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Physical Trauma In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

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Like all wars the Vietnam War had Physical and Psychologial scars. Fifty-eight thousand people were killed, two thousand captured, and three hundred thousand wounded. I could talk more about the physical trauma, but I want to talk about the psychological damages the war caused O’Brien and other soldiers. O’Brien was a part of the war and through the story you can see his bitterness and how the war affected his mind. Like loosing his best friend Ted Lavender, the chapter I chose to do is On the Rainy River. I chose to do On the Rainy River because it describes O'Brien's mentality on the war and getting drafted to a war he doesn’t believe in. In the chapter On the Rainy River, it talks about the shame of the war and how the war is starting to take a toll on him and his men. O’Brien feels like his life is going out of control. On the Rainy River Like I mentioned in the introduction the war caused O’Brien and other soldiers psychological trauma. One quote that stood out to me was when Jimmy Cross was taking about losing his best friend Ted Lavender” I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, to everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it” pg41. O'Brien couldn't believe that he had to go fight in the war that he should be able to avoid the war altogether. …show more content…

O’Brien thinks about fleeing to Canada."Beyond all this, or at the very center, was the raw fact of terror.I did not want to die. Not ever. But certainly not then, not in a wrong war.” pg41. The reason why O’Brien didn't flee was because he was worried about what his parents would think about him fleeing, but he didn't want to die in a war that he didn't agree on the

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