The Things They Carried

The section I chose to respond to from Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is the chapter titled “On the Rainy River”. In this section, O’Brien confesses that he made a run to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. As he neared the border of Canada he stopped to rest at a lodge, where he met a man named Elroy Berdahl, whom O’Brien claims saved his life. The most memorable part of this chapter is when Elroy takes him boating out on the Rainy River and stops right along the border as a way to bring Tim face to face with his decision, or perhaps to give him a chance to jump. It’s here at this crossroad between giving up his life and escaping, or returning home only to become a killer or die in the war, that O’Brien asks the reader “what would you do” (56)? After considering this, I came to the conclusion that I probably would have responded the same way by becoming paralyzed or crying, but ultimately I don’t believe I would have made the same choice as him.
O’Brien also mentions that he made the cowardly choice by going to war because it was made out out of embarrassment not to go. I find this interesting because normally you would consider going to war to be a brave and noble service, while escaping to be cowardice. Reading these stories brought back feelings of anger for the soldiers that were drafted into a battle that most of them didn’t even believe in. Especially in such a time of great dispute and protest over a war, it was an admirable thing to fight for your country, whether you believed in it or not. So, let me ask you; what would you do?

Vietnam War timeline:
http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/timeline/index.html

-Image sources-

Protestors: https://iams.pbworks.com/w/page/26411485/A2-1960s-De-Zwaan
Tim O'Brien: http://www.utexas.edu/news/2007/12/11/hrc_obrien/