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On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

1032 Words5 Pages

From a post-colonial perspective, the effects and impacts of colonialism on cultures, society, and the human mind can be examined. The short story “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien narrates the autographic thoughts and actions of the author after he is drafted into the war. O’Brien runs from his duties out of fear before stepping up and returning to fight for his country. After reading this short story, a post-colonial perspective can be taken through a more profound analysis when it becomes evident that during the time this piece was set in 1968, there was a patriarchal stigma around men going to war that supported the idea that men must put emotions aside and choose their country over anything else. This post-colonial perspective can be …show more content…

In these moments, O’Brien travels onto a river, presumably the one he speaks of in the title of his story. He makes his way across the river making it all the way to Canada’s shoreline, exactly where he had planned to run to after receiving the news of his recruitment. O’Brien strongly debates whether or not he should jump into the water and make his way to Canada, or if he should return and fight for his country. He finally discovers that he is mentally unable to jump into the water telling himself that he “couldn’t tolerate it. [he] couldn't endure the mockery, or the disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule”. Even though all of the people he would be letting down were only a figment of his imagination at this point, he is too ashamed to defy what everyone is expecting of him and hide from the war. At this point, he says, “It had nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that's all it was”. O’Brien truly wants to hide from his fears of the war, but his pride gets in the way as he is extremely embarrassed to rebel against his expectations as a man. O’Brien feels that he must contribute to his country or else he would be ridiculed and become disgraceful to his country. His patriotic pride, along with many other men’s in this era, stops him from expressing his fear, forcing him to comply with the social norm for men and go to

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