On The Rainy River Analysis

In some of the stories in The Things They Carried there is a sense of moral ambiguity in different ways. In “On the Rainy River”, Tim writes about facing the decision to fight in a war he didn’t believe in or flee to canada. In “How to Tell a True War Story” Tim writes about what he believes a true war story is all about. In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” Rat Kiley tells a story about a woman who gets sent to Vietnam on request of her boyfriend, a medic in the war. Each of these stories has instances where there is no right or wrong answer in different ways. “On the Rainy River” deals with Tim’s inner conflict about the war after he gets his draft notice. He doesn’t want to be remembered as a coward for fleeing the war but doesn’t want to fight in it. In college, Tim was against the war but didn’t ever think that he would get a draft notice and have to face that decision. Tim was also frustrated that many of the people in his town that didn’t have to go to war believed that he should fight without asking any questions. Ultimately, he doesn’t flee, but this chapter dealt a lot with the inner conflicts and confusion that many soldiers likely faced in that time period. Another chapter that dealt with moral ambiguity was “How to Tell a True War Story”. In this chapter, Tim writes about what
“On the Rainy River” leaves the reader to come up with what the “right” thing to do was if they we’re in Tim’s situation. “How to Tell a True War Story” makes the reader question Tim’s morals after the killing of a baby water buffalo. “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” makes the reader question whether or not Mark should be upset about Mary Anne’s personality change after she arrives at Vietnam. In “How to Tell a True War Story”, Tim states that a true war story doesn’t have a moral at the end, which is why many of the stories in The Things They Carried leave the reader morally confused in the