Tim O Brody On The Bridge Loneliness Quotes

Tim O’ Brian and Nathaniel Hawthorn are very profound writers and authors. Tim O’ Brian is best known for his fiction novels and stories he writes. Nathaniel Hawthorn is also an American novelist who writes short stories. They both have short stories that deals with the effect of loneliness of people. By comparing and contrasting “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’ Brian and “The Minster’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, one can see that loneliness has an profound role in humans.
The theme is one way that humans can feel loneliness in these two stories. In “On the rainy river”, the main character is confused about the decision he has to make, either swim to Canada or go fight in the war. In “The Minster’s Black Veil”, the minster has a secret sin that he keeps to his self until his death. According to this quote, “The style reaches a level of comic burlesque in the description of the deputation” (Dorsey). The protagonist in each story has to live with the decisions that they make, even though they know it is the wrong choices.
The setting is another way that people can compare and contrast loneliness between these two stories.
According to this quote,” nothing could unravel the dance as a whole” (Howard).Both settings are bad in each story. The setting in, “On The Rainy River”, takes place during the draft days in the 70s. Young men are presented with life changing choices of going to the war or dodging it. The setting in “The Minster’s Black Veil”, takes place with a minster wearing a veil and people treating him differently when he is wearing it than when he is not wearing it. These settings are clear that fear and hiding can drive people to lonely and even
death.
The characters are another that one can compare and contrast the loneliness between these two short stories. The protagonist in, “On The Rainy River”, is lonely because he has to leave his home, and decide whether to dodge the draft or stay and fight in the war. According to this quote,” I’ve never told before” (Brian). The protagonist does not want to be labeled as a cowered, even though he calls himself one. The protagonist in, “The Minster’s Black Veil”, is also lonely. Because when the priest wears the black veil, no one associates with him and communicates with him. According to this quote, "Never! It cannot be!"(Hawthorn). The priest is saying that he will never take off the black veil.
One can see that loneliness has a profound role in humans, by comparing and contrasting “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’ Brian and “The Minster’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The theme also has a major part in these two short stories. The setting plays a role in each protagonist when comparing and contrasting these two stories dealing with their loneliness. Each character has their own struggles that they have to face and go through in each story. Loneliness causes the protagonist in each story to blame their selves and keep secrets that they never tell or explain to people.