O Brien Rhetorical Analysis

The conflict that starts this story off is the draft letter that O’Brien receives in the summer of 1968. The arrival of the draft notice was taken by O’Brien with emotions varying from disbelief and anger, O’Brien thinks that “-[He] was too good for this war... [He] was above it.” (Obrien, 41) and justifies it by listing off all his accomplishments. As “Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude and president of the student body...” with “...a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard.” (O’Brien, 41) Tim thought himself to be exempt from the war, especially since there were feelings of opposition to the war in Vietnam that he held. In fact, Tim has thought that “If you support a war, if you think it’s worth the price, that’s fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line.”

when a nation was justified in using military force to achieve its ends... and that in such circumstances [he] would’ve willingly marched off to the battle.” (O’Brien, 44) but clarifies that this is not the war Tim would willingly sacrifice everything for, “At the very center, was the raw fact of terror. I did not want to die. Not ever. But certainly not in the wrong war.” (O’Brien 44) At the root of all his worries is the very fact that the fear of partaking in a war was very evident in Tim and was a driving force in the decision to flee to Canada. His fear came in forms of uncertainty towards taking another humans life, and later stated as “...walking away from my own life, my friends, and my family, my whole history, everything that mattered to me.” (O’Brien 44-45) More than anything, O’Brien was afraid of rejection from everything that was familiar to him. O’Brien also claims that he “...was born into a mainstream life....” (O’Brien, 31) so one can understand that Tim O’Brien was very acquainted with this lifestyle and thought of war as a very foreign subject. This leads to his breaking point and fuels O’Brien’s motive to