On the Rainy River: Our Choice … or Theirs?

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.

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

Tim O'Brien originally struggled to restore the certainty of his safety by attempting to cross the border in order to protect himself from participating in the war,but he chose . An example of his struggles

The emotional pain of reliving the story arouses sympathy in the reader, which as a result allows the audience to identify with Tim’s struggle. He also mentions having to “live with it, feeling the shame, trying to push it away,” which evokes empathy in the reader. It is certain that throughout one’s lifetime, they will experience an event that leaves them guilt-stricken or feeling shameful. By describing his feelings towards the story, O’Brien arouses sympathy in the reader in a way similar to the “ordinary world” phase of the hero’s journey archetype.

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.

In the text, ‘On the Rainy River’ by Tim O’Brien, the author illustrates how men take pride when having the opportunity to go to war, but their are men who are afraid to express their fear of going to war towards others. This causes them to think that people are judging each other because of the type of gender they are. In the beginning of the text when O’Brien is told that he has been drafted to the war, it’s easy to tell that O’Brien does not want to go to war when he says, “A million things all at once - I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn't happen.”

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.

Reading and analysing “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, we learn about a story that not many people know about. While conscription if good for a country, it is clear that it causes Tim O’Brien to think about his archetypal values and how they are torn between his moral values, and that of his family’s of him, based on his archetypal influenced decisions. Time believes that he is too good for the army and his brains are not worth to waste. He has to choose to either flee to Canada, or go to a war in Vietnam, while he does not even believe in the moral of the war. Conscription in America in 1968 caused people similar to Tim O’Brien to go to war, even though they may not seem fit to attend.

In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, in the section “On the Rainy River” he finds himself between two options. One, to do what he feels is right, to go and flee to Canada, and to escape the war, or to fight the war, and risk his life for something that he doesn’t agree with. His strong opinions about the war were what got him to the Rainy River, but while in the company of Elroy Berdahl, he finds the decision harder to make. On his last day staying with Elroy, they go fishing. They go into Canadian waters, and his chance of escape was placed in front of him.

Decision Making “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien and “Ghost of a Chance” by Adrienne Rich have similar themes- each piece about someone that is watching someone else try to break free of a certain way of thinking. “On the Rainy River” is about a young man being drafted into the Vietnam War in 1968 and his journey to fight the powers of the American government. “Ghost of a Chance” is about someone watching a man fight against a metaphorical wave, and the man ends up being pulled back. Each piece represents the hard decisions that need to be made in life, and how the decisions could greatly affect the future. “On the Rainy River” included intense monumental moments that contributed to the theme greatly.

The narrator’s values play a major role in causing this argument to be strong. O’Brien displays the narrator’s values as being an obstacle to his decision. Contemplating his options of dodging the draft, the narrator explains that he “feared ridicule and censure,” from friends and family (45). The narrator’s confusion in making a decision is because he fears defying his values:

Soldiers that come back from war, tend to suffer from what they have gone through. Tim O’Brien, a soldier in the Vietnam war, wrote a best selling collection of short stories titled The Things They Carried. He, along with other soldier tend to experience how delicate the human heart can be. A heart is a very delicate sensitive part of the body and can really affect soldiers in any way shape or form when it comes to a war.

The author uses specific details and diction to characterize the man, enabling the readers the feeling of empathy for the man as the man is in conflict with his own personal beliefs. The author uses these literary devices heedfully to demonstrate the unwillingness and disgust the man had of “taking a life.” The man had “never killed an animal,” and killing was a “satisfaction” he “couldn't feel.” Initially, the author uses these words to promote the thought of taking a life as monstrous and that the man had to go against his own personal morals in order “to protect his home.” The author illustrates the intensity of the situation as the man had to make an implausible decision. The man is at a stalemate having to choose between his personal beliefs and the safety of “children,dogs,horses….as well as men and women” in his ranch. He deliberately puts aside his own beliefs for the well being of others. The author uses these details to give the readers a sense of the sacrifice the man had to endure and create the feeling of empathy for the man. The author continues to convey the feeling of empathy to the audience for the man as he is portrayed to be remorseful of his actions. He is

Morals, or a lack thereof, define the character of individuals. As Tim, the protagonist of On the Rainy Road by Tim O’Brien discovers, personal morals are difficult concepts to adhere to when faced with challenging circumstances. Tim is a young man living in Minnesota, and by his own admission, “had the world dicked…summa cum laude… and a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard” (O’Brien). In an unfortunate turn of events, the army drafts Tim to fight in the Vietnam War, something that he is staunchly against. Due to his beliefs against the war, Tim attempts to leave his home and move to Canada, eventually coming back to fight after a period of self-reflection. Through this figurative “journey”, the author uses the fundamental plot archetype of the journey from innocence to experience to demonstrate how adversity exposes the inherent human flaws in even the best people.