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Summary Of On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

1496 Words6 Pages

Have you ever wondered what it was like for a Vietnam Vet? When United States sign a treaty to aid the people of South Vietnam in 1961 is when the war began. In the beginning the war was seen as a good thing, we were going to help the southern part of Vietnam take back its country from the communist North. But as time dredged on the war begame hated by the people back at home. After losing the war the Vietnam Veterans came home to scrutiny and shame because they fought in the war. It was tough they had no choice in the matter, it was either be drafted or go to jail. Men ranging from 18 to 25 years old being thrown into a lottery drafted to serve their county In the Vietnam War. These were just kids and they did not know what to expect until …show more content…

By daylight they took sniper fire, at night they were mortared, but it was not battle, it was just the endless march, village to village, without purpose, nothing won or lost. They marched for the sake of the march.” (O’Brien 15) In the short story, On the Rainy River, Tim O’Brien tells us that the only thing that kept him from listening to his own inner voice and running away from the war and across the border to Canada was the only answer to the people in his hometown would think was a coward. Later in the same year, Tim O’Brien kills a man himself with a grenade and is forced to understand his guilt with his fellow soldiers’ rationalization that killing the man was the right thing to do. By understanding to this killing someone this early, and that men in the war do unspeakable things partly because of impulse but mainly because of peer pressure from other men, Tim O’Brien suggests that the greatest fear of all soldiers is not death or killing but simple embarrassment of feeling emasculated. By pinning the unnecessary deaths of his friends, especially Kiowa, on these false notions of obligation that the men have to bear, Tim O’Brien suggests that the greatest tragedy of the Vietnam War is not its violence but its ability to inspire compliance among the

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Tim O Brien On The Rainy River Analysis

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“On the Rainy River”, an intimate chapter between Tim O'Brien and the reader digs deep within O’Brien’s mind, revealing his extensive fear of going to war and how far he would reach to avoid it. More than 60,000 men avoided the draft for the Vietnam War, O’Brien taking part in that number. Burning draft cards, ignoring “casting” calls and fleeing to Canada grew as young American men were being called to fight a war none had wanted to take part in. Without confronting his parents about the situation from the start, Tim O’Brien fled to the Tip Top Lodge which “jutted northward into the Rainy River”; not quite Canada, but close enough to execute his decision when made(47). Home, a place known to be safe and comforting for O’Brien, where his loved

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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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On The Rainy River Analysis

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It was not Tim’s sense of nationalist loyalties that caved him; rather, it was helplessness and his reputation that was at risk. Tim O’Brien longed to be that “secret hero” or “Lone Ranger” in order to impress those around him. However, he ends up learning that courage does not come in finite quantities. He finds himself resenting authority, “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”. No matter how much he may find the law cruel and inhuman, he has is too prideful and decides to comply with the rules.

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Planning Page Template Prompt Question: Discuss the ideas developed by the text creator about the role adversity plays in shaping an individual’s identity. Identity: Tim O’Brien thought of himself as an indisputable hero, the Lone Ranger, he exuded confidence, courageous. Adversity: Tim had been drafted to fight in the Vietnam war, a war of which he didn’t endorse and thought was frivolous and brainless. Over the course of the the story Tim endures a difficult man vs self conflict, can’t decide whether he wants to be seen as a coward if he flees to Canada or see himself as a coward if he allows societal pressures to override his values and beliefs on the war.

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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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