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Song Analysis: The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

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The band The Clash once said in one of their most popular songs “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. This chant played through Tim O’Brien’s head as he got drafted into the Vietnam war. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. O’Brien faced the issue of going to Vietnam in this chapter. From there he thinks of an idea to flee to Canada and even comes within swimming distance of it, but ultimately does not do it because he the embarrassment to fight overcomes him. If I were in Tim O'Brien's Place I would go to Vietnam. Reasons why I would report for duty in Vietnam instead of fleeing to Canada are I would be afraid of the law coming to get me, I would be afraid of what people would think of me, and finally most of all I wouldn't be able …show more content…

Considered as a fugitive of the law; I personally would be a nervous wreck. An unbearable thought of police and helicopters chasing me, for I wouldn't be able to serve the time in prison for that crime. Doing time for draft dodging isn't taking lightly. So if I were in O’Brien’s shoes I would go to …show more content…

Wimpy and a cowards what I would be called; If I didn’t report to duty and go to Vietnam. In the story O’Brien says to The Reader “Traitor! They yelled Turncoat! Pussy! I felt myself blush. I couldn’t tolerate it. I couldn't endure the mockery or the disgrace or the patriotic ridicule” (O’Brien 57). O’Brien in this quote goes to war because he was to embarrassed not to. If I were in a similar position to O’Brien; I wouldn't be able to live with people calling me a coward. My family would disown me if I fled from the draft, and my friends and neighbors wouldn't respect me and think of me as a coward or a traitor to my country. To embarrassed not to go to Vietnam O’Brien didn't flee. If I were in the same position I wouldn't flee to Canada either.

Finally, I wouldn’t be able to leave my town and start a new life in Canada. The North Hills serves as a great place to live the thought of starting a new life in a new country stresses me. As the boat floats towards Canada, O’Brien says to the reader “ I saw my brother and sister, all the towns folk, the mayor, the entire chamber of commerce and all my old teachers, girlfriends and high school buddies” (O’Brien 55). O’Brien starts to reminisce on all the things he will miss if
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As O’Brien considers the option of avoiding the draft by going to Canada, he realises that he is “afraid of walking away from [his] own life, [his] friends and [his] family, [his] whole history, everything that mattered to [him]. [He] feared losing the respect of [his] parents. [He] feared the law. [He] feared ridicule and censure” ( ). O’Brien wrestles with these fears alone.

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This quote is from O’Brien the author himself admitting that he couldn’t be brave enough to leave his country and that he was embarrassed of what he was trying to do. So, he told himself that he would go to war, kill and maybe die because of the embarrassment idea he made. The idea of this quote is to explain what he feeling/confusion between what he’d do. Should he go to war? Or should he leave his loved ones and country behind.?

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In the short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the main character Tim O’Brien gets a letter notifying him that he has been selected for the draft; he is affected by this emotionally, physically, and he faces a moral dilemma because this war goes against what he believes in. Immediately upon receiving the letter O’Brien thinks, “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it” (1003).

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‘’I was a coward. I went to the war’’ Pg187. In the short story, ‘’On The Rainy River’’ by Tim O’Brien, The protagonist faces a difficult life decision, he did not want to conform to society the way others wanted him to. He wanted to keep his personal beliefs. Tim O’Brien does not want to conform no matter how vital it is that he should.

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As the author is told he is being drafted to war, he becomes very upset. He clearly does not want to be part of it. His initial says, “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen.

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O’Brien tells the readers about him reflecting back twenty years ago, he wonders if running away from the war were just events that happened in another dimension, he pictures himself writing a letter to his parents: “I’m finishing up a letter to my Parents that tells what I'm about to do and why I'm doing it and how sorry I am that I’d never found the courage to talk to them about it”(O’Brien 80). Even twenty years after his running from the war, O’Brien still feels sorry for not finding the courage to tell his parents about his decision of escaping to Canada to start a new life. O’Brien presented his outlook that even if someone was not directly involved in the war, this event had impacted them indirectly, for instance, how a person’s reaction to the war can create regret for important friends and

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In the chapter “On The Rainy River”, O’Brien shows the obligation he feels through his embarrassment and fear of dishonor. During the chapter, he talks about recieving a draft notice for the Vietnam War. He goes back and forth about whether he should flee to Canada or fight. After spending a week on the border of Canada and the U.S., O’Brien decides he’s going to go to war.

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I couldn't endure the mockery, or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule. . . . I was a coward. I went to the war.” Tim O’Brien was afraid to go to war, he wasn’t capable of having to kill someone or even to have the courage to fight for what other believed was right. He didn’t agree with the war but that wasn’t the cause as to why he wanted to escape to Canada, he wanted to avoid being drafted and humiliating himself by not wanting to go to war and having others judge him for making that

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O’Brien cared for his country, but was not for the Vietnam War when he got drafted to go fight for

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I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Vietnam, where I was a soldier, and then home again. I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” (O’Brien 49). This shows how O’Brien could be a coward in the stories.

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In the short story, “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the author develops the idea that when an individual experiences a feeling of shame and humiliation, they often tend to neglect their desires and convictions to impress society. Tim, the narrator, starts off by describing his feeling of embarrassment, “I’ve had to live with it, feeling the shame”, before even elaborating on the cause of the feeling. Near the end of the story, he admits he does not run off and escape to Canada because it had nothing to do with his, “mortality...Embarrassment, that’s all it was”. The narrator experiences this feeling of intense shame and then he decides that he will be “a coward” and go to war. His personal desire is that he wishes to live a normal life and could never imagine himself charging at an enemy position nor ever taking aim at another human being.

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(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).

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Courage The dictionary definition of courage is “strength in the face of pain of grief.” Throughout the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the common idea of courage is expressed with different meanings as each character interprets courage differently.

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The Vietnam War leaves a legacy of moral confusion with each and every soldier who serves. Soldiers are fighting for a cause they do not necessarily believe in, killing people who do not necessarily deserve it, and watching their brothers die beside them. Tim O’Briens’ book, The Things They Carried, illustrates the soldiers struggle to define morality throughout the confusion of the war. On the Rainy River, Tim O’Brien faces what he feels is his moral obligation to answer his country’s call and fight in Vietnam, and a personal moral issue with the reason for the war.

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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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