Symbolism And Plot In On The Rainy River

The exposition of Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone is when a boy called Samuel Collier stole his mother's locket from a pan shop and the owner found him and sent him to an orphanage. This novel has many different settings in the beginning of the book they are in England, then in the middle of the book the are on a boat on there way to the “New World”. Then in the middle /end of the book they are in Jamestown Virginia. The time period that this book took place in is 1606-1607. The significant event that happened in this time period was the creation of Jamestown. There were many people involved in this such as Samuel, Captain Smith, Captain Ratcliff, and many other gentlemen and peasants. The problem that they face are dealing with the Native American people and just trying to survive. This is a problem because the natives don't want these people around so they try to get rid of them, and survival is a problem because they are in a new place that they have never been in before and they dont know whats poisonous or how to really protect themselves because most of the people they brought were gentlemen.

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)

How does the river function in the story? Is it a metaphor, a catalyst, or both? Is it a character?

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

Norman Maclean, the protagonist and narrator of A River Runs Through It, reiterates the self-sufficiency of his predecessors, Scottish Presbyterians who dissented from official church and moved from Europe to America and Canada, and eventually to little, rugged towns of Montana. While the novella idealizes self-sufficiency, suggests that people are always interdependent. Norman’s younger brother, Paul, for instance, is embarrassed when Norman questions his personal capability, asking if Paul needs money or a different type of help. Paul seems to be ashamed of asking for help, even when it is sorely needed. It’s also unclear to what extent Paul even wants to be helped. Indeed, Norman struggles to determine whether and how he can guide Paul out of his alcoholism and into a more stable lifestyle. Like Norman with Paul, Norman’s wife Jessie seems to struggle in much the same way with her disastrous brother Neal. The couple’s altruism actually begins to push them apart, as Jessie grows frustrated with Norman for not being able to help Neal, and Norman grows frustrated with himself for his inability to

Paul and Norman grew up in the same household, with the same values, but from their fishing styles, to their jobs and educations, to their social lives, their differences amount to those of night and day. While boys, young in age and mindsets, Paul and Norman learned to fish from Mr. Maclean. This factor had vast significance because, in this preacher's family, a clear line between fishing and religion had no presence. Mr. Maclean taught his sons the conventional four-count.

Released in 1971 and produced by Reprise records, river is an intensely emotional contemporary folk song about heartbreak. Written solely by Joni Mitchell for her album ‘Blue’ the song is reminiscent of Christmas time although lyrically it has little relationship to Christmas. (Hopper, 2012)

     Fly fishing is not what this story is all about, although it might seem so at first. Neither is it about religion, even though the father’s first line is: "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing." Yes, these two things are themes that run through the story and add to its power. But there is so much more. It depicts a place of beauty, history, myth, and mystery, it is a triangle of earth in Montana where the writer grew up. And it captures a space of time in the not-so-distant past with a sensitivity that is both witty and poetic. Robert Redford loved this story and turned it into a handsome movie. Read it yourself or watch the movie, and you

Gene moves away from the Devon River, still making his way to the Crew House. He spots the Naguamsett River, a river far dirtier than the Devon River. Gene says, “It [The Naguamsett] was ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud, and seaweed… Its movements were governed by unimaginable forces like the Gulf Stream…” (76). The Naguamsett, as Gene describes it, is filthy, impure, and commanded by outside forces. Just as the Naguamsett has been soiled by uncontrollable forces, the fate of Gene’s innocence is determined by the unruly war. This represents a connection between the dirty water of the Naguamsett, and the forces that threaten to strip Gene of his innocence. Later in the story, during the winter session, water is used as a symbol in its frozen state. At the start of the winter session, Gene says, “In the same way the war, beginning almost humorously… commenced its invasion of the school. The early snow was commandeered as its advanced guard” (93). Gene, in his own mind, compares the snow of the depressing winter session with the start of the war. In this situation, the snow acts as a symbol for the war. War will effectively strip Gene of his innocence, just as the winter session will strip him of his summer session freedom. Dirty water and snow symbolize forces which threaten to strip

Tim O’brien uses symbolism to portray the religious aspect of the Rainy River. The Rainy River is a watercourse between Minnesota and Canada which tested O’Brien’s bravery to either enlist in or flee the Vietnam War. O’Brien states that the “The Rainy River… separated one life from another.” He also states that, “...Canadian waters, across... dotted line between two different worlds.” When he

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.

Characters in the text The Secret River by Kate Grenville represent a variation of attitudes and views towards the colonisation of Australia and the Aboriginal Australians. While many characters are indecisive about their opinion on the natives, some characters have a clear mind-set on how they are to be treated. The characters of Thomas Blackwood and Smasher Sullivan represent the two very different sides of the moral scale, and the other characters fit between these sides. Smasher is a vicious, cold-hearted man who shows no respect or humanity towards the Aboriginals. On the other hand, Blackwood’s character contrasts Smasher with his humanity and general respect to the original owners of their new home. The

This fact is very important to understanding the story itself; as while the text is based firmly in the experiences of Norman Maclean, he made it clear even within the story that River is the result of Maclean looking back on his own life, and using his own experience as a literary critic to poeticize the real events that happened between him and his brother. As such, it should be taken as a distillation of the essence of its subject, not as an accurate retelling. At the end of the story, there is the following exchange between Norman and his father, the Reverend Maclean: “’You like to tell true stories, don’t you?’ he asked, and I answered “Yes, I like to tell stories that are true.’ Then he asked, ‘After you have finished your true stories sometime, why don’t you make up a story and the people to go with it? Only then will you understand what happened and why.’”

When the Macleans, especially Norman speaks of the river they are also referring to life, their lives, and themselves. When Norman couldn't

In the Latin American story, The Third Bank of the River, written by João Guimarães Rosa, a man leaves his family to live his life sailing back and forth on a river for years to come. His son, the main character, never accepts his father leaving the family. Years later when the other siblings have grown old and have children of their own, the son is still living in the house near the river and when his dad finally acknowledges him after years of ignoring anyone who tried to get his attention, he flees, leaving the story with an open ended conclusion. The use of magical realism is present in this story through symbolism and takes interpretation to understand the meaning behind the text. Magical realism is an author's way of using real world issues by incorporating an element of unearthly events such as magic. In The Third Bank of the River, the author uses symbolism, a warped time frame, and human reaction as metaphors for real life events.