On the Rainy River

Tim O’ Brien should have never been drafted. He had just graduated from college, he was too young, too nice, and he had received a scholarship for Harvard. He was just too normal, too human to be a soldier. He certainly wasn’t the soldier type considering that he got queasy at the sight of blood. He also strongly opposed the war and I think you shouldn’t have to fight for something you are opposed to. Of course this is just my personal opinion. O’Brien has a good reason for not supporting this war though. No one really even knew what this war was truly about. They didn’t even know what they were fighting for. All they knew was that they had to kill in order to survive. Killing in order to survive is such a primal instinct. I think that is why the men of this war developed so many mental and emotional issues.

Personally, I don’t think O’Brien was cowardly for wanting to escape to Canada. If I were in his same situation I would have considered the same option. The only difference is that I would have probably actually gone through with it. The way of thinking was different back then though. He would have been considered a coward if he didn’t go. How can anyone judge him when it wasn’t their lives that were on the line? I really think he went through with it because of the old man and the image he saw at the river. The old man never said much but he knew what Tim was planning. Tim knew that he knew. The way that Elroy simply looked at him and his silence was enough to make Tim head to war. Heading to war was not what he wanted to do and he abandoned his beliefs by doing that. Doesn’t that still make him a coward in a way?