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 …show more content…
These feelings drive O’Brien to seek out a journey in order to find out what is truly valuable to his self being. His adventure of self-knowledge mirrors the narrative archetype of the Hero’s Quest. One might argue that as a result of O’Brien’s uncooperative nature towards his circumstances, he is able to pursue the main motive of the Hero’s Journey, in which he departs from his ordinary world and is able to obtain the life treasure of self-acknowledgement. Tim O’Brien begins his journey as a young “politically naive” man and has recently graduated out of Macalester College in the United States of America. O’Brien’s plan for the future is steady, but this quickly changes as a call to an adventure ruins his expected path in life. In June of 1968, he receives a draft notice, sharing details about his eventual service in the Vietnam War. He is not against war, but this certain war seemed immoral and insignificant to Tim O’Brien. The “very facts were shrouded in uncertainty”, which indicates that the basis of the war isn’t well known and perceived …show more content…
Tim O’Brien is “exhausted and scared sick”. His decision has taken its toll on him, mentally and physically. He decides to find a place to lay low and rest up before he finally crosses the threshold between two separate lifestyles. O’Brien encounters a fishing resort called the Tip Top Lodge. In that location, he meets someone named Elroy Berdahl, an 81 year old man whom O’Brien calls, “the hero of my life”. This foreshadows that the old man creates a long lasting effect on O’Brien and models the path the narrator will take in the future. Berdahl is later revealed to be the man that O’Brien feels an overwhelming gratitude towards and thinks of the man as a mentor. It is explained that the old man was a pillar for the narrator during this time of crisis and hesitation. He does not ask O’Brien many personal questions and gives the narrator advice and opportunities. This allows Tim O’Brien to feel more secure and minimizes the chances of O’Brien leaving in fear of judgment. Although the old man is generous and giving, he is not ignorant about O’Brien’s true motives of freedom. He does not criticize his decisions, but rather encourages him through his giving of money and the authorizing of O’Brien a place in his lodge. Elroy Berdahl provides O’Brien a place to reflect and the support needed to get through this time of significant
The best quality stories do not have to be the most popular ones. After being raised in the wild, Atalanta becomes an amazing huntress with unbelievable speed. She rises to fame by killing an seemingly unkillable boar, and as a result she gains many suitors, one of which outwits her to seal her unwanted fate. Many different heroes in lots of different cultures follow a series of events in their lifetime leading to the achievement of their goal as well as the zap back to reality. Joseph Campbell refers to this process as The Hero's Journey. Atalanta skips up the staircase of the Hero's journey leaping over some steps.
Tim O'Briens' Perspective and Statements in Regard to Storytelling and Relationship to the Truth in The Things They Carried
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. The literal truth, or some of the things that happen during war, are so horrible that you don't want to believe that it could've actually happened. For instance, "[o]ne colonel wanted the hearts cut out of the dead Vietcong to feed to his dog..
Raymond, Michael W. "Imagined Responses to Vietnam: Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato. Critique 24 (Winter 1983).
Tim O’Brien is doing the best he can to stay true to the story for his fellow soldiers. Tim O’Brien believed that by writing the story of soldiers in war as he saw it brings some type of justice to soldiers in a war situation.
Tim O’Brien is an American writer who has written many stories regarding the attitude toward and difficulties associated with the Vietnam War. O’Brien was drafted for the military despite his anti-war beliefs; he served two years as an infantryman in Vietnam, where he received the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart. He may have not agreed with the situation he was subject to,
Tim is a well educated graduating student from Macalester College and a man who sometimes gets sidetracked with his own fantasy world presented in the first paragraph “Tim O’Brien: a secret hero. The Lone Ranger. If the stakes ever become high enough-if the evil were evil enough, if the good were good enough-I would simply tap a secret reservoir of courage that had been accumulating inside me over the years” which shows how individualistic Tim is and his wishes to be able to control his courage which he later explains “offered hope and grace”. Tim is a self-confident character, but imagining himself going to war is not in his best interest as he holds himself to the highest standard stating “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it.”. Tim had experienced the outdoors and despised of it; he loved his studies and the thought of him receiving scholarships to further educate himself motivated him even more. One of the most compelling evidence that causes Tim to change his mind is when Tim is on a fishing boat with Elroy and Tim begins to see an illusion of his family, friends, his past teachers and others that have been involved in his life. Such an event caused a dramatic change in Tim as gives up his hope of going to Canada and states “And right then I submitted. I would go to war-I would kill and maybe die-because I was embarrassed not to.”. Ultimately, Tim’s decision of heading to war was meat because of his family and friends little did he know of the regret this decision would cause
The Hero’s Journey is an ancient archetype that we find throughout our modern life and also, in the world of literature.Whether metaphorical or real, the journey that a character goes on shows not only the incredible transformation of the hero but it also gives them their life meaning. It is the ultimate human experience and it reflects on every aspect of life. Take Logan, also known as Wolverine, from the X-Men movie as an example. His adventure starts with “The Call,” which is the first step of the Hero’s Journey. This step happens due to the realization of imbalance and injustice that the character has in their life. Logan steps into the first stage of the pattern but is hesitant to start his adventure because he does not know what and
These next three stages are the meat of the story since it has most of the content. The fourth stage is “meeting the mentors” and the one of the mentors he encounters is a Gypsy. He initially goes to the Gypsy to interpret what dreams mean but does not get that much help since she tells him to go and pursue the dream and go on his quest. Even though she is considered a mentor but does not act like it, she gives Santiago the first push and wisdom to start his journey. He then runs into a man named Melchizedek who gives him another piece of wisdom about personal legends and offers him two stones for when he is in need of answers. He then makes the courageous decision and the official action of the start of his journey by selling his sheep
The author was a protagonist in which he was a middle aged writer and was also a Vietnam War veteran. The focus of the novel is mostly of the author “O'Brien's" remembering of the past and changing the details of these memories of his service in Vietnam into meaning. The author, Tim O'Brien, illuminates the characters of the men with whom he served and draws meaning about the war from meditations on their relationships. One of the example to prove that he was a character in the story was the section “On the Rainy River”. This chapter basically talks about the author’s point of view. He starts the story, "In June of 1968, I was drafted to fight a war I hated" (pg. 40) the chapter goes on to show his feelings and reactions about being drafted into the war. It shows that Tim O'Brien is human, and that he has his faults just like everyone else. A few months after getting his draft card and notice, in mid-July, Tim thought "I began thinking seriously about Canada. The border lay a few hundred lies north, an eight-hour drive. Both my conscience and my instincts were telling me to make a break for it, just take off and run like hell and never stop." (pg. 44) This shows a sign of a coward’s way of leaving the war. This considers to be a paradox in which in order for him to be courageous, he acted more like a
Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his short story “The Things They Carried” presents the effects of the war on its young soldiers. The treatment of veterans after their return also affects them. The Vietnam War was different from other wars, because too many in the U.S. the soldiers did not return as heroes but as cruel, wicked, and drug addicted men. The public directs its distaste towards the war at the soldiers, as if they are to blame. The also Veterans had little support from the government who pulled them away from their families to fight through the draft. Some men were not able to receive the help they needed because the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) did not show until a year
The author, Tim O'Brien, is writing about an experience of a tour in the Vietnam conflict. This short story deals with inner conflicts of some individual soldiers and how they chose to deal with the realities of the Vietnam conflict, each in their own individual way as men, as soldiers.
O’Brien shows that imagination can help us do things that could not be done in real life. According to Tobey Herzog, “O’Brien invents a soldier-author narrator, also named Tim O’Brien, to tell stories of his life and Vietnam War experiences, to relate war stories told to him by other soldiers, and to comment on the art of storytelling…” (104). Tobey Herzog is saying that O’Brien was able to invent another version of himself in the novel so he would be able to tell stories of his life and also other characters’ life stories. O’Brien tries to invent something that he has never done before. When O’Brien got drafted to the war, he did not want to go. He uses his story chara...
For centuries, authors have been writing stories about man's journey of self-discovery. Spanning almost three-thousand years, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer's Odyssey, and Dante's Inferno are three stories where a journey of self-discovery is central to the plot. The main characters, Gilgamesh, Telemachus, and Dante, respectively, find themselves making a journey that ultimately changes them for the better. The journeys may not be exactly the same, but they do share a common chain of events. Character deficiencies and external events force these three characters to embark on a journey that may be physical, metaphorical, or both. As their journeys progress, each man is forced to overcome certain obstacles and hardships. At the end of the journey, each man has been changed, both mentally and spiritually. These timeless tales relate a message that readers throughout the ages can understand and relate to.
The 1960’s was a decade full of changes and advancements. Events from the 1950’s greatly influenced those of the sixties. The existentialism movement in the fifties led to the evolution of the hippie culture. Not only was this decade full of positive changes and advancements, but the nation dealt with many heated movements as well. Debates as well as intense wars caused times of turbulence. The Vietnam War was fought between America and Vietnam. Many American men were drafted for the war with no choice. One such draftee was a man named Tim O’Brien who, because of the war, became a writer. Tim O’Brien, an author and a Vietnam War veteran, pinpoints the major aspects of the decade in his writing. Tim O’Brien’s short story, “The Things They Carried”, published in 1990, uses symbolism and recurring motifs and themes that fully embody the great turbulence of the decade, and act to connect his work with the Vietnam War.