On The Rainy River Critical Analysis

Since he was unable to make the leap towards Canada, “upstream” against the current, he went to the war. Right after he “submitted,” he cried “loud, hard.” Tim realized he was coward because he was “ashamed to be doing the right thing.” After his realization, he lost a significant part of his identity- his courage, even though it was illusionary. He didn’t look at himself the same way again. He called himself a “coward” at the end of the story, because he “went to the war.” His cowardness stemmed from the fact that he could not gather enough courage to move to Canada. After his illusion shattered, he lost his illusionary courage. Before and upon arrival of the draft notice, Tim believed that he had the courage to behave like a hero however, as the story progressed, he lost his courage. He made the decision to run to Canada, however when it came time to act upon the decision, he failed. Ultimately, Tim ended up feeling like a coward, as it “is not a happy

He states that “[He] would go to war- [He] would kill and maybe die- because [He] was embarrassed” (O’Brien 57). He soon realized that he should have escaped when he had the chance because it was better than experiencing the horrors and traumatic experiences that soldiers go through. Sometimes what society thinks can get the best of you and lead you to do things that are against your beliefs and morals. This is what Tim is trying to say through the book to the readers who might find themselves in similar situations.

Feared leaving his life behind(family,friends,etc) (page 5). The thought of leaving his life behind forces Tim O'Brien to renounce his actions as he does not want them to face the ridicule that his family may faced by other townspeople and he did not want to disappoint

An outsider is a person who is rejected by others due to being unusual or peculiar. Often that people who are outcast are ostracized and shunned. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a novel about how young boys unattended on an island become savage and corrupt as they try to get back home. The novel explores the details of Piggy, one of the major characters, who is very different from the rest of the boys. Annoying and whiny, he is eventually ostracized by most of the other boys who think he is an unnecessary burden to their survival. Piggy is often bullied and made fun of for his obese body and intelligence. There are an abundance of adjectives that can be used to describe Piggy, but the one word that fits Piggy the most is outsider.

The short story “On The Rainy River” is written through the perspective of O’Brien in present day and as a young faced with a draft notice for Vietnam War. In “On The Rainy River,” O’brien portrays the importance of bravery in an individual through the use of symbolism, powerful tone, and reflective point of view.

In addition, Tim is torn between both sides. He asks why Sam has to be not nice to Father and tells him that he had it nice; he had money for books and studies that Father sent him. He asks, “Listen, Sam, why do you always have to get into a fight with Father?” (Collier and Collier, 15). According to later chapters Tim looks up to both his father and brother. The split between father and brother causes his dilemma. After being torn between sides and fighting about the sides, it is evident that war tears families apart.

In a later discussion, O’Brien said the chapter “On The Rainy River” is not a true story. The chapter is a fictionalized account of what would’ve happened if he ran away to avoid the draft like he wanted to. This same strategy was applied when he wrote “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”. While O’Brien was in Vietnam, Someone likely joked about how easy it would be to bring a girl to their base. He takes the concept and makes uses it as a vehicle to discuss innocence. We are even told in the beginning to the chapter that the story comes from Rat Kiley who has a history of exaggeration and spicing up stories (Citation Needed for Paraphrase)

What is an outsider? An outsider is a person who is not excepted by or is isolated by society. Have you ever been an “outsider”? Everyone experiences a situation where they weren’t able to fit in. The feeling of not being able to fit it is universal. Not everyone is the same and in certain situations you may not be able to bond with everyone. Everyone is focused on being judged or being the person who is judging someone. If you are not like everyone in your society group, those people don’t except you. Nowadays our society feels that if you aren’t up to people’s expectations, you are known to be an “outsider”. Being an outsider is universal because not everyone is social, not everyone can afford nice things and not everyone is popular.

This makes fills Tim with the sense of unfairness seen throughout the war. Because Tim witnesses the cruel death of his brother Sam, he becomes an anti-war and resolves to not participate in it’s

The character that’s made an outsider is Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is an outsider because of his skin colour, and was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. But him being black was the main reason as to why he was the outsider.

In this sense Tim feels very betrayed because his family and friend are

Tim O’brien in chapter 4 “Rainy River” in The Things They Carried claims that courage comes “to us in finite quantities like an inheritance”. He claims that courage can be stashed away until the day that it's needed like money. Obriens use of complex sentences and serious tone affects the reader in a strong way making his argument look more correct . O’briens argument about courage was shown well however, i didn't feel it was effective because, I simply didn't agree with his argument. O’briens analogy seems like a good comparison to the claim that he tries to make towards courage.

Traitor! They yelled. Turncoat!”(pg.57). In this quote, Tim heard voices of people called him names that described him practically less than a man.

In choosing the side he is on, Tim didn’t look at which one helps the country and the people, instead, he focused on which has a better uniform and which Sam and father stood with. In addition, scenes that took place in the tavern also developed Tim’s early

Tim wanted to go to Canada, even though he had the complete opportunity to run away. He saw everyone he knew on the borderline calling him names like a coward and a traitor. This imagery shows how powerful society can be when it comes to making decisions for us. Tim was influenced by his country and family to go to war, which means he is risking his life just so he is not embarrassed and humiliated. When he returned home he told himself, “I was a coward. I went to the war”(Tim O’Brien page 84). Tim does not know how to deal with the conundrum of abiding by his moral principles and the influences of his family, friends and society. It shows how society can make anyone conform to be the same and to do what everyone else is doing. Since it took 20 years to tell his story, it demonstrates how society can make a person feel wrong and make them feel that they don’t deserve to pursue their own ideas. Did Tim make the right choice when he went to war? Society would say yes since he conformed to society and went to war. Even though he called himself a coward for going to war he would of called himself a bigger coward for fleeing to