ipl-logo

On The Rainy River Summary

650 Words3 Pages

A man you have never met might be the man to save your life.
In the story “ On the Rainy River”, a Young man named Tim was drafted into war, and his only escape was Canada. Along his trip he came across a cabin owned by Elroy. Elroy gave Tim food and shelter, and gave him a chance to make a life changing decision. Elroy knew what Tim was going through, because he had lived it before. Elroy gave Tim the necessities to stay so that he could stay and figure his life out.
When Tim first arrives at the cabin, he gets this overall feeling that Elroy just knows what going on with his life. Now this is a little weird cause Tim never told Elroy about the war or about running away from death; Elroy just knew. With Elroy 's knowledge he provided Tim with a place to sleep and food on the table for a low cost. Once Tim ran out of money ELroy disregarded the fee immediately, and Elroy even gave Tim money so that he could stay. Of course Tim didn’t accept the money, but Elroy didn’t take no for an answer. Elroy posted an enveloped stating “Emergency Fund” outside his door. Tim wondered what all this money meant. Was it for extra food? Was it for Elroy? Or was it money to escape with? I personally think that Elroy gave TIm this money for his escape toward Canada. WIth all this confusion in Tim’s head ELory knew exactly where to take time, …show more content…

Elory and Tim had spent so much time together that Tim thought of Elroy as a father figure. He remembered the time they first met, and all that Elroy had done for him. Tim had now realized that Elory just wanted the best for him, whether that be escaping war; or coming to the realization that war wasn 't that bad. These flashbacks made Tim miss his family, which sparked overall drive and initiative to do what was best. If it wasn’t for Elory being a father figure to Tim who knows if Tim would have returned home to his family and

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Truism In On The Rainy River

    67 Words  | 1 Pages

    Truism: A man you have never met, might be the man to save your life. Elaboration: In the story “ On the Rainy River”, A Young man named Tim was drafted into war, and his only escape was Canda. Along his trip he came across a cabin owned by Elroy. Elroy gave Tim food and shelter, and gave him a chance to make an life changing decision.

    Read More

  • Essay On My Brother Sam Is Dead

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tim would have expected Life to be the most safe one of their family due to his loyalty to Britain, but he was captured anyway. The death of Life Meeker makes Tim develop a strong hatred toward the Loyalists due to the fact that they do not value loyalty or care about the innocent, such as this instance. Tis develops Tim’s final decision of neutrality is influenced by Jerry’s death because both the British and Patriots caused the death of the ones he cared most

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River Reader Response

    612 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reader Response of “On the Rainy River” The short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O 'Brien explains to the audience that all men are influenced to go into war, and that they should hide the fears and emotions that they may have along the journey. Throughout the short story the author explains his journey and opens up about his emotions when he was sent to war. Being the audience of this short story explains to you what every man must go through if they were to be sent to war.

    Read More

  • A Long Way Gone Literary Analysis Essay

    672 Words  | 3 Pages

    There was no sense of morality or politics or duty. Tim completed what he was trained to do, and that was to defend the camp against the enemy. The lone soldier was the enemy. Later Tim views his actions as impulsive and regrets throwing the grenade, despite his peers’ support. Tim declares, “Sometimes I forgive myself, sometimes I don’t.

    Read More

  • A Marker On The Side Of The Boat Analysis

    813 Words  | 4 Pages

    Regret is a powerful emotion that has the ability to scar someone for the rest of their life. Moments of regret can come from relationships, self-made decisions and life changing events. The idea of regret also applies to “A Marker on the Side of the Boat” by Bao Ninh and “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien. Although these two literary pieces are very different in many ways, both authors describe the experience of the Vietnam War as a time of regretful decisions that negatively impacted people of both the American side and the Vietnamese side. Both authors tell a story about a character that recalls of flashbacks of the war, where they grieve over the past decisions that have affected them for the rest of their life.

    Read More

  • Night, By Elie Wiesel: Character Analysis

    847 Words  | 4 Pages

    For every individual, it is difficult to give up two than one. In the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, Elie magnanimously inputs his blood and sweat by sacrificing his strength and rations for the survival of his father. He holds unconditional hopes of believing that he will be able to make not only himself survive through the brutal camps under German control, but also his father through his efforts. Through this, Elie uses the relationship with his father to suggest that individuals should be independent for better survival because it is more efficient to create a single, strong individual rather than two weak ones. Elie may have continuously helped his father in lengthening his endurance, but failed to straighten his father’s will.

    Read More

  • The Song Tra Bong Figurative Language

    1756 Words  | 8 Pages

    I went to the war.” (last paragraph 58) This helps us understand that going to war was not an accomplishment for Tim. He regretted not running away and hated that he went.

    Read More

  • Conformity In On The Rainy River 'By Tim O' Brien

    839 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pg 178. At this lodge he met an older gentlemen named Elroy Berdahl, Tim had spent a total of 6 days at this lodge, where he learnt a lot about himself, Throughout the stay, Elroy never asked much about Tim; where he had come from, what he was running from, anything about his family. On the last day, Elroy had taken him out to go ‘’fishing’’ where they crossed the Canadian border, here is where Tim lost himself briefly, He thought about jumping and swimming across, He looked for reassurance, thinking ‘’ What would you do, would you jump?’’ He did this in his head but acted like he was talking to a different person. He then visioned his family and how they opposed what he was doing, his friends and future family as well.

    Read More

  • Francis Aloysius Phelan In William Kennedy's Ironweed

    1453 Words  | 6 Pages

    One example of this laid-back attitude towards spending money is when Francis goes home after 22 years and gets $10 from Billy. Francis then jokes with his wife, Annie, about putting “…ten dollars toward the frame” (183) for a picture they like. This minor and seemingly harmless remark digs deeper into the person Francis is. Rather than spending money on food or shelter, he would rather spend it on a useless trinket that does not improve his life. Considering the economic climate at the time coupled with his situation, this joke turns into an ignorant statement which explains why he has “…been broke twenty-two years” (182).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Way To Rainy Mountain Essay

    691 Words  | 3 Pages

    My Kiowa Grandmother was taken from the book, The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday. Momaday writes about his native tribe the Kiowa’s and grandmother because he wants to live it! He wants to feel, understand his roots, travel back in time. At his grandmother’s death, he decides to learn more about the Kiowa tribe by going to the funeral. The primary aim is Literary aim and secondary aim is Expressive aim.

    Read More

  • Bread In Elie Wiesel's Night

    563 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bread in Night Bread, you may not think of it, but in the book Night, it becomes crucial through the events. In Night, the word “bread” was used multiple times throughout the book. Now bread is just food, but sometimes, depending on people’s hierarchy of needs, it can be more than food. Bread can be food, a luxury, it can represent normality, friends and family together.

    Read More

  • Friday Night Lights Theory

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    The first aspect is Tim’s alcoholism. According to Freud, people’s actions can be caused by repressed memories living in our unconscious. In Tim’s case, his parents both left him and his brother when he was a kid. Now, in the show, Tim doesn’t really ever seem to mention how his parents leaving affected him. So, it is possible, if we apply Freud’s theory, that Tim has repressed the thoughts of his parents leaving to the unconscious part of his brain, so, unknowingly, he drinks to cover up the pain and sadness from that

    Read More

  • Tim O Brien On The Rainy River Analysis

    708 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story “On the Rainy River”, by Tim O’Brien is an exploration of how guilt and the pressures of society can shape one’s decision making. O’Brien feels guilty about going to war in Vietnam which contradicts his principles and his dream of becoming a writer. In the story, O’Brien admits, “I was a coward, I went to war” (O’Brien 80); he feared how the people of his community, and the rest of society would view him if he ran away. He feared the external embarrassment he would face if he dodged his draft notice instead of serving in the war; the fear of being judged by society was too unbearable for him to face. During O’Brien’s encounter with Elroy Berdahl, he is influenced to adhere to a decision, however, he chose to conform to the expectations of society.

    Read More

  • Tip Top Lodge Analysis

    245 Words  | 1 Pages

    O’Brien describes his experience at the Tip Top Lodge as one that resolved an immense inner conflict he faced. When O’Brien received his draft card in the mail to fight in Vietnam, he immediately had to face the fact that he had been “drafted to fight a war that [he] hated” (O’Brien 38). In the face of danger and what he deemed as “moral confusion,” O’Brien suddenly decided that fleeing to Canada was the only way to avoid fighting in Vietnam. While driving north, O’Brien stopped at a fishing resort called the Tip Top Lodge and met Elroy Berdahl. While he refrained from asking obvious questions during O’Brien’s six-day-stay, Berdahl presumably understood O’Brien’s situation.

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River Critical Analysis

    1184 Words  | 5 Pages

    In “On the Rainy River” Tim struggles to make a decision on whether he should fight for his country in the war or flee to Canada. Tim did not believe in the war. He was an innocent young man, freshly graduated from college with a naive view of the world. “Both my conscience and my instincts were telling me to make a break for it, just take off and run like hell and never stop.” (Page 3/Paragraph 8)

    Read More

More about On The Rainy River Summary

Open Document