As a small child, the war had a shattering effect on Rob, though in his naivety it was no obvious to himself. The general issues of growing up are hard enough for a child to cope with, let alone the added concern of war. The absence of Rob's father made the war situation considerably harder for him to cope with. Although he was never particularly close to him, Rob respected his father

Although the war had a shattering effect on the characters, it was the main contributor to the development of them, both mentally and physically.

and regarded him a a gentleman "He did not think that there would be any more gentlemen after his father's time." Rob considered this lack of closeness between himself and his father to be the end of an era. Another important issue caused by the war is Rob's constant travel. His roots were constantly being uprooted as his mother dragged him from farm to farm. Due to th remoreness of these properties, Robmissed out on one of the most vital aspects of childhoos, constant friendship. From this independance, Rob learnt to be strong, but he also failed to see the importance of peers and what they could contribute to a problem.

The main characters did not just develop psychologically, but also physically. However this change was not necessarily for the better. Rick returned from the war looking very similar to the way he did before he

Some common words found in the essay are:
POW Stowe, Rick Rick, MERRY-GO-ROUND SEA, Randolph Stowe's, rick returned, returned home, war shattering effect, war shattering, shattering effect, independance rob, main characters, rick's absence,
Approximate Word count = 662
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)