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Society has implemented an ever-changing set of social normalities that are followed by citizens but are not always enforced by a physical force. These standards often place men as the fighters, the reinforcement for civilization. Not all people believe in these ideals that are placed though, often putting their own beliefs before those of the collective. Tim O’Brien displays this conflict of interests through his story “On The Rainy River” which is a tale of his conscription into the Vietnam War and the internal battle of either facing fate or deserting. Emotional courage gives the strength to deal with separation, especially if it is an internal separation of morals and instinct. Going against the social norms require immense amounts of emotional …show more content…
courage, especially if it means traveling outside the comfort zone, all that matters, in the end, is staying true to the ideals that have been developed. The comfort zone is a space of anonymity, one that provides a sense of structure and safety in an otherwise dangerous world.
This safe space can often provide a false sense of security to those that do not prepare themselves for the possibility of being removed from safety. O’Brien faces this fact when his conscription notice arrives. O’Brien could never understand the war, he saw “no unity of purpose,” (O'Brien, 173) He has always believed that he was above the war, that he was “too smart, too compassionate” (O’Brien, 173) for the war, but the conflict has no standards. He was forced to make a decision, either fight for his country and face death head-on or flee to Canada and face harassment and disappointment by his family and members of his community. He decided to leave for Canada in order to preserve himself and his ideals, where he meets Elroy Berdahl. He takes O’Brien to the border on a lake, in order to give him some mental clarity to make his decision. He realizes the folly in his decision and returns to America in order to fight in the war. He may have been pushed out of his comfort zone by fighting in the war but he still does not understand why “certain blood was being split for uncertain reasons”(O’Brien, 173), thus holding onto his
ideals. Values are created throughout an individual's life through experiences. These ideas are used to determine how an individual acts, thinks and how they react to world issues. The popular opinion of society may not be directly in line with the personal moral beliefs of a single person, and pressure from a larger group can overwhelm and assimilate those that stand against them. This can cause a rift between people, separating them from each other. Emotional courage is a powerful tool that can be used to combat this assimilation attempt in order to stay true to your ideals, as it provides mental clarity to an otherwise confusing and conflicting matter. O’Brien ran from the drafting for the Vietnam War because he believed “the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong.” (O’Brien, 172-173) He flees because he has no desire to take part in the senseless killings; thus displaying his ideals to the reader. While he did eventually take part in the war, earning the rank of Sergeant, he still believed that he was a coward because he caved into the peer pressure. He may have been separated from his unwillingness to fight, but he still used emotional courage to recognize that he made a mistake instead of entirely assimilating to the views of others. Not only was there a need for O’Brien to preserve his ideals, there was a personal need for survival. That evolutionary trait of fight or flight encouraged him to run from the impending danger in order to survive. His need to survive overtook the possibility of facing the danger, and defeating it. “It’s a blur now, as it was then, and all I remember is a sense of high velocity” (O’Brien, 177) This was the adrenaline that coursed through his body, protecting his existence. The only way he was able to overcome this chemical reaction was with the use of emotional courage which was provided by his experience with Elroy Berdahl. These six days of separation from the rest of society provided Tim with clarity of mind to decide what course of action to take, and how to proceed in a manner that still follows the rules that has set in place for himself. “All of us, I suppose, like to believe that in a moral emergency we will behave like the heroes of our youth, bravely and forthrightly,” (O’Brien, 172) Emotional courage is a trait that is not often tested unless it is the most dire of circumstances, a life or death situation. Tim O’Brien is thrown into said circumstances when he receives his letter for conscription. This letter creates an internal battle, either fight and possibly die, or flee and live with the embarrassment of being weak. Emotional courage gives the strength to deal with separation, especially if it is an internal struggle. Going against the social norms require immense amounts of emotional courage, especially if it means traveling outside of an individual's comfort zone, all that matters, in the end, is staying true to the ideals that have been developed.
Author and historian, Carol Sheriff, completed the award winning book The Artificial River, which chronicles the construction of the Erie Canal from 1817 to 1862, in 1996. In this book, Sheriff writes in a manner that makes the events, changes, and feelings surrounding the Erie Canal’s construction accessible to the general public. Terms she uses within the work are fully explained, and much of her content is first hand information gathered from ordinary people who lived near the Canal. This book covers a range of issues including reform, religious and workers’ rights, the environment, and the market revolution. Sheriff’s primary aim in this piece is to illustrate how the construction of the Erie Canal affected the peoples’ views on these issues.
Tina Chen’s critical essay provides information on how returning soldiers aren’t able to connect to society and the theme of alienation and displacement that O’Brien discussed in his stories. To explain, soldiers returning from war feel alienated because they cannot come to terms with what they saw and what they did in battle. Next, Chen discusses how O’Brien talks about soldiers reminiscing about home instead of focusing in the field and how, when something bad happens, it is because they weren’t focused on the field. Finally, when soldiers returned home they felt alienated from the country and
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.
The figurative language of O’Brien “slipping out of his skin” emphasizes O’Brien’s narrow-minded picture of being drafted and going into war. The feeling of not knowing motivated O’Brien to want to escape the draft. O’Brien illustrates Canada in great detail so the reader may understand the scenery, which was a motivation for O’Brien wanting to escape war. “All around us, there was a vastness to the world, an unpeopled rawness, just the trees and the sky and the water reaching out toward nowhere.” (O’Brien 53) The words, “unpeopled rawness” projects the detail that the emptiness of the scenery-no people just nature-made O’Brien want to escape the draft, because he was not ready to face that type of reality, which would see unfamiliar faces. The river represents another motivation for O’Brien wanting to escape the draft. “I could’ve done it. I
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,
This shows that there was something wrong with O’Brien before he went to war. It also helps to show that the problem was made worse by the war. O’Brien says that “something has gone wrong”. I’d come to this war a quiet, thoughtful sort of person, a college grad.but after the seven months in the bush I realized that those high, civilized trappings had somehow been crushed under the weight of the simple daily realities (200).” O’Brien had directly stated his realization that the war had changed him.
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
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.
...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.
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.
O’Brien’s unique verisimilitude writing style fills the novel with deep meaning and emotion. Analyzing the novel through a psychological lens only adds to its allure. Understanding why characters act the way they do helps bring this novel to life. The reader begins to empathize with the characters. Every day, the soldiers’ lives hang in the balance. How these soldiers react to life-threatening situations will inspire the reader. Life has an expiration date. Reading about people who are held captive by their minds and who die in the name of war, will inspire the reader to live everyday as if they are currently in the
Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero.
"Speaking of Courage" in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, is more than a story about a soldier's personal experience of the Vietnam War. It is more than a story about his fight for his country, God, and fellow soldiers, and not to mention his return home. "Speaking of Courage" is not only an allegorical story about the disconnection between Vietnam and the rest of the world, but also an allegory about the disconnection between the soldiers and the life they once led.
Love has the power to do anything. Love can heal and love can hurt. Love is something that is indescribable and difficult to understand. Love is a feeling that cannot be accurately expressed by a word. In the poem “The Rain” by Robert Creeley, the experience of love is painted and explored through a metaphor. The speaker in the poem compares love to rain and he explains how he wants love to be like rain. Love is a beautiful concept and through the abstract comparison to rain a person is assisted in developing a concrete understanding of what love is. True beauty is illuminated by true love and vice versa. In other words, the beauty of love and all that it entails is something true.
... could not help themselves, they were not going to be helped. If struggle were encountered, men had personalized ways to reconnect with the real world, and if a tragedy were encountered which affected the entire company, they also found a combined way to cope with this pressure. The priorities of men during the war shifted greatly toward emotional connections to people and events other than the war, and it was these connections that helped them survive and return home. Coping with the stress and burden of war is not an easy task for anyone, yet in The Things they Carried, O'Brien depicts men dealing and coping as much as they can, using only their primeval resources. They learn how to cope with the barest necessities in life, and they learn how to make use of the smallest opportunities to obtain the most relief and joy from every moment in life.