Decisions In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

Every time we make a decision in life are we influenced by things around us? In Tim O’Brien’s story “On the Rainy River”, challenged Tim’s decision if he should go to war where there is violence or to flee to Canada where there is freedom; although, his final decision was to go to war he was influenced by doing the right thing and the shame or guilt he could have felt when being faced with the dilemma of going to war. When people are put into a situation when they have to choose over two places most will go with what feels right, but others will go with what will be the best for not only themselves but others around them too. A big part of this story and real-life situations is that people want to make others happy and content so they do things

When Tim first got the draft letter in the mail he was unsure of what to think and thought “[he] was too good for this war”(P.39), so fleeing to the Rainy River would give him a break to truly listen and connect with his body and make a decision. Although there was a moment in the story when he wanted to go to Canada and be able to see freedom for the first time in a long time it also “separated one life from another.”(P.45) The separation between his two lives was the breaking points the made him realize what his choice had to be; however, he didn't fully understand what his choice was until he was on the boat with Elroy Berdahl, the owner. Without Elroy having to say anything he realized that going to fight in the war would be the best thing for himself and everyone around him, as a result, that was how he was influenced to go to the war instead of

When Tim was put into this dilemma he would be able to feel the shame and guilt off of others if he didn’t go to war. His peers, family members and community would never forgive him for going to Canada; they would think as him as a disappointment because he didn’t have the ability to stand up and fight for his country. “There were times when [he] thought [he’d] gone off the psychic edge”(P.48), which would be his natural reaction for being guilted into doing something that he didn’t want to do. He was ashamed that others around him were capable of going to war and he wasn’t, for this reason, instead of going to Canada he went to go and fight. Tim was influenced by the people around him because if he didn’t do what they wanted then he would feel this level of guilt and shame that would last a lifetime. This wasn’t a clear discovery for him until his conscience was telling him to run, but “some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight [was] pushing [him] toward the war,”(P.49) and what it came down to, in fact, “was a sense of