On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien: An Analysis

The natural world has a unique power unequivocal to anything human to make one deeply contemplative, introspective, and observant of the universe around them. Norman Maclean testifies to this power in his novella A River Runs Through It. Through his eulogy to the Blackfoot river Norman Maclean captures the human soul and what it means to grow up, his story explaining how a river affects a man. Robert Redford’s movie adaptation, while maintaining the core importance of the Blackfoot river, focuses on the interpersonal relationships Norman develops throughout his life and how those affect his character and life choices. A River Runs through it encapsulates the emotional growth Norman undergoes growing up via his relationship with the river

“Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation” By Dan Fagin explores the economics, scientific, political, and personal tragedy of how a chemical giant known as Ciba-Geigy and entrepreneurs failed to properly dispose the industrial waste which eventually contaminated the ground water of a coastal town. The book delves deeply into the history of the dye industry and the lesson learned from the environmental disaster. Fagin takes on complex issues to address the history of industrial processes in both Europe and the United States. He then explores further about the long struggle that parents and public officials took in Toms River, N.J., to scientifically identify the cancer cluster in children and then to determine the best way to handle the discovery.

     Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, is still undecided of whether to doge the draft and lose the respect of his family and friends, or go to the Vietnam War and lose his life, in the chapter “On The Rainy River”. Elroy’s actions reveal his good qualities that help Tim make this important decision, without any words of judgment or criticism. Elroy’s actions reveal heroic qualities. He is a silent Observer who helps Tim overcome his fears.     

In the memoir The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the chapter titled: On the Rainy River has a central idea of resentment, embarrassment and eventual acceptance to change. The author creates this central idea with the use of a regretful tone, man vs society conflict, and dreary imagery. The theme of this chapter contributes to O’Brien’s intentions for the book because it demonstrates the struggle, shame, and or confusion each man drafted into the war experienced.

The short story “On The Rainy River” is written through the perspective of O’Brien in present day and as a young faced with a draft notice for Vietnam War. In “On The Rainy River,” O’brien portrays the importance of bravery in an individual through the use of symbolism, powerful tone, and reflective point of view.

In the section “On the Rainy River” from the novel The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien describes his difficulty in choosing between going to war or going to Canada. O’Brien implements many different rhetorical and stylistic strategies to express his dilemma. His use of juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and somber diction enhance his frustration of his two choices. O’Brien uses juxtaposition to compare his option of running away to Canada with what he would rather do: live his life. O’Brien describes a scene he has imagined of himself running away.

In a later discussion, O’Brien said the chapter “On The Rainy River” is not a true story. The chapter is a fictionalized account of what would’ve happened if he ran away to avoid the draft like he wanted to. This same strategy was applied when he wrote “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”. While O’Brien was in Vietnam, Someone likely joked about how easy it would be to bring a girl to their base. He takes the concept and makes uses it as a vehicle to discuss innocence. We are even told in the beginning to the chapter that the story comes from Rat Kiley who has a history of exaggeration and spicing up stories (Citation Needed for Paraphrase)

In Tim O’Brien’s “On the Rainy River”, Tim is faced with the most difficult decision of his life. The Vietnam War is unfolding overseas and Tim is drafted into the military. As Tim has the option of staying and fighting a war he doesn’t believe in or facing the embarrassment of fleeing to Canada, O’Brien illustrates how other’s opinions sway our decisions in life more than we think they do. Tim battles himself over what should be an easy choice. Will he stay or go? His hometown is “a conservative little spot on the prairie” (1005). There, it is all about tradition and duty. If he chooses to go, he can already imagine his fellow townsfolk gathering around to talk, shamefully, about how “that damned sissy [has]

In his novel, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O’Brien attempts to discover an appropriate definition of courage by reflecting upon his comrades, philosophers, and himself. Throughout the novel, O’Brien grapples with whether to be courageous by staying and fighting even though he is fighting a war in which he deems as wrongly conceived and poorly justified, or be courageous by standing for what he believes is ethical but become a deserter. Through the influence of others and self-contemplation of the definition of courage, O’Brien exemplifies the extremity in which America viewed courage as a necessary characteristic for an American soldier to possess during the Vietnam War.

Is it fair to hold individuals responsible for a choice society pressured them to make?

Death defines life; it has the ability to reinvent the living for better or worse. “The Things They Carried”, by Tim O’Brien, provides a non-linear, semi-fictitious account of the Vietnam War that poignantly depicts the complicated relationship between life and death. His account breathes subtle vitality and realism into the lingering presence of the dead, intimating that the memories they impart have as profound an impact as the living.

Tim O’brien in chapter 4 “Rainy River” in The Things They Carried claims that courage comes “to us in finite quantities like an inheritance”. He claims that courage can be stashed away until the day that it's needed like money. Obriens use of complex sentences and serious tone affects the reader in a strong way making his argument look more correct . O’briens argument about courage was shown well however, i didn't feel it was effective because, I simply didn't agree with his argument. O’briens analogy seems like a good comparison to the claim that he tries to make towards courage.

When O?Brien is shot and calls for Bobby Jorgenson to come to his aid, he realizes that Jorgenson is too afraid to help his fellow soldiers out. O?Brien writes that he then felt a deep hatred for Jorgenson and wants to get him back. On the brink of a maniacal outburst against the new medic, O?Brien writes, ?I?d come to this war a quiet, thoughtful sort of person?, but after seven months in the bush I realized that those high, civilized trappings had somehow been crushed under the weight of the simple daily realities. I?d turned mean inside? (200). Here, O?Brien conveys to the reader that Vietnam had taken over nearly his entire body and personality, causing him to transform into an unrelenting, savage being. O?Brien learned that wars can change people, as the Vietnam War changed him. When Mark Fossie realizes that Mary Anne, along with the six Green Berets, has gone off into the jungles the previous night, he learns that the Vietnam War is a merciless trap that can take anybody or anything and transform it into something unrecognizable. He learns that the war has the power to completely change even somebody like his sweet girlfriend, Mary Anne. This insight causes Fossie to feel sorrow. ?The grief took (Fossie) by the throat and squeezed and would not let go? (105).

The Civil War shook the United States in 1861, forcing families and soldiers, both in the North and South, to reevaluate what it meant to live and die under less-than-ideal circumstances. In Drew Gilpin Faust’s essay, titled The Civil War Soldier and the Art of Dying, Faust goes through every change the Civil War made in the standard perception of death and mourning at the time and the lasting implications death in the Civil War would have for years to come. In every sense, the changes Faust outlines were put in place to cater towards the They of Heideggerian thought and ultimately did not help Civil War soldiers and families think authentically about death, but rather shaped social norms that still support the They and prohibit Dasein from authentically anticipating death as a possibility.

2)There are definitely pro's and con's to both a slow and sudden death. I'll start with a slow death. The pro's of a slow death for one is being able to accomplish everything you wanted to in life. If you know you'll have time before you pass, you can travel the world and spend time with your loved ones as much as possible. Also, another pro of a slow death is that you can prepare your self for when the day comes such as have your affairs in order such as a will, or arrangements for your belongings, and even your wishes such as DNR orders, organ donations or life support options. However, on the contrary, this can lead to many con's of a slow death as well; such as if your health begins to deteriorate this can cause depression, and depressive