Tim O'Brien

Erin Meierbachtol

For my assignment I have chosen to write about Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried; his book is a collection of many shot stories about his time serving in the war. For my discussion I have picked the story On The Rainy River, this happens to be my first reading of Tim O’ Brien. His work seems to be structured around the Vietnam War; this for any writer has to be a very strong achievement because there are so many stories out there on this War. His work is open and raw never leaving you to question his mortality. For example in the beginning of the story he tells you about living in Minnesota and the great details of his life taking place in 1968. He has just graduated, from college and working at a plant that sell pork products Tim works on the assembling or what he likes to call the dissembling. His life so far seem content peaceful and quite wholesome. While living in Minnesota one day after playing a game of golf he gets a letter that he has been drafted into the WAR on June 17, 1968 mid afternoon.  On page 39 of his book he quotes after opening up the letter “feeling the blood go thick behind my eyes”, I can’t imagine getting a letter that basically could be your death scent. At that point in time he knew exactly what he was how he felt, like being too smart and to good for this war. Wanting to run take off to Canada I feel sorry for him feeling so scared of not knowing what next.

In his short story he takes you thru the trials of a twenty-one year old trying to figure out how to except this new quest. I think it was wrong back them to have drafted so many young men not even knowing what they were getting into. Like Tim had said in his book he didn’t even know how to use a rifle. This is wonderful short stories that show how hard it was for a young man to have been drafted.  At first he runs and that exactly what I would have done, I can’t image being told to do something and not having any control. I believe that he is making a great statement on how hard it is for a person to have gone thru this time. He does run; he makes an escape to some small cabin in Canada were maybe he got some kind of phenomenon that might have come for an older gentlemen that gave him the courage to believe in himself. You can say that his time spent with Elroy Berdahl an eighty-one year old man at the Tip Top Lodge may have just been the answer that made him who he is today. I like this story and for many reason one of which is how open and real Tim O’Brien can be as a writer. He explains how him and the man or fishing down a river and he states “ I remember starting at the old man, then at my hands, then at Canada” how amazing knowing what you have ahead and what that man must have lived thru. I think this was the point that made him understand that he needed to go to WAR.