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War In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

925 Words4 Pages

The Things That The War Can Bring Out In People The passage On the Rainy River written by Tim O’Brien was a short story about himself, and it displays the fear of death, and the fear of shame that Tim O’Brien is experiencing no matter what choice he decides to make. O’Brien is afraid to die, and that is a big reason why he doesn’t want to go to war, but the main reason is the fact that he hates war. He is completely against it, and sees no positive side to it whatsoever. Additionally, he’s afraid of the shame that comes with going to the war. He doesn’t want to feel like a disgrace and disappointment to his family and country. Both of these factors contribute to how war can bring out so many different emotions in a person, and how these emotions …show more content…

“The emotions went from outrage to terror to bewilderment to guilt to sorrow… I felt a sickness inside of me. Real disease” (O’Brien 43). The idea of going to war brought up so many different feelings for Tim O’Brien including guilt. Tim O’Brien felt that if he didn’t go to war, then people would practically bully him and think that he was a coward for not going to the war. Tim experienced something that many people call an apparition, and his version of one was when many people he knew from the past were shaming him for not going to the war, and for running from it. “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. Turncoat! Pussy! I felt myself blush” (O’Brien 57). Tim O’Brien couldn’t take the shame he was feeling, or the pressure he felt he was being put under by this audience in his head. “I couldn’t tolerate it. I couldn’t endure the mockery or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule” (O’Brien 57). Not only did he feel shame for not going to the war, but he also would, later on, feel guilty for going to the war and disappointed in himself for letting the guilt get to him and making him feel like he needed to go to war. “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” (O’Brien 58). No matter what choice Tim O’Brien decided to make, at the end of the day it was hard and it would have an everlasting effect on

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