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In The Morning, After Gassing Up, By Tim O Brien

265 Words2 Pages

In his short story, O’Brien uses words and phrases that help to create the intended setting of the work. The author establishes the setting by describing the social atmosphere around him. “The only certainty that summer was moral confusion.” Tim O’Brien uses this quote to explain the mood in America during the Vietnam War. Many details were not known, such as the type of war the country was fighting, whether a civil war or a national liberation, or who caused the war. The United States could not agree, and citizens did not know who or what to believe. The setting also depicts O’Brien’s personal atmosphere. “In the morning, after gassing up, I headed straight west along the Rainy River, which separates Minnesota from Canada , and which

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