Tim O Brien On The Rainy River Analysis

“On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien is the best short story in the collection because of its’ great character development, plot, and theme. This story is about how the author dealt with himself and his frustrations before heading off to the Vietnam War. It is very rare for veterans to talk about their fear before departing for combat, whereas the narrator which in this case is the author explained the dread and dismay he felt in extreme detail making the plot meaningful. For example, the narrator says, “thinking about the war and the pig factory and how my life seemed to be collapsing towards slaughter.” as he becomes increasingly more anxious of what’s to come for him after getting his draft notice. This quote displays how much pressure O’Brien felt after getting the draft notice, that his life is just being shipped towards annihilation and there is no direction out. He felt trapped without a choice of where to go besides unbelievable positions like attacking enemies and targeting fellow human beings or being lifeless, he described perfectly well how much being in war can affect someone’s mentality in the story.
The theme is relevant because not everyone in life might be who they want to be and for all you know they were pressured by society to be who they are. O’Brien’s beliefs are that “If you support war, if you think it’s worth the price, that’s fine, but you have to put your life on the line.” The narrator revealed strongly of his fear on going to war but because of him selecting on protecting his reputation instead he did something he really did not desire to do, he went to war not to protect the country but