ipl-logo

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

Show More
Related
960 Words | 4 Pages

,” another soldier yelled in return, “See what you can do until he can get here!!” The effects of war, as shown in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, are different for every person. Not a single person is made the same despite the similarities in backstories. One never knows what he/she will do in a situation until they are faced with that decision.

Read More
931 Words | 4 Pages

It was the fear that led him into this mental battle in the first place and fear that would end up making him pick the war over running to Canada. The combination of the stressful choice that Tim is faced with and the consequences attached to each one helps to develop the theme of fear throughout the chapter. Reasoning and Evidence Through Tim’s gruesome visions the reader is able to feel the fear O'Brien felt in his life. He said that there was just a raw fact of terror.

Read More
961 Words | 4 Pages

He was feeling loads of pressure but also felt numb while he was waiting to go into war when he got picked in the draft. He didn’t know what to do and really used his words to let the readers know what he was feeling. He uses great detail in the story he is telling. He wants readers to try and understand what people in the draft felt when they got called and how hard going to war can actually affect a

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the story, Tim O’Brien writes about things he carried from the war to his normal life and speaks about the difficulties of it. He carries things from the war to his normal life because of the PTSD he suffers from. He brings words from the war over to normal life because the words used in war have become the new normal for him whether it be good or bad, but either way, PTSD reminds him about the experiences using these words during the war. The story states, “He doesn’t know how to live with the guilt of the war. He uses words that he would only use in the war because he is not used to normal life after the war.”

Read More
1435 Words | 6 Pages

The main point is how he has to deal with death from a young age to the combat zones. In a way he blames himself for the deaths of his friends or failing to save them, but he failed to understand that it is not his fault. He just needs to find a way to understand since he is forty three years old and has to find closure, O’Brien at the conclusion of his book said “I'm skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmy's life with a story.” (233) He realized through his writing that he was carrying things with him that needed to be explained to him or it was going to hurt him mentally and physically.

Read More
1292 Words | 6 Pages

O’Brien presents a variety of stories to present the complexity of war. “On The Rainy River” is a pre-war

Read More
643 Words | 3 Pages

O’Brien states, “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” Tim O’Brien stays back and goes to war, not because he wanted to be a hero for his country but the fear of

Read More
2081 Words | 9 Pages

The soldiers in the Vietnam War are portrayed as losing themselves in the chaos and trauma of combat. Through the stories of the soldiers and their experiences, O’Brien explores the ways in which war strips away one's sense of identity and humanity. The author himself is depicted as losing himself in the war. O'Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his experiences inspired much of the book. Through the character of Tim O'Brien, the author explores the ways in which war can strip away one's sense of self and purpose.

Read More
886 Words | 4 Pages

O’Brien goes into great depth in this small quote on how loss of innocence and war can affect people in the war. The quote “Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isn’t” shows how war is so different from what any human experiences at home. After that small quote he follows it up by bringing up how you have to use normal stuff to show how crazy these things are and how much of a pole it can have on somebody during a war. The way that war is treated for many is mostly the mental part that is struggling. But for many "War is hell, but that's not half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love.

Read More
1103 Words | 5 Pages

Between the danger of firefights, the suspense of night raids, and the explosions of mortar strikes soldiers experience many near-death experiences. These experiences, however, give soldiers an irreplaceable rush of adrenaline and endorphins. Throughout the novel “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien uses many different stories from his friends and his time fighting in Vietnam to illustrate the ups and downs of war and the effect it has on those involved. Through the use of different perspectives, he is able to give the full Vietnam experience ranging from the fun with group members to witnessing the death of a close friend. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien illustrates how war can give soldiers a feeling of belonging, camaraderie, and

Read More
612 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

Tim knew that he was not a killer and that the war was going to be a stressful time for him. One of his biggest moments of feeling bad about what he did was when he killed his first soldier. O’Brien feels instant regret once he throws the grenade and kills the man. All other thoughts leave his mind, and his full focus and shock is on what he had just done. “I was terrified” he explains, “there were no thoughts about killing.

Read More
1306 Words | 6 Pages

Tim O’Brien demonstrates his own idea of men going to war and risking their lives out of embarrassment, through his actions and

Read More
1302 Words | 6 Pages

O'Brien wanted to stay out of the war by justifying his fear of going to war, through wanting those who support the war “to head for the front and hook up with an infantry unit and help spill the blood. And you have to bring along your wife, or your kids, or your lover. A law, I thought.”. O'Brien had occasions

Read More
951 Words | 4 Pages

In the short story “On the Rainy River”, Tim O’Brien has an idea of fleeing to Canada and avoiding the war. However, he simply chooses to go against his beliefs and go to war. This action reveals him as a week-minded and self-conscious person. Because of this minute act, O’Brien lives the rest of his life in utter embarrassment and sadness (“I survived, but it's not a happy ending.

Read More

More about War In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

Open Document