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The Draft In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

615 Words3 Pages

During the Vietnam War, the United States drafted 648,500 young men to fight. Of those who were drafted 17,725 were killed out of the total 58,220 deaths. Tim O’Brien could have been one of them. In the short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien is sent a draft notice. He is a young male that fits the criteria of the draft. This results in him wanting to avoid the draft and, him contemplating the consequences of avoiding the draft. O’Brien just graduated college and is working in a pig slaughter plant when he receives the draft notice. During this time period people his age were burning their draft notices and protesting against the war and the government's involvement. The reason why O’Brien was drafted into the military was because he fit the requirements of the military. The United States was fighting a war in Vietnam against the communist government of North Vietnam. O’Brien was not in college so that allowed him to be drafted. He was also not a member of a peace church like Jehovah's Witness. He was fit, was over the age of 18, and was a male. O’Brien fit all the requirements of the draft and had no way out of it. …show more content…

“In the beginning the idea seemed purely abstract, the word Canada printing itself out in my head… run I’d think. Then I’d think, Impossible. Then a second later I’d think, Run” (121-128). He desperately did not want to go to Vietnam so, he ran away to Canada in the middle of the day. “I could do it. It was pure flight, fast and mindless. I had no plan. Just hit the border at high speed and crash through and keep on running” (181-182). He stopped at a lodge on the edge of Canada where he would stay for a

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O Brien On The Rainy River Rhetorical Analysis

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O’brien was against the Vietnam War before and after got drafted. As a student, O’brien took a stand against the war, and participated the anti-war protest. In the Chapter, “On The Rainy River,” O’brien is talking about how he thought about fleeing to Canada when he received the draft notice. O’brien had a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard when he received the draft notice and he could not believed it because he was to smart to go war. Furthermore, he “hated dirt and tents and mosquitoes” ( O’Brien 39), he was not a soldier materiel.

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War is one of the most complex yet completely understood subjects to read or write about. Tim O’Brien has captured the true essence of being drafted into a war. “The Things They Carried” is a novel composed of multiple short stories; Each taking the reader through the perspective of the narrator showing his multiple landscapes, situations, and changing feelings from being drafted into the Vietnam War to surviving it. These stories really help one understand the effects of war on someone’s mind as well as body. Tim O’Brien is the main character and protagonist in this novel.

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While reading Invispress, it stated that “In the United States when you turn 18, you must register for the draft” which was a immense deal at the time because people were forced to sign up for something they didn’t want to do or necessarily even believe in. Which is why O’Brien and a few other people burned their cards in protest. While O’Brien was expressing his beliefs, he got apprehended. He was convicted for violating 50 U.S.C.App.

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Tim O’Brien the narrator and author of the short story “On the Rainy River” sets out on a hero’s journey where he is met with obstacles, crosses thresholds, and returns to his starting point proving that he is an archetypal hero. He is faced initially with being drafted into the Vietnam War, his first obstacle. He then crosses a threshold by escaping this obstacle to run away with the intention of moving to Canada. Then he realizes that he can’t run away from his problems, so the narrator returns home.

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In the afternoon that his draft notice arrives, Tim O’Brien thinks about it for a while. For himself, he hates the war so much because certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons. Besides, he cannot give himself a reasonable explanation to go to the war even kill innocent people. Most importantly, he does not prepare anything for the draft notice and trying to get rid of it. Individuals must be prepared to accept the changing circumstances because escaping cannot solve the problem.

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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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The details may not be true, but the emotions O’Brien wants the reader to feel is true. Fear, shame, sadness, embarrassment, guilt, and so many other emotions that a soldier must go through when drafted. O’Brien tells this story in a way where Tim is on the brink of going to Canada and has to choose between two choices. Both choices have their pros and cons. It is a moral dilemma.

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Ever since the early 1940s, young men across the country have been forced to enlist in the selected services. Regardless of these men’s plans for the future, it was expected of them to lay down their lives for their country. While the military draft was intended to strengthen the American army, it also strengthened the arguments made by antiwar protestors. Why should people have to die for a cause they do not believe in? This was the question numerous American citizens were asking themselves throughout the entirety of the Vietnam War.

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Vietnam has certainly remained as one of the most concerning and controversial wars of all time. One of the most disputed aspects of the war was the draft. As a result of the draft, many young men would never return home. From draft card burnings, to anti-war protests, it is evident that the draft and it’s process was seen as unfavorable in the eyes of many people in America.

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On The Rainy River Character Analysis

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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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Things They Carried Analysis

1273 Words | 6 Pages

The advantages and disadvantages of going to Canada along with the fear of fighting in a war were factors that contributed to the decision a person who was drafted would have to make. While O’Brien crosses the rainy river, he thinks about society 's judgment: “All those eyes on me—the town, the whole universe—and I couldn 't risk the embarrassment. It was as if there were an audience to my life, that swirl of faces along the river, and in my head I could hear people screaming at me. Traitor! they yelled.

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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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