"On The Rainy River" Analysis

“On the Rainy River”
The short story “On the Rainy River” is an integral chapter in the memoir The Things They Carried written by William Timothy O’Brien. The short story is written through the perspective of O’Brien in present day and as a young man faced with a draft notice for the Vietnam War. In “On the Rainy River,” O’Brien portrays the importance of bravery of individuals in the society through the use of symbolism, powerful tone, reflective point of view, narrative devices, and through the reoccurring theme of courage.
In the short story, O’Brien uses symbolism to depict the religious aspect of the Rainy River, a watercourse which segregates the land of Minnesota and Canada, a divide that tested O’Brien’s bravery to either enlist in or flee the Vietnam War. O’Brien states that “the Rainy River . . . separated one life from another [;] . . . the cold [sprayed] against [his] face . . . [as] [they] . . . passed into Canadian waters, across that dotted line between two different worlds . . .” (1012). The Rainy River symbolizes the rebirth of O’Brien into a new world; water epitomizes the purity and renewal of a new identity. This symbol adds great significance to the anecdote because it portrays the man vs. self-conflict of O’Brien; he has to choose a life of fearing the U.S government in exile, or a life of hostility and bloodshed in a war that he does not support. The author’s use of symbolism allows the reader to construe the variation in O’Brien’s point of view as he flees to the land of Canada to evade the drafting: that in fear, he gains the courage and strength to return to the U.S and face the inevitable war. Susan Farrell communicates in "The Vietnam in Me" that “[e]ven though the young narrator believed the war was morally wrong, he was unable to defy the traditions and expectations he had been raised with [;] [h]e was afraid of what people would say about him should he flee the draft, and he could not . . . leave behind everything he knew and

Cited: Bloom, Harold, ed. "The Things They Carried." The Things They Carried, Bloom 's Guides. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2004. Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. Farrell, Susan. "O 'Brien, Tim." Critical Companion to Tim O 'Brien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 28 Sept. 2014  Farrell, Susan. " 'The Vietnam in Me '." Critical Companion to Tim O 'Brien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. O’Brien, Tim. “On The Rainy River.” Literature Grade 10. Ed. Janet Allen. Evanston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2010. 999-1016. Print. Tegmark, Mats. "The Perspectives of Other Characters." In the Shoes of a Soldier: Communication in Tim O 'Brien 's Vietnam Narratives (Uppsala University, 1998): pp. 245–71. Quoted as "The Perspectives of Other Characters" in Bloom, Harold, ed. The Things They Carried, Bloom 's Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2011. Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Sept. 2014. Werlock, Abby H. P. " 'On the Rainy River '." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009.Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 27 Sept. 2014.