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Summary Of On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

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Tim O’Brian is a novelist and a veteran of the Vietnam War. His stories have touch on his experience in the war and “On the Rainy River” was only slightly different. The short story went into detail of the time he was drafted to go to Vietnam. When Tim was drafted for the war his journey had archetypal aspects of the river, the wise man and the inner journey. The river was the center of the story, in an archetypal perspective the river is a representation of the transitional phase. As Tim began to travel to Canada he followed a river: “I headed straight west along the Rainy River, which separates Minnesota from Canada, and which for me separated one life from another.” (O’Brian). Tim knew he needed to cross the river to start his new life, as he walked along it the river resembled the transition he was either going to take or walk away from. O’Brian spent six days along the river thinking about what he would do next. …show more content…

“One thing for certain, he knew I was in desperate trouble. And he knew I couldn't talk about it.” Elroy gave his wisdom and minimal insight to Tim’s situation only when asked as he knew that Tim only needed time. Berdahl also helped Tim form an idea of what to do: “It struck me then that he must've planned it.… I think he meant to bring me up against the realities, to guide me across the river and to take me to the edge and to stand a kind of vigil as I chose a life for myself.” Elroy cleverly brought Tim out on the boat towards Canada giving him the nudge to make a decision of where to

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In Tim O'Brien's "On The Rainy River" from the novel Things They Carried, the author emphasizes the meaning of the River. " On The Rainy River" explores the meaning of separation between O'Brien's two different futures. As O'Brien battles his two different lives, he worries about what consequences will come with each side. O'Brien highlights how he was impulsive and began heading for the border where his life would be at the most risk. "

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The main character, Tim O'Brien, in the story On The Rainy River, is shown to be a round dynamic overall through his personality and belief change to war. The indications of a dynamic character are when a character goes through significant changes to their personality or other inner beliefs. The first indication of such change is shown through the initial and post-change moments of his stance on participating in the war. Tim's stance was that "when a nation goes to war, it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause"(O'Brien, 20). Through this statement.

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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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Today I’m going to talk the setting, the plot, and the characters. The plot in Riverkeep is a boys magical adventure through the Danek River finding many magical creatures and beings along the way. As he goes along, he faces many, many challenges. Such as pirates and monsters. But there is one monster in particular that everyone fears.

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The Things They Carried, written by Tim O’Brien, illustrates the experiences of a man and his comrades throughout the war in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien actually served in the war, so he had a phenomenal background when it came to telling the true story about the war. In his novel, Tim O’Brien uses imagery to portray every necessary detail about the war and provide the reader with a true depiction of the war in Vietnam. O’Brien starts out the book by describing everything he and his comrades carry around with them during the war. Immediately once the book starts, so does his use of imagery.

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He looked at his watch, it seemed to be stuck at what he assumed to be the time he had woken up. At Jerry’s request, he explained his situation as Tim needed him to be at his best, with a sense of danger. “Ok” Jerry muttered with a tone of disbelief, “How-” a scream interrupted him. “We need to go now!” Tim shouted.

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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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Regret is a powerful emotion that has the ability to scar someone for the rest of their life. Moments of regret can come from relationships, self-made decisions and life changing events. The idea of regret also applies to “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh and “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien. Although these two literary pieces are very different in many ways, both authors describe the experience of the Vietnam War as a time of regretful decisions that negatively impacted people of both the American side and the Vietnamese side. Both authors tell a story about a character that recalls of flashbacks of the war, where they grieve over the past decisions that have affected them for the rest of their life.

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In “On the Rainy River” Tim struggles to make a decision on whether he should fight for his country in the war or flee to Canada. Tim did not believe in the war. He was an innocent young man, freshly graduated from college with a naive view of the world. “Both my conscience and my instincts were telling me to make a break for it, just take off and run like hell and never stop.” (Page 3/Paragraph 8)

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Tim’s ultimate decision is neutrality, due to the ironically tragic deaths of loved ones such as his best friend Jerry, his father

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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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"On the Rainy River" by Tim O'Brien is from a collection of stories published in 1990 called "The Things They Carried. " All of these stories are related to the war in Vietnam and can be read as a memoir because the events are all loosely based on O'Brien's experiences. Through O'Brien's story of the Vietnam War, many themes and messages related to moral disorder and personal conflict are explored. The themes of fear and embarrassment and how they can influence your decisions are highlighted. Also, the theme of guilt over the war is conveyed in the story.

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How it was shaped: Tim allowed the draft of the Vietnam war and societal pressures get to the best of him and he slowly tore himself apart, he started off as a confident incorrigible man. His morals later then became corrupted, he gave into the pressures, his self proclaimed Lone Ranger status had been infected and debunked by his end decision of serving in the Vietnam war. Thesis: In the story, On the Rainy River, the author, Tim O’Brien demonstrates that an individual allows societal pressures and expectations to override their core values, morals, and beliefs; peer pressure forces individuals to put their beliefs aside so they can fit in with everyone else. The narrator, Tim O’Brien faces a similar situation when he get’s drafted for the Vietnam War.

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In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers have to carry a lot of things physically and mentally. One of the biggest things the soldiers have to carry is conflict, but not just between other people, inside of themselves as well. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien the author has an internal conflict of whether to go fight in the war in Vietnam or to run away to Canada which he tells through the story “On the Rainy River.” An internal conflict is a conflict inside of a character in a story.

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