The first situation where Ross is given a responsibility such as this is when his sister Rowena dies and his mother tells him that he has to kill her pet rabbits. Robert sees this responsibility given to him as a senseless act of violence, and he has no idea why his mother wants him to commit it. Instead of doing as his mother says, he immediately enlists into the army and never talks to Mrs. Ross, face to face, again. Once Robert finds himself on a ship heading towards England and taking care of all the horses on board, he finds himself in another situation where his responsibility overwhelms him. One of the horses falls and badly breaks a leg; this time Ross allows his responsibilities to take charge. Although it does not suit him, Ross is forced to shoot the horse multiple times in the head, and the fact that his responsibility has overwhelmed his sensitivity leads him to be unable to deliver the horse a quick death. The final, and perhaps most important of these struggles that Ross fights comes at the end of the book. When Robert finds himself at the front of the offensive he quickly realizes that the lives of many horses are at stake by the bombardment of the German artillery. Again Ross's sensitivity wins the battle, and even though it is strictly condemned, Ross puts his own life on the line to save those of the horses. Ultimately, this leads to Ross's shooting of a higher officer, his desertion of the army and eventually, his death. In this war, Ross's sensitivity was the victor; and because of this, a man who allowed his responsibilities as an officer to take control of his sensitivity eventually put Ross to death.
The next key war within The Wars is the one involving Mrs. Ross and her inability to come to terms with Robert Ross's entering into manhood. The Ross household was generally a good one until the untimely death of Rowena. When this occoured, everything good in the Ross's lives seemed to be in permanent disorder.
