In this writing he can almost put the reader in his shoes. This was a pointless war that many young men were forced into. He didn't want to be there but he feels it is his responsibility and is to coward to just run away from it even though he has the chance when he is on the boat with Elroy in the chapter " On the Rainy River". That last sentence may have confused the reader of this essay a little. They might be thinking to themselves, " wouldn't running away from the war make them a coward apples to going to it" and that's what you should think. But O' Brien states in the book not doing what you think is right is coward. He wants to just run away from it all but is to worried about what his friends and family will think of him. He lets the opinions of others get in the way of what he wants which he defines as…
The relationship between fiction and nonfiction is very elaborate. The book, The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle deals with a family experiencing accidents each year in October and now they want to figure out why. In the book, Cara and her ex-step-brother accidentally fall in love. This tends to happen more often than we think in the world we live in. Fiction is a story that is created from your imagination but can also be inspired by true events. Nonfiction is a true story about real people and real events. But fiction reading is able to influence our ideas about real life.…
Tim O'Brien's Essay In 1968, the great country of America was divided and the controversial Vietnam war was the reason for that. In the story, On The Rainy River by Tim O’Brien, the author receives a notice from the government informing him that he has been drafted to fight in Vietnam. Tim O'Brien must now make the choice to either run to Canada and bring shame to his family or serve in one of the most deadly wars and hope to survive. This essay will explain why Tim O’Brien made a more honorable choice by serving in the war then running from it.…
| |Literary fiction─ one of two main types of fiction─ can be more specified in the…
Through different stories, events, and mental images of what Vietnam War was like, O’Brien expresses how guilt plays a roll on the decisions made. “On the Rainy River” describes O’Brien’s experience with his own guilt. He was completely against the war and wanted no part of it. He found that war wasn’t important.…
“I would not be brave. That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a threadbare pipe dream.” The impasse reached by Tim O’Brien as mentioned in “On The Rainy River” was between his moral stance on the war and the preservation of his reputation. Rather than the blatantly obvious external conflict of the war this retelling emphasises the internal conflict and angst felt by the young men sentenced to fight in it. The personal battle mainly stems from the conflicting emotions of Tim O’Brien as if he stays true to his morals then he faces exiled, losing the respect of his parents or being subjected to ridicule. Whereas if he goes then he will be going against his own morals which are telling him to run for the sake of his family, his friends and most importantly, his sanity.…
After 22 years of fighting and life after war, O’Brien undoubtedly has a different outlook on life and the concept of courage. His experiences and the experiences of those who he surrounded himself with suggests that at the age of 43, O’Brien would have thought that courageous people do not wait for an opportunity to show their courage, they are always courageous. The influence of war has left a permanent mark on O’Brien and according to “On the Rainy River” he regrets his decision. The last three sentences of the chapter are “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to war” (61) which are written by 43-year old O’Brien and suggest that his choice to go to war was the wrong decision and the consequences are all of the emotional and physical burdens that he left Vietnam with. All of the decisions made in the story had a consequence, whether good or bad, and have changed the men (and women) in the story in some…
In the beginning of the story he finds out that he has made a mistake in joining the army he’s scared out of his mind. He kept dreaming about times where he was safe or at home with his parents. He envisions the future of him being alive and having war buddies and talking about his war experiences with them. He wasn’t just scared of dying, he’s also scared of fear itself, ha, that’s ironic isn’t it. He wants to share with his parents all the details of his experiences but he doesn’t want to tell them how scared he was so they would be proud of him.…
Fiction is an attempt to tell the truth about things we generally lie about. I agree because authors write books that tell every thing like it is and that it seems right but is very wrong, and they tell it with out censorship and make readers think is that the way friends, family , and strangers think too because I can’t read their minds?…
“On the Rainy River” is O’Brien’s true confession of how he got drafted. The year is 1968 and Tim is a successful college student, on his way to Harvard graduate school, politically and morally opposed to the Vietnam War. Yet, he is also a small-town boy raised to be patriotic and dutiful, worried about the embarrassment he’d bring upon himself and his family if he dodged the draft. And so O’Brien takes us on his harrowing escape to the wilderness of Minnesota, right up to the border with Canada, where he tries to cross, wills himself to do it, does it, only (of course, we know the outcome) to cross back for all the wrong reasons. The most uncanny story in the book is “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.” It’s a tale of a soldier who brings his Ohio sweetheart out to the jungle to keep him company. Without giving too much away, let’s just say she arrives in her cream blouse and pink skirt, and leaves . . . but wait, she doesn’t leave. What happens to Mary Anne is a chilling tale of the extremes of yourself war takes you to, and sometimes…
In an elementary curriculum, students must be able to determine the difference between a book that is fiction and a book that is non-fiction in the library. Most will tell you the gimmick, “Fiction means “fake” and non-fiction means “not fake””. While yes these kids are correct what happens when something is in-between- not fake, but not all real? The muddy water in-between is called literary non-fiction. Truman Capote brought this genre to the surface of the literary world with his 1966 novel, In Cold Blood, the followings of the aftermath of the Clutter family from Kansas. Thought the novel, Capote shows that to have a good piece of literary non-fiction, the author must have a good imagination, use a sustainable topic and heavily research their topic. Literary Non-Fiction is a type of prose that employs the literary techniques usually associated with fiction or poetry to report on persons, places, and events in the real world.…
"the big river rolls past our town takes a slow look and rolls away". Good morning/Afternoon everyone By The River a novel written by Steven Herrick successfully conveys the significant ideas about human nature within his verse novel. Herricks is able to show this by exploring three key themes Grief, Relationships and Coming of age throughout his novel by using symbolism, metaphors and similes.…
In the story “ Rainy River” the author goes through a lot of discomfort, confusion, and anxiety. He intentionally chooses words and phrases to evoke those emotions in his readers. “In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated.” The author didn’t want to fight in the war. He believed that it was wrong. He goes on to explain these feelings by giving reasons why he shouldn’t have to fight in the war. The author also states “ I was wired and jittery. My skin felt too tight. After supper one evening I vomited and went back to my cabin and lay down for a few moments and then vomited again;” The author showed his emotions in this statement a lot because it shows how anxious he was. He is confused…
“On the rainy river” is a short story that wonderfully depicts the showing of the time in 1968 where men were sent letters in the mail that drafted them into the war with a mentality that men are stronger and cannot show fear or emotion. These men had a feeling of shame and unmanly which imposed them to sexism towards the women in the society.…
2.What is the narrator's attitude toward war? Does his attitude differ from the attitudes of the soldiers he is describing?…