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Summary Of On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

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In Tim O'brien's “On the Rainy River” it is the story about a man who has been conscripted to go the vietnam war, a war which he himself does not believe in due to the fact that he believes “when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause” by saying this I can see that he is against death and has a negative approach towards the idea of a war. Later on in the story he says “I was a coward. I went to the war.”(pg.173) I disagree with the statement he made saying “I was a coward. I went to the war.”(pg.187) mostly because he went through a lot mentally to make the decision to go to war, and it's clear from the story that his decision to enter the war was made by factors more than cowardice. …show more content…

The weight or stress of “fitting in” and the fear of being rejected by his community drove him into choosing whether to leave or stay in the country “All those eyes on me - the town, the whole universe - and I couldn’t risk the embarrassment.”(pg.186). Tim O'Brien's decision to participate in the war can be seen as an act of courage, because it demonstrates his willingness to face societal judgment in order to fit into the duty he has to serve his

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