Summary vs. Analysis ~ The Rainy River

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Summary:

It was the summer of 1968 and Tim O’Brien recently graduated from Macalester College. A young man of twenty-one year and was anxious to begin the next phase of his life. Politically naïve, yet educated enough to know that he is against the Vietnam War. O’Brien had taken a modest stand in college about why he was against the war. He rang some doorbells and composed a few editorials of the college newspaper. Little did he know that the world in which he felt so safe and secure was going to change with the opening of a letter he received on June 17,1968.  A million thoughts ran through his head as he scanned the letter. How could “he” be drafted? He was too good, too smart, he was going to Harvard on a full-ride scholarship. There must be some mistake.

Tim O’Brien worked his summer in a meat-packing plant as a Declotter. He used a so-called “water gun” to dissolve the thick blood clots that had accumulated in the carcass of each pig that passed by his work station. He was showered in a mist of warm blood for eight hours a day. He was being tormented by his feelings of fear and anxiety of the war. He did not want to die and he did not want to kill. However, the fear of disappointing his family lay even heavier on his mind. He did not want to be a topic of discussion at the town café. The pressure finally became too much to bear. O’Brien left work one day and didn’t look back. He went home, showered, packed his suitcase, wrote a note to his parents and out the door he went. Destination unknown, but Canada was a sure thought. It was at the Tip Top Lodge where he met the old man who would later save his life, Elroy Berdahl. During his stay at the old fishing lodge Tim had a lot of time to contemplate his life and the decision that lay before him. The man didn’t ask questions, but he knew there was something serious on O’Brien’s mind. On the sixth and last day of his stay at the lodge, they headed off on the Rainy River for some fishing. At some point O’Brien realizes that they have crossed into Canadian waters. It is at this moment that O’Brien understands that he cannot and will not flee to Canada. Instead, “I would go to war-I would kill and maybe die-because I was embarrassed not to” (59).

Analysis:

Tim O’Brien lives his life, day in, day out. Nothing much changes except he is headed for Harvard on a full-ride scholarship. That was the reality of a young man. However, Vietnam is his “true” reality. Tim O’Brien faces the inevitable consequence of war. A war that he does not believe in, a war that he may not come home from, a war he wants to run from, but cannot because he is too afraid of what his family will think of him. O’Brien fights a war within himself first. Does he flee to Canada and risk a life without his family or friends, or does he go to Vietnam and risk death, honorably. There seems to be no positive outcome with either decision. In the end it is the fear of facing his family, friends, fellow citizens, and strangers that forces him to choose war. He would rather die a martyr than a traitor.

photo from: http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/dynamic/00449/HRC_Tim_OBrien_449868c.jpg

http://vietnamphotography.com/imagesAll.php

An into to the Vietnam War: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/vietnamwar/p/VietnamBrief.htm

Works cited: 
O'Brien, Tim. "The Things They Carried" (1990) 37-59 Print