Tim O Brien Dilemmas

517 Words2 Pages

When individuals are confronted with a dilemma, they often need guidance to reassure their decision. They may fear their choice is incorrect and have to live with the consequences for the rest of their life. By having another individuals opinion and perspective on the situation, it can lead them to new paths they have never imagined themselves going down. Often times, it takes an epiphany to help an individual realize what they must do by helping them make a rational decision instead of a decision influenced by society. Tim O’Brien, a character from On the Rainy River was faced with a dilemma about going to war or fleeing to Canada after being drafted to fight in the Vietnam war. The events that the Old man, Elroy bring Tim through, assist …show more content…

At twenty one years old he thought he had his life ahead of him. Tim received his draft notice on the seventeenth day of June in 1968. Once reality set in that he was drafted to the Vietnam war, he thought to himself, “ I was too good for this war.” This references how he viewed his own life and his intelligence. Tim would think to himself “Why not draft some back-to-the-stone-age hawk?” The impression that tim had was that his country would draft individuals who were nearing the end of their life within the next 10-20 years. Not some twenty one year old college graduate with his whole life ahead of him. After graduation college, his life was just beginning and then suddenly, a month after his graduation, it suddenly felt like it was ending. At twenty one years old Tim had a decision to make that would affect his future. Tim was confronted with a significant dilemma and had two options. Cave to the pressure that society had put on him and go fight in the war for his country or, flee to Canada and never see his family again. By choosing option two, he thought of himself as a coward and would feel the shame for the rest of his life. With Tim being so young and vulnerable to society, he decided to seek guidance that would help him make a decision about his significant dilemma he was confronted

Show More
Related

  • Tim O Brien On The Rainy River Hero's Journey

    1728 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, conveys, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”. In other words, Aristotle states that the gaining of self-knowledge provides an individual with the ability to know one’s personal gifts and accountabilities. To start one’s adult life a person must pursue the journey of self-discovery to learn in depth about their skills and weaknesses. Individuals must find themselves through the limitations and ordeals that they face during their voyage for self-awareness. For example, in Tim O’Brien’s short story, “On the Rainy River”, the narrator shares his story about self-discovery. O’Brien looks back into his past, to the time when he was called to serve in the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s initial

    Read More

  • The Cellist Of Sarajevo Character Analysis

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kenan is beginning to become weak, but instead of making it easier on himself, he chooses to put his family’s safety and security before his own needs and continues to fill the bottles alone. He thinks of his family’s pain before his and he realizes that, “If he is killed he does not want anyone in his family to witness it, as much as he would like their faces to be the last thing he sees” (27). Kenan also rejects the idea of asking for assistance from his son, because, “He knows his wife will never recover” (27) if he and his son die and he does not want to think about what might happen if, “his son alone die[s]” (27). Kenan’s rejection of help despite the fact that if the two of them made the trek for water it would result in a safer and faster trip shows that he would rather risk his life and risk his family’s. After this profound realization Kenan becomes a better person who is proud of his family’s life.

    Read More

  • David Metzenthen's Boys Of Blood And Bone

    1570 Words  | 4 Pages

    Looking towards the second protagonist, Andy can also be a good role model for young boys. Even though the events that lead Andy into the war are not admirable he does show great attributes during the war. Andy is a young man of courage, maturity, mate ship and just like Henry, integrity and honesty. When faced with danger Andy is quick to quite literally step up to the mark. In combat, the soldiers were hastily called to ‘man the fire step’. Andy showing bravery and courage was the first to volunteer himself, manning the fire step all through the night. It is through these sole actions the reader gets a taste of Henry and Andy’s personalities, highlighting the minor messages in this book such as honor, mate ship and responsibility. If we were to look at the boy’s love lives, we would see the more prevailing message of relationships. Henry and Andy both face hardships in their romantic lives. With Henry in a struggling, unhappy relationship with his girlfriend (Marcelle), Henry finds himself more attracted to his friend’s girlfriend (Janine). When his friend (Trot) is killed off the most un-fascinating and foreseeable way possible, it leaves Henry in a sticky situation. Through all this, Henry can stay true to his moral code just like a real Aussie. On the other side, Andy also gets himself into a sticky situation when he regrettably impregnates a girl (Frances-Jane) while in another relationship (Cecelia). However, Andy does not abandon Frances but instead turns to her and his unborn baby for comfort in his time of darkness and despair. He shows integrity and honesty by choosing to tell Cecelia the truth. In the time of Andy’s story this was an orthodox thing to do. The author accentuates the belief through that even if society tells you it’s the wrong thing to do it is sometimes best to stick to your morals. The actions of these young men are a good influence to the social,

    Read More

  • What Combat Requires in Philip Caputo's Rumor of War

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a psychological and physical battle for all the young men who were drafted or volunteered. Caputo's own reasons for volunteering illustrate the mentality for some of the men entering into this journey. Those who are inducted into Vietnam face disturbing moral dilemmas that can be expected in an "ethical wilderness." The draft introduced a myriad of young men to the once forgotten moral ambiguity of war. Average American citizens must balance right from wrong in a world without morals or meaning. Caputo himself struggles with the idea that killing in combat is morally justified.

    Read More

  • Exposing the Truth in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

    2203 Words  | 5 Pages

    Tim O'Brien, a Vietnam war vet, had similar experiences as the soldier above. Even though O'Brien didn't die, the war still took away his life because a part of him will never be the same. Even in 1995, almost thirty years after the war, O'Brien wrote, "Last night suicide was on my mind. Not whether, but how. Tonight it will be on my mind again... I sit in my underwear at this unblinking fool of a computer and try to wrap words around a few horrid truths" (Vietnam 560). 1 think that O'Brien is still suffering from what he experienced in Vietnam and he uses his writing to help him deal with his conflicts. In order to deal with war or other traumatic experiences, you sometimes just have to relive the experiences over and over. This is what O'Brien does with his writing; he expresses his emotional truths even if it means he has to change the facts of the literal truth.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Horses Of The Night

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    When individuals face obstacles in life, there is often two ways to respond to those hardships: some people choose to escape from the reality and live in an illusive world. Others choose to fight against the adversities and find a solution to solve the problems. These two ways may lead the individuals to a whole new perception. Those people who decide to escape may find themselves trapped into a worse or even disastrous situation and eventually lose all of their perceptions and hops to the world, and those who choose to fight against the obstacles may find themselves a good solution to the tragic world and turn their hopelessness into hopes. Margaret Laurence in her short story Horses of the Night discusses the idea of how individual’s responses

    Read More

  • On The Sidewalk Bleeding Themes

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    Consequently, Andy’s soul withered further into hopelessness as each and every person who came to his rescue, turned their backs on him. Through a final desperate ambition, Andy broke free of the bonds that were pinning him down: “If it had not been for the jacket, he wouldn’t have been stabbed. The knife had not been plunged in hatred of Andy. The knife only hated the purple jacket. The jacket was a stupid, meaningless thing that was robbing him of his life. He lay struggling with the shiny wet jacket. Pain ripped fire across his body whenever he moved. But he squirmed and fought and twisted until one arm was free and the other. He rolled away from the jacket and layed quite still, breathing heavily, listening to the sound of his breathing and the sounds of rain and thinking: Rain is sweet, I’m Andy”. In these moments, Andy finally overcame his situation, only in a way not expected by most. Such depicted scenes are prime examples of human nature at it’s worst, as well as the horrors that lay within us. However, these events, although previously incomprehensible by his limited subconscious, led to a gradual enlightenment of the mind and heart. Furthermore, the experiences taught him

    Read More

  • Values And Choices In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Life is made up of decisions and choices. Every single day, people make numerous decisions, some big and some small. Many choices can impact your entire life while others, like what you eat for breakfast, aren’t as important. However, all of your choices build the track for your life and make you who you are. The choices you make can be greatly impacted by your surroundings and environment. They are also made based on your values and beliefs. In the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael is a young fourteen year old boy thrown in the middle of Sierra Leone's civil war. During the war, Ishmael is given a series of obstacles where he is required to make important life choices that would impact his life greatly. At one part of Ishmael's

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...y crying not knowing what to do then he turned and peered back to the Minnesota shore line. “It was as real as anything I would ever feel. I saw my parents calling to me from the far shoreline. I saw my brother and sister, all the townsfolk, the mayor and the entire Chamber of Commerce and all my old teachers and girlfriends and high school buddies. Like some weird sporting event: everybody screaming from the sidelines, rooting me on” (58). This is when he knew he could not turn his back on his beloved country. All the wrong he felt the draft was he could not cross the border to flee from anything or anyone. This whole situation describes the rest of his life, but mainly his years in the Vietnam War. He would have to make decisions, decisions that would be hard but would have to do for the ones he loved.

    Read More

  • the things they carried

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of this story revolves around experiences that Tim O’Brien has had. And he certainly has changed from the beginning of the story (speaking chronologically) where he was no more than a scared civilian, who would do anything to escape such a fate as the draft. He would eventually become the war-hardened slightly cocky veteran that he is now. But it is only through his experiences that he would become who he is today. Through all the things he has witnessed. Whether it be watching curt lemon be almost literally "blown to heaven" to having killed a man and making assumptions about who he truly was. He made not have been most affected by the war, but it was he who was described in the most detail, due to the fact that he was describing in first person

    Read More

  • Importance Of Neutrality In My Brother Sam Is Dead

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    The cruel and unnecessary death of Tim’s best friend, Jerry, had a major impact on his choice of neutrality. Losing anybody in your life can make a drastic impact on a person’s life but it was the way Jerry had died that really made Tim think about his choice. Jerry had been taken by the

    Read More

  • The Man I Killed

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    The three character perspectives on war are interpreted entirely differently. Tim O’Brien is illustrated as the most sensitive soldier out of the three. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole.” (124). Tim’s sensitivity is revealed when he shows how bewildered he is as he stares at the lifeless Viet Cong body.

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River Literary Analysis

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life can sometime bring unwanted events that individuals might not be willing to face it. This was the conflict of O’Brien in the story, “On The Rainy River”. As the author and the character O’Brien describes his experiences about the draft to the Vietnam War. He face the conflict of whether he must or must not go to the war, in this moment O’Brien thinking that he is so good for war, and that he should not be lost in that way. He also show that he disagree with the consbet of the war, how killing people will benefit the country. In addition O’Brien was terrifying of the idea of leaving his family, friends, and everything that he has done in the past years.

    Read More

  • If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O'Brien

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tim O'Brien is confused about the Vietnam War. He is getting drafted into it, but is also protesting it. He gets to boot camp and finds it very difficult to know that he is going off to a country far away from home and fighting a war that he didn't believe was morally right. Before O'Brien gets to Vietnam he visits a military Chaplin about his problem with the war. "O'Brien I am really surprised to hear this. You're a good kid but you are betraying you country when you say these things"(60). This says a lot about O'Brien's views on the Vietnam War. In the reading of the book, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Tim O'Brien explains his struggles in boot camp and when he is a foot soldier in Vietnam.

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried - Themes

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tim O’Brien is drafted one month after graduating from Macalester College to fight a war he hated. Tim O’Brien believed he was above the war, and as a result pursued the alternative of escaping across the border to Canada. This understandable act is what Tim O’Brien considers an embarrassment to himself, and to others. When Tim O’Brien finds accommodation on the border to Canada, he meets Elroy Berdahl who eventually influences Tim O’Brien, to change. Elroy Berdahl acts as a mentor to Tim, a figure that remains detached in the sense that he must provide enough support and understanding without being attached to the results.

    Read More

More about Tim O Brien Dilemmas

Open Document