would be crowded with soldiers... It meant the tone of the sermon would be militant and
more than likely blood-thirsty” (Findley 47).
“’I was afraid I was going to scream,’ she said... “I do not understand. I don’t. I won’t. I can’t...
What does it mean – to kill your children? Kill them and then ... go in there and sing about it!
What does that mean?’ (Findley 49).
The war occurring across the Atlantic Ocean has directly corrupted Mrs. Ross’ perception of her faith. At
first, Mrs. Ross was absolutely supportive of the war effort but with Robert now fighting for his country
this has involved her personally. The war has slandered her faith; she cannot listen to sermons and
songs that praise Death and all his friends any longer.
Juliet
-
“For a moment she looks from the window and listens, seeming to draw restraint from the Mass
in progress... Hear thou my prayer – unto thee shall all flesh come ... ‘It’s comforting, isn’t it,’
she says. But you wonder” (Findley 98).
Juliet is not directly involved in the war. She lived through the war at St. Aubyn’s, the hospital and
rehabilitation centre for those injured at war. Juliet saw the pain, but she did not see where it came
from. Juliet was not exposed to the corruption of war, all she saw were solutions. With this in mind
Juliet could have faith and she is now able to find strength in what she believes.
Symbols of Religion
Stained Glass Door and Devlin’s Collection – Stained glass is prevalent in churches and usually depicts
saints or religious figures.
-
“’I’m devoted to fragility. Glass has a certain fineness and brittleness that a man with my bones
appreciates’” (Findley 85).
They are all symbols of religion and they have no place in combat. Devlin attempts to bring a sort of
civility to war within their dugout, a certain civility that religion brings along with it.
Religion in Relation to the Wars
Literature Analysis Seminar
Julian Cambruzzi / Michael Graham / Nicholas Meyer / Michael Rizzuto
Funeral – In spite of the lack of religion at war, the characters seem to keep the idea of a funeral service
sacred.
-
“This is not a military funeral. This is just a burial at sea... She said it was like a ceremony”
(Findley 105).
“Mister Ross was the only member of his family who came to see him buried” (Findley 196).
It is ironic how so many hundreds of thousands of men were killed at battle but a few funerals occurred
honouring only a few individuals. Were the others not important? It’s not that they weren’t, it’s that
religion is absent at war and God does not reach the souls of the dead on the battlefield.
David and Goliath – David knew that with God’s aid he would have the ability to take down Goliath and
that is precisely what he did.
-
“’All you get in this war... is one little David against another... Like that. Just a bunch of stone
throwers’... was it really that Taffler wanted the war to pit him against Goliath?” (Findley 30).
During such chaos, the characters attempt to draw strength from religion but at the same time their
faith in the Bible gives them reason to see their futures as bleak. It is quite paradoxical.
Water – Holy Water is used to cleanse the spirit, but the water in the novel has an alternate purpose.
Immersion in Holy Water allows for the cleansing of the soul and the initiation into the Catholic faith.
Water is a calm symbol in a religious sense. Throughout the novel, water has a destructive purpose. In
two instances we see the element of water in its religious context.
-
“Mrs. Ross looked at the whole congregation and the Bishop far away in a haze of candlelight
and the high, gold cross beyond... Down on the floor, the snow from everyone’s feet had
melted, Mrs. Ross was forced to smile. Snowballs can’t be made from water” (Findley 51).
The snow had melted and it was no longer a weapon.
-
“Why don’t you scatter them? Where?... Where would he like to be do you think?... The sea”
(Findley 105).
In a sense we all come from water, we are made of water, so a burial at sea where we will again return
to the water from whence we came only seems natural.
Religion in Relation to the Wars
Literature Analysis Seminar
Julian Cambruzzi / Michael Graham / Nicholas Meyer / Michael Rizzuto
Fire
Burning of Rowena’s Picture
-
“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” (Findley 177).
Robert is not at war, he is in a hotel where the corruption of war cannot reach him. The fire is a release
here, the fire allows him to say farewell to Rowena and allow her to pass into the hands of God – similar
to how we light candles for the dead.
Robert Burning in the Barn
-
“There is a photograph of Robert and Juliet taken about a year before his death... Juliet is
looking up at him – speaking – and Robert is looking directly at the camera. He is holding Juliet’s
hand. And he is smiling” (Findley 196).
Similar to Jesus’ crucifixion, Robert’s burning in the barn is the final act of corruption he experiences at
the hands of his comrades or his enemies. A lotus blossoms from mud, a lotus is a beautiful flower and it
blossoms from mud. Kyrie Eleison – “lord have mercy” – and the lord did have mercy on Robert’s soul,
the blossom of fulfillment grew from the chaos that war had produced.
The Flamethrowers
-
“The German High Command had invested so much faith in this new weapon that they dubbed
the Verdun Offensive where it would first be used as Operation Gericht. The Place of
Judgement” (Findley 132).
The Germans are essentially taking the lives of all men into their own hands with the inception of this
new weaponry. It is not up to any human being to pass judgement on the living. We do not have the
right to decide another man’s date of death, only God has that authority.
-
“Fire Storms raged along the front... Horses fell with their bones on fire. Men went blind in the
heat. Blood ran out of the noses, ears and mouths... The storms might last for hours – until the
clay was baked and the earth was seared and sealed with fire” (Findley 132).
Flamethrowers seal the ground on which the Verdun Offensive is fought; the fire seals a victory for the
Germans. Through ‘liquid warfare’, the Germans have robbed the authority to seal the fates of
thousands of men. Sealing with fire is interpreted as an irreversible act, within Catholicism fire is a
symbol of hope, in war it is a symbol of death.
Religion in Relation to the Wars
Literature Analysis Seminar
Julian Cambruzzi / Michael Graham / Nicholas Meyer / Michael Rizzuto
Cremation vs. Burning Alive
A parallel can be drawn between the burning of bodies during war and cremation. Cremation is a
practice used after an individual’s death. A body is burned and placed in a container and given an
honourable funeral – the death is kept sacred. Harris was cremated and Robert attempted to give him
an honourable burial “at sea”. But at war, men are burned alive; there is no sympathy or honour. It is an
excruciating experience and few live. War corrupts the idea of cremation.
Candles
-
-
“The legend of the candles had to do with the long and desperate nights Lady Sorrel sat with her
lover and nursed him and, the story goes, even after his death she continued to light the candles
and keep her vigil. She died at the age of sixty-five and was found in the chair by his bed with
her candles burning all around the room... the candles have burned there ever since” (Findley
154).
“Juliet’s candle was wedged in the earth in an upright position. Somehow – it had been set
alight. Robert blew it out and put it in his pocket. Then he turned around and began to help the
other survivors extricate themselves from the dead” (Findley 180).
The candles that are lit throughout the novel are reminders of death. An unlit candle signifies life but
when a life perishes its essence is instilled in the flame at the end of the wick. The candle that lights up
in battle holds the essence of the lives that perished in that particular battle. It is a reminder to Robert
that his men are dead and he needs to continue his way and save the living.