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The Draft In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

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During the Vietnam War, the United States drafted 648,500 young men to fight. Of those who were drafted 17,725 were killed out of the total 58,220 deaths. Tim O’Brien could have been one of them. In the short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, O’Brien is sent a draft notice. He is a young male that fits the criteria of the draft. This results in him wanting to avoid the draft and, him contemplating the consequences of avoiding the draft. O’Brien just graduated college and is working in a pig slaughter plant when he receives the draft notice. During this time period people his age were burning their draft notices and protesting against the war and the government's involvement. The reason why O’Brien was drafted into the military was because he fit the requirements of the military. The United States was fighting a war in Vietnam against the communist government of North Vietnam. O’Brien was not in college so that allowed him to be drafted. He was also not a member of a peace church like Jehovah's Witness. He was fit, was over the age of 18, and was a male. O’Brien fit all the requirements of the draft and had no way out of it. …show more content…

“In the beginning the idea seemed purely abstract, the word Canada printing itself out in my head… run I’d think. Then I’d think, Impossible. Then a second later I’d think, Run” (121-128). He desperately did not want to go to Vietnam so, he ran away to Canada in the middle of the day. “I could do it. It was pure flight, fast and mindless. I had no plan. Just hit the border at high speed and crash through and keep on running” (181-182). He stopped at a lodge on the edge of Canada where he would stay for a

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