From a post-colonial perspective, the effects and impacts of colonialism on cultures, society, and the human mind can be examined. The short story “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien narrates the autographic thoughts and actions of the author after he is drafted into the war. O’Brien runs from his duties out of fear before stepping up and returning to fight for his country. After reading this short story, a post-colonial perspective can be taken through a more profound analysis when it becomes evident that during the time this piece was set in 1968, there was a patriarchal stigma around men going to war that supported the idea that men must put emotions aside and choose their country over anything else. This post-colonial perspective can be …show more content…
In these moments, O’Brien travels onto a river, presumably the one he speaks of in the title of his story. He makes his way across the river making it all the way to Canada’s shoreline, exactly where he had planned to run to after receiving the news of his recruitment. O’Brien strongly debates whether or not he should jump into the water and make his way to Canada, or if he should return and fight for his country. He finally discovers that he is mentally unable to jump into the water telling himself that he “couldn’t tolerate it. [he] couldn't endure the mockery, or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule”. Even though all of the people he would be letting down were only a figment of his imagination at this point, he is too ashamed to defy what everyone is expecting of him and hide from the war. At this point, he says, “It had nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that's all it was”. O’Brien truly wants to hide from his fears of the war, but his pride gets in the way as he is extremely embarrassed to rebel against his expectations as a man. O’Brien feels that he must contribute to his country or else he would be ridiculed and become disgraceful to his country. His patriotic pride, along with many other men’s in this era, stops him from expressing his fear, forcing him to comply with the social norm for men and go to
Heroes are everywhere, and no one ever knows when they will show up in life. In the story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the story describes a certain time in someone’s life that they didn’t know what to do. TIm O’Brien is the character and is very confused with what he wants to do. He was called to the war, something called the draft wanted to bring him into the war, basically volunteer him. O’Brien then decides to leave his job and head north to Canada.
The book “In the lake of the woods”, written by Tim O’Brien, is about a Vietnam veteran and politicians story. The main character, John Wade, is a Vietnam veteran who was involved with a brutal massacre. John was also a politician, and in fear that the massacre he was involved with would affect his political career, John does everything he can to cover up this incident. During this time John's wife mysteriously disappears. John has an ambition throughout the story to cover up what happened to profit his own career.
The main characters, Tim O’Brien and Elroy Berdahl, meet as O’Brien resides at Berdahl’s Tip Top Lodge on the Rainy River. O’Brien is at Berdahl’s lodge for six days as he tries to decide whether to avoid the war and flee to Canada or go back to his hometown of Worthington, Minnesota and fight in the Vietnam War. On the final day of O’Brien’s stay at the Tip Top Lodge, Berdahl takes him fishing and gives him the opportunity to flee to Canada. O’Brien hallucinates and fights with himself whether or not to go to Canada but in the end, he ends up going back to Worthington, Minnesota, and later on to war. On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brien illustrates the pains of the Vietnam War as O’Brien gets drafted and as an
O’Brien used lies to guard, protect and hide war given only people that don’t know the truth peace, love and those who know the truth of war the burden of keeping it to themselves. When O’Brien explained the stories of comrades Norman Bower and how he felt when he came home to his old town, how everything had changed to the point where only thing which actually remained the same to him is the old swamp lake. Even so everyone he knew are living a joyful life, he had to deal with a burden of what truly cause Kiowa death. Bower mention how Lieutenant Jimmy Cross told the squad to rest in a waste field full of human feces and how the storm turn the field to a landslide. As well mention how Kiowa was stuck in the waste mud, Bower tried to pulled him out try, try with all his might Kiowa was gone and if he doesn't leave he would had died, but still knowing the fact that he saved his life, it hurt him deep inside.
"O'Brien," who spent the summer before he had to report to the Army working in a meatpacking factory, left work early one day and drove toward Canada, stopping at a fishing lodge to rest and devise a plan. He is taken in by the lodge owner, who helps him confront the issue of evading the draft by taking him out on the lake that borders Canada. Ultimately, "O'Brien" yields to what he perceives as societal pressures to conform to notions of duty, courage, and obligation, and he returns home instead of continuing on to Canada. Through the telling of this story, "O'Brien" confesses what he considers a failure of his convictions: He was a coward because he went to participate in a war in which he did not
In the book, many of the soldiers do things in order to not be made fun of, to survive, and to not regret decisions. The fear of humiliation may have been a leading cause as to why many of the soldiers survived. After O’Brian receives a draft notice he thinks about leaving and heading to the Canadian border. In the Chapter On the Rainy River, O'Brien has the chance to leave behind his life, family, and friends in order to refrain from going to war. While he has the chance at creating a new road to a different life he decides to stay in order to avoid being shamed by his family, friends, and community.
O’Brien presents a variety of stories to present the complexity of war. “On The Rainy River” is a pre-war
Fighting in a war has become an image of courage and honour. Those who fall in war are given status and respect. While those who survive are made to relive events of the war, retelling the experience of war allows soldiers to add details to make them seem more courageous than they might truly be. The story of On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brian tells a story of his lack of courage. O'Brien used his intelligence to find reasons that he should not go to war, such as not being able to survive or being better and thinks that there is no purpose for the Vietnam war and that there should be a reason for war.
(CE) Before O'Brien heard about the war, he realized the war was something he did not want to participate in. (DE) He says to himself that [he] would not swim away from [his] hometown and [his] country and [his] life. [He] would not be brave” (O’Brien 55).
In the chapter titled “On the Rainy River,” O'Brien explores the idea of fleeing the country to avoid the war, or staying to go to a war he doesn't believe in. He speaks of who he would disappoint if he were to take the easy way out and flee to Canada, and what he could lose by going to fight for his country. He becomes conflicted with the guilt that he feels for running away and the fear that he has for going to war. An example of the fear he has is when O'Brien writes, “Beyond all this, or at the very center, was the rar fact of terror. I did not want to die.
Reader Response of “On the Rainy River” The short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O 'Brien explains to the audience that all men are influenced to go into war, and that they should hide the fears and emotions that they may have along the journey. Throughout the short story the author explains his journey and opens up about his emotions when he was sent to war. Being the audience of this short story explains to you what every man must go through if they were to be sent to war.
It was explained within the fourth chapter, “On the Rainy River,” in which O’Brien was forced to participate in a war he did not want any part in. Within this chapter, he explains that when he was faced with the eminent doom of war, he ran away.
This is evident when Mr. O’Brien says, “I would go to the war – I would kill and maybe die – because I was embarrassed not to,” (pg. 57.) In the end the author realized what he must do and went back home, so he could fight in the Vietnam
This quote epitomizes the trauma caused by war. O’Brien is trying to cope, mostly through writing these war stories but has yet to put it behind him. He feels guilt, grief, and responsibility, even making up possible scenarios about the life of the man he killed and the type of person he was. This
On the Rainy River is a story about a man, Tim O’Brien, who struggles with a life altering decision. He evaluated his own personal convictions regarding the Vietnam War at an isolated fishing lodge by the Canadian border. Three different forms of isolation are present in this story. These include physical, emotional, and societal isolation – all of which had an effect on how Tim dealt his conflicting emotions. Physical isolation played a prominent role in Tim O’Brien’s final decision to go to war.