Non Conforming
Samantha Bultman
Professor Broussard
English II-76
Apirl 3, 2017
Conforming Vs. Nonconforming
Has life ever thrown something at you that you weren’t exactly ready for, and you didn’t know yourself well enough to confront the problem head on? This was the case of Tim O’Brien in his story, “On the Rainy River”. O’Brien narrators a fictional, yet very realist story, in which he is his own main character. It was 1968 and O’Brien was 21, and he, along with many other men his age were being drafted into Vietnam War, a war that O’Brien did not personally agree with. In the story, he finds himself stuck in a conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. O’Brien had no prior fighting experience and he could not imagine …show more content…
First sign to follow his instinct: When he got his draft notice he tell us, “I remember a sound in my head. It wasn’t thinking, it was just a silent howl. A million things all at once -- I was to good for this war” (2).
His decision to run away was chosen based off his immediate reaction to this cracking feeling in his chest. “How I cracked… I don’t know what it was. I’ll never know. But it was real, I know that much, it was a physical rupture -- a cracking-leaking-popping feeling” (O’Brien 4).
His break to Canada was based off “a sense of high velocity” otherwise known as adrenaline which comes from fear. “I was riding on adrenaline… except there was the dreamy edge of impossibility to it -- like running a dead-end maze… I had no plan. Just hit the border at 1 speed and crash through and keep on running” (O’Brien …show more content…
O’Brien’s description of his moral dilemma about going to Vietnam illustrates how the war was fought by soldiers who were often reluctant and conflicted. “It was once said out of optimism, “If the country obliged me to shoulder the musket I could not help myself, but I would never volunteer. To volunteer would be the act of a traitor to myself, and consequently traitor to my country. If I refuse to volunteer, I should be called a traitor, I am well aware of that - but that would not make me a traitor” (Lapham). Patriotism plays a big role in O’Brien’s decision to defend his country in the Vietnam War. O’Brien shows a lot of pride in everything that mattered even a little in his life. If the government had ask people with similar mindsets as O’Brien to fight in Vietnam they wouldn’t be able to refuse to defend their hometowns.
Professor Broussard
English II-76
Apirl 3, 2017
Conforming Vs. Nonconforming
Has life ever thrown something at you that you weren’t exactly ready for, and you didn’t know yourself well enough to confront the problem head on? This was the case of Tim O’Brien in his story, “On the Rainy River”. O’Brien narrators a fictional, yet very realist story, in which he is his own main character. It was 1968 and O’Brien was 21, and he, along with many other men his age were being drafted into Vietnam War, a war that O’Brien did not personally agree with. In the story, he finds himself stuck in a conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. O’Brien had no prior fighting experience and he could not imagine …show more content…
First sign to follow his instinct: When he got his draft notice he tell us, “I remember a sound in my head. It wasn’t thinking, it was just a silent howl. A million things all at once -- I was to good for this war” (2).
His decision to run away was chosen based off his immediate reaction to this cracking feeling in his chest. “How I cracked… I don’t know what it was. I’ll never know. But it was real, I know that much, it was a physical rupture -- a cracking-leaking-popping feeling” (O’Brien 4).
His break to Canada was based off “a sense of high velocity” otherwise known as adrenaline which comes from fear. “I was riding on adrenaline… except there was the dreamy edge of impossibility to it -- like running a dead-end maze… I had no plan. Just hit the border at 1 speed and crash through and keep on running” (O’Brien …show more content…
O’Brien’s description of his moral dilemma about going to Vietnam illustrates how the war was fought by soldiers who were often reluctant and conflicted. “It was once said out of optimism, “If the country obliged me to shoulder the musket I could not help myself, but I would never volunteer. To volunteer would be the act of a traitor to myself, and consequently traitor to my country. If I refuse to volunteer, I should be called a traitor, I am well aware of that - but that would not make me a traitor” (Lapham). Patriotism plays a big role in O’Brien’s decision to defend his country in the Vietnam War. O’Brien shows a lot of pride in everything that mattered even a little in his life. If the government had ask people with similar mindsets as O’Brien to fight in Vietnam they wouldn’t be able to refuse to defend their hometowns.