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Tim o brien how to tell a true war story
Tim o'brien on the rainy river analysis
On the rainy river by tim o'brien critical essay
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On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brien 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. This idea and the drafted make decide to run away from his responsibility and from his society. However, the feeling of shame embarrassed and bring crowed in the eyes of his family and friends make him go to war. After being drafted, a lot of ideas and thoughts came to his mind. O’Brien thought about what will do if he goes war and how his life will be after if he srvral. For example, “I imag...
O’Brien looks back into his past, to the time when he was called to serve in the Vietnam War. O’Brien’s initial
Before O’Brien was drafted into the army, he had an all American childhood. As talked about “His mother was an elementary school teacher, his father an insurance salesman and sailor in World War II” (O’Brien). He spent his tour of duty from 1969 to 1970 as a foot soldier. He was sent home when he got hit with a shrapnel in a grenade attack. O’Brien says as the narrator, “As a fiction writer, I do not write just about the world we live in, but I also write about the world we ought to live in, and could, which is a world of imagination.” (O’Brien)
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.
In the chapter the “Rainy River” of the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien conveys a deep moral conflict between fleeing the war to go to Canada versus staying and fighting in a war that he does not support. O’Brien is an educated man, a full time law student at Harvard and a liberal person who sees war as a pointless activity for dimwitted, war hungry men. His status makes him naive to the fact that he will be drafted into the war and thus when he receives his draft notice, he is shocked. Furthermore, his anti-war sentiments are thoroughly projected, and he unravels into a moral dilemma between finding freedom in Canada or standing his ground and fighting. An image of a rainy river marking the border between Minnesota and Canada is representative of this chapter because it reflects O’Brien’s moral division between finding freedom in Canada or standing his ground and fighting in the Vietnam war.
Millions of men were called to serve in the Vietnam War. Sometimes, the men were drafted and did not have a choice. Unlike the gift-wrapped ideals of the war that were displayed to the United States, many soldiers would find that the military life would involve far more than “real man-sized action.” To the general public, soldiers were being drafted to be heroes, but once they were forced into war, less than heroic things occurred, and no one would be able to object. The law...
As evidenced by his words, it was not simply a matter of going over there at the age of seventeen to fight for one’s country. Rather, it was a matter of leaving behind the safety and security of the home to which you were accustomed, with little expectation of returning. At a time when these ‘kids’ should have been enjoying, they were burdened with the the trepidation of being drafted.
To start, the chapter begins with O’Brien letting the readers know that the story he is about to tell “is one story [he has] never told before” (37). Here, he is immediately adding that loaded diction, informing the readers that this story is very sentimental to him. This was a very big turning point in O’Brien’s life because he thought that running away from his problems and his life would solve everything make him forget about the war, but little did he know that this in fact has made him think about it even more. As his story goes on, he starts to ponder on the war more and more ever since he has gotten the draft. O’Brien describes the time when he first got his draft, he explains, “I remember opening
The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
He states that as a soldier, there is so much to soak in from war scenes that it all becomes a muddled mess. Therefore, the story of the moment can be different from each soldier’s perspective due to the parts where each man puts in his own ideas. This leads to some speculation as to whether or not O’Brien’s stories are true or false.
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.
The unveiling of a piece of artwork symbolises the gradual revelation of the girl’s feelings. At the beginning of the text she seems to have no emotions, “Live. Survive. They’re the same thing” and “she thought the thoughts of a machine.” She is portrayed as robot-like and is not in possession of feelings or vulnerability. However, over the course of the story, she progressively gives in to her overwhelming, pressing emotions. “She took off her watch and bikini and lay in the sun” and “She ran naked down to the water.” This can be perceived as the beginning of the exposing of her emotion; her nakedness introduces a sense of vulnerability, a quality not associated with machines. In addition, the leaving behind of her watch reinforces the idea of the deterioration of her ‘robotness’. The watch is a symbol of time and regulation, the girl choosing to abandon it, represents her no longer needing to rely on regulation and control. By the end of the story, her true emotions had surfaced, “No, you old bitch” and “She cut through the water and filled up cold with anger”. She is no longer machine–like and automatic. This final display of emotion is represented through the uncovering of the artwork. The man whom is uncovering the piece symbolises the mother. It essentially was the girl’s mother who filled her daughter’s head with her “stupid, recurring statements” and as a result, emotion. Furthermore, the exposure of her emotions coinciding with her death implies that, although emotions are stereotyped as something beautiful to share, her emotions were engulfing and devastating. In conclusion, the disintegrating of her ‘robot-like’ armor is represented through the uncovering of a piece of artwork.
...is story, Hemingway brings the readers back the war and see what it caused to human as well as shows that how the war can change a man's life forever. We think that just people who have been exposed to the war can deeply understand the unfortunates, tolls, and devastates of the war. He also shared and deeply sympathized sorrows of who took part in the war; the soldiers because they were not only put aside the combat, the war also keeps them away from community; people hated them as known they are officers and often shouted " down with officers" as they passing. We have found any blue and mournful tone in this story but we feel something bitter, a bitter sarcasm. As the war passing, the soldiers would not themselves any more, they became another ones; hunting hawks, emotionless. They lost everything that a normal man can have in the life. the war rob all they have.
Behind every war there is supposed to be a moral—some reason for fighting. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. O’Brien relays to the readers the truth of the Vietnam War through the graphic descriptions of the man that he killed. After killing the man O’Brien was supposed to feel relief, even victory, but instead he feels grief of killing a man that was not what he had expected. O’Brien is supposed to be the winner, but ends up feeling like the loser. Ironically, the moral or lesson in The Things They Carried is that there is no morality in war. War is vague and illogical because it forces humans into extreme situations that have no obvious solutions.
After spending a class talking about Hemingway, in particular, "Big Two-Hearted River," I found it most appropriate to reflect on his life after the war and how things can affect one`s mental health. I believe everyone in this world has some kind of difficulties in their life and therefore I think many people can relate to Hemingway. However, I am with the understanding that people experience different levels of difficulties in their life but that in one way or another we can all connect with the essay.
...nd embarrassed with their true desires not to fight. There is no freewill at this point because they feel obligated to be the patriotic men. They are confused not knowing the reason for this war but that it is “to stop the Communists, plain and simple” (O’Brien 45). Unfortunately is it not plain and simple, even a million words would not be able to express the experiences that these young men endure. Unlike the Lone Ranger, the soldiers would rather flee due to the natural human instincts toward a dangerous situation. Yet, they suppress their true feelings and fight with all they have. As we can see, the ones that fight to help people that they hardly know are indeed the regular, normal, and everyday human beings. With this in mind, we cannot count on the Lone Ranger to come to the rescue; rather, the heroes are right before our eyes. They are an “everyman.”