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What Are Tim O Brien's Views On War

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In a world ridden with war today, it is seemingly impossible for a human not to have an opinion on the violence and anger, being thrown around like an American football on a Sunday. Tim O’Brien, the author of many short stories about the Vietnam War, included many of the important thematic issues, including cowardice, leadership, burdens, judgement, courage, and heroism. Of course, I myself have many views on war. I will discuss why I oppose war, whether or not I would fight in a war, and overall how my opinions on war have evolved throughout our conversations in class these past weeks.
It seems like everything we hear about in the news or see on television today all related to the same thing. War shaking the world. Whether it involves the …show more content…

Some of the discussions we had in class were very interesting and brought up different perspectives and situations that could occur. This includes the idea of having a draft. Once we started talking about the aspect of the draft, I really began to think to myself, “Wow, could a World War actually occur again? Would I get drafted?” The story about Tim O’Brien was a very interesting and well placed story to read because it was a situation that many teenagers most likely would resort to. For Tim O’Brien, the day that the draft notice arrived at his stays vivid in his memory. “It was a humid afternoon, I remember, cloudy and very quiet, and I’d just come in from a round of golf. My mother and father were having lunch in the kitchen” (On The Rainy River, 45). This made me think to myself, how would I react if I saw a draft letter sitting on my kitchen table. I think I would be in the same situation and have the same emotions as Tim O’Brien had when he first received his. Another discussion that made me think of my place in war was if foreign troops came to the United States and threatened the lives of my loved ones. What would I do? I would sure as hell do anything I can to protect the lives of my family and friends, even if it means having to kill

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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 The Things They Carried, the author retells the chilling, and oftentimes gruesome, experiences of the Vietnam war. He utilizes many anecdotes and other rhetorical devices in his stories to paint the image of what war is really like to people who have never experienced it. In the short stories “Spin,” “The Man I Killed,” and “ ,” O’Brien gives reader the perfect understanding of the Vietnam by placing them directly into the war itself. In “Spin,” O’Brien expresses the general theme of war being boring and unpredictable, as well as the soldiers being young and unpredictable.

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(O’Brien, 41) Tim thought himself to be exempt from the war, especially since there were feelings of opposition to the war in Vietnam that he held. In fact, Tim has thought that “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.”

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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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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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Some leave feeling relieved, some feel heroic, some will face depression, and many are scarred forever. The men and women that fight for our freedom should feel very proud and heroic. They risked their lives for the freedom of our people. They are some of the strongest, most brave people. However, it is expected for them to feel sorrow or anger because of what they just went through.

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