Tim O Brien's On The Rainy River

All stories have three things: the rising action, the climax, and the falling action. Each have their specific purpose within the story. In the text “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien uses the character Elroy Berdahl to shape the climax and falling action of the text.
Elroy is a very quiet character in the story; this is shown on page 179 when O’Brien says “[Elroy] had a way of compressing large thoughts into small, cryptic packets of language.” By not speaking much, Elroy gives O’Brien the space he needs. Tim O’Brien comments about his surprise on page 181 by saying, “He never put me in a position that required lies or denial...even if I’d been walking around with some horrible deformity - four arms and three heads - I’m sure the old man would’ve talked about everything except those extra arms and heads.” This further advances the point that

This is a river that runs between the United States and Canada. By taking O’Brien on this trip, Elroy allows the climax to happen. O’Brien is able to chose running away to Canada or going to war. As O’Brien struggles to come to his decision, Elroy remained quiet. O’Brien writes about this and says “[Elroy’s] presences, hise mute watchfulness made it real. He was the true audience. He was a witness, like God or like the gods, who look on in absolute silence as we live our lives.” By comparing Elroy to God, O’Brien is able to show how much of an impact Elroy’s silence has had on the young post-war O’Brien. Elroy allowed O’Brien to make decisions without putting pressure on O’Brien. As Tim O’Brien is reflecting back on these moments by saying that Elroy is “the hero of my life.” Elroy’s non-judgemental silence shaped the climax and gave O’Brien the strength to make the decision of going to war. Through his cryptic and silent ways, Elroy gives O’Brien the power to decide his future without having the pressure he would have had back at