An Analysis Of Hell No, We Won 'T Go ! By Tim O' Brien

This theme of fear of shame and humiliation also occurs in the chapter “Rainy River,” where O’Brien goes to fight in the Vietnam War despite of his beliefs and morals, to avoid bringing shame to himself and his loved ones.

After being drafted, several thoughts came to his mind. O’ Brien thought about how his life will be if he goes to war. He states, “I imagined myself dead. I imagined myself doing things I could not do- charging and enemy position, taking aim at another human being” (44). It seems that O’Brien thought about his principles and morals as a human being. He believes killing innocent people was not a heroic act; it was an act of shame. On the other hand, he clarifies that not all wars are negative, “There were occasions, when a nation was justified in using military force to achieve it ends” (44). He considered to fight only in the cases were war is necessary to achieve a significant purpose. O’Brien uses examples of Hitler, referring him as an evil and one of the reasons he would have validated a war, and even joined the military if it were necessary. Yet, he does not want to play hero in a war that had not sense. For that reason, he decided to run away from his draft.

Furthermore, O’Brien himself admits he went to war not out of courage, but out of embarrassment and cowardice. In the chapter “On The Rainy River,” O’Brien received a draft letter for the Vietnam War. He was in shock, “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, to everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it. A mistake, maybe—a foul up in the paperwork. I was no soldier… I remember the rage in my stomach. Later it burned down to a smoldering self-pity, then to numbness” (41-42). Obviously, O’Brien did not want to go to war. However, he was

Prior to learning he was drafted into a war he hated, we are told that he had recently graduated from college (38). O’Brien says, “I was twenty-one years old. Young, yes, and politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong” (38). The previous quote shows his confusion towards the war, he then goes on questioning the war by saying, “Was it a civil war? A war of national liberation or simple aggression?” (38) which furthermore provides an example of his uncertainty towards the war. While facing confusion, O’Brien also believed he was “too smart, too passionate” (39) for the war, he claims his drafting was “a mistake, maybe— a foul-up in the paperwork” (39). Both of the quotes show man vs. society conflict. Since O'Brien had recently graduated and received a full scholarship at Harvard, he felt like he was on top of the world, like any other person would if a war was not going on then, society was focused on something he didn't believe so he did not want to accept the harsh reality that he had just been drafted. The narrator also faces man vs self conflict, O’Brien wants to get out of the draft but, he says, “There was no happy way out...my health was solid; I didn't qualify for CO status — no religious grounds, no history as a pacifist” (41). O’Brien knows that it would be illegal to not follow the law of the draft but he also knows that he does NOT want to

Tim O’Brien was born in Austin, Minnesota on October 1, 1946 (Glerean). He spent his childhood growing up in Worthington, Minnesota. Worthington is a small town in the southern part of Minnesota. Tim’s father was an insurance salesman and participated in World War II as a sailor (Glerean). Tim’s mother was an elementary school teacher. Tim had an all-American childhood. He loved learning magic tricks, playing baseball, and reading books. He attended Macalester College and graduated in 1968 with a degree in political science (Tim O’Brien). Around the same time he received his diploma, Tim also received an unexpected and unwanted piece of paper: a draft notice (Glerean). O’Brien was against war, but despite this fact he went overseas to fight for America. He felt pressure from both his family and his country to fight in the war. O’Brien went to Vietnam despite his negative attitude toward the conflict. O’Brien fought in the Vietnam War from, 1969 to 1970. “He served in the 3rd Platoon; Company A, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry

The men who served in the Vietnam War were just barely men. Some of them just hitting the age of twenty. It was the draft, which involuntarily brought these boys into the fight, to fight a war which they saw no meaning in. Many of these boys are the sons of veterans who fought in World War II, who came home to parades and were held up like heroes for fighting. Honorary men of the country and the soldiers fighting in Vietnam did not want to disappoint them. Thus, when O’Brien mentions in the quote, valor was not the point, he is trying to explain to the reader that the men went as if it was a job they had to do, not a random act of courage that willed them to proceed. The draft pulled them into it. They did not want to dishonor their fathers,

Everyday life is great at making you who you are or what you have become. It is amazing how one choice or event can change someones life. This is especially true when it comes to the Vietnam War. There were so many lives that changed during this time. The Vietnam War brought us the end of the draft and instated a volunteer army which we still have to this day. This war also helped give the right for 18 year olds to vote which was a big help to Nixon’s second term as president. With this said the Vietnam War has greatly affected America and Tim O’Brien is one of those people. O’Brien says he wasn't into the war however I think he eventually discovered a new form of happiness from creating his amazing stories with his experiences in the

Tim O'Brien is confused about the Vietnam War. He is getting drafted into it, but is also protesting it. He gets to boot camp and finds it very difficult to know that he is going off to a country far away from home and fighting a war that he didn't believe was morally right. Before O'Brien gets to Vietnam he visits a military Chaplin about his problem with the war. "O'Brien I am really surprised to hear this. You're a good kid but you are betraying you country when you say these things"(60). This says a lot about O'Brien's views on the Vietnam War. In the reading of the book, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien explains his struggles in boot camp

Tim “O” Brien has felt a lot of shame telling this story and it wasn't easy for him to relieve some of the pressure. “My mother and father were having lunch out in the kitchen. I remember opening the letter, scanning the first few lines, feeling the blood go thick behind my eyes. I remember a sound in my head. It wasn't thinking, just a silent howl.” (p2/4) Tim has gotten a letter to fight a war that the us didn't understand and that he didn't like so he feels like he's too good for war, and feels the blood behind his eyes go thick. He couldn't, couldn't go to war.

O’Brien changes his mind to go to war because of social pressures, consequences of not participating or running away, and the embarrassment from everyone if he decided not to go to war. Participating in the Vietnam War was a very hard decision that had been forced upon men during the war. Men that did choose to go to war to support America in the battle were showing, “...simple minded patriotism, their prideful arrogance, their love-it-or-leave-it platitudes…” going off to the war is complicated and all participants don’t understand why and “...perhaps didn't want to understand” (43). The pressure from the society, drafting, and friends in which urged O’Brien to participate in the war, he had no other choice to fight, but at first he is not

In my opinion, O'Brien had no desire to fight in the war, but he lacked the courage to stand up against his country. He feared the repercussions from his family and community if they found out he had tried to run from the draft. Cowards would have ran to Canada, but O'Brien overcame his fears and bravely signed up to serve in Vietnam. O'Brien feared the story would be embarrassing or shameful if he told anyone at the time. When he decided to tell his story, he probably felt relief for sharing a secret for so many years.

In the short story “On the Rainy River”, Tim O’Brien recalls a traumatic story from his past that only brings him shame and embarrassment as his character evolves. The begging of the story starts when O’Brien’s life is turned around when he realizes he's been drafted for the Vietnamese War, he faced a moral dilemma between going to war and sacrificing his dignity or running from the law and sacrificing his freedom. Analyzing the situation O’Brien is in, he says “All of us, I suppose, like to believe that in a moral emergency, we will behave like the heroes of our youth” which points to the fact that even though he’s against the war, he believes that if he was required to fight for a cause that was dignified, he would make that sacrifice but he couldn’t risk

When the character O’Brien receives his draft letter, his emotions and thought process clearly express his negative feelings toward the war without him bluntly stating his opposition. O’Brien looks ahead at the life that he would have had with his accomplishments and diploma at Harvard, and comes up with reasons as to why he wouldn’t belong there and why he was too good for the war, or that maybe it was a mistake. He also contemplates defying the draft. These thoughts and negative emotions toward a war that he didn’t completely understand indicates to the audience his dread. His thought processes of creating excuses and a list of reasons why he shouldn’t go, is a clear indicator of his refusal to come to terms with his predicament. In this way, O’Brien may be trying to explain to the reader how anyone could have gotten drafted and how, with all of his accomplishments and academic achievement , he still was chosen for a near or absolute death. Even with his intelligence and abilities, the war still deteriorated him, and through these stories, O’Brien was trying to convey that war impacts normal people

The first theme we need to address is what does Tim O’Brien consider the true ambush of war in Ambush? Is it the surprise attacks of the enemies? Is it the initial shock of being drafted? No, it is the aftermath of war that takes its toll. O’Brien recalls his encounter with a young Viet Cong soldier that he killed for no apparent reason. The man was doing no harm to him, would have passed by, yet he still threw a grenade and took the man’s life. He expresses his guilt time and time again throughout the story. The true ambush of war is how you feel afterwards, not any event in the war itself. In the story, O’Brien states, “Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t. In the ordinary hours of life I try not to dwell on it, but now and then, when I’m reading a newspaper, or just sitting alone in a room, I’ll look up and see the young man coming out of the morning fog” (813 O’Brien). This shows that even though the

Tim O’Brien is cowardly because he allowed his embarrassment and weakness to take him to Vietnam rather than attempting to overcome his timidity and uphold his convictions in his disapproval of the war. Throughout his time in Vietnam he exhibits elements of spinelessness, proving that despite describing himself as someone who is strong in their morals, he admits to being riddled with uncertainty. O’Brien’s cowardice is shown in many of his actions prior to Vietnam, as well as during and after the war. Even as a child, he exhibited fearfulness and timidity when faced with confrontation. He refused to defend his childhood love, Linda, and chose to stand back and allow her to be harassed, proving that even at an early age, O’Brien exuded multiple