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On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

1032 Words5 Pages

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

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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

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The United States is a government founded upon the principles of equality, or are we? That is the question studied and debated by historians of American history. Our founding fathers motives are scrutinized through the study of their personal letters, historical documents, and public records. Two historians, Howard Zinn and Gordon S. Wood, support opposing viewpoints. Howard Zinn describes the Founding Fathers as only interested in writing the Constitution to upholding the wealthy’s power.

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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.

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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.

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At this moment, O’Brien is going through remorse for himself. He does not think that he should be forced to fight in this war when he does not believe in what they are fighting for. O’Brien believes that the war was unjust because “certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons” (1002).O’Brien

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1292 Words | 6 Pages

O’Brien presents a variety of stories to present the complexity of war. “On The Rainy River” is a pre-war

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"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

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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.

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In all instances O’Brien responds to his shame with senseless actions that end up putting him in either worse or dangerous situations. Sometimes reacting this way is inevitable, but being able to identify and react accordingly can save one from the worst of situations and maybe even save a

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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

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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.

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This comparison is significant because O'Brien is terrified of the war before he sets foot on the battlefield, but as the chapter described, O'Brien is also afraid of disappointing his friends and family. This raises the internal conflict between duty and honor and the

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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

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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.

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708 Words | 3 Pages

The short story “On the Rainy River”, by Tim O’Brien is an exploration of how guilt and the pressures of society can shape one’s decision making. O’Brien feels guilty about going to war in Vietnam which contradicts his principles and his dream of becoming a writer. In the story, O’Brien admits, “I was a coward, I went to war” (O’Brien 80); he feared how the people of his community, and the rest of society would view him if he ran away. He feared the external embarrassment he would face if he dodged his draft notice instead of serving in the war; the fear of being judged by society was too unbearable for him to face. During O’Brien’s encounter with Elroy Berdahl, he is influenced to adhere to a decision, however, he chose to conform to the expectations of society.

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