Exploration 6 - Bianca Lawson

The story that meant has meant the most to me so far would be "On the Rainy River".  This story has meant the most to me so far because I can relate to it. In the story, O'Brien struggles with whether or not to go to war after he had been drafted. After a summer of thinking he finally decides to flee to Canada, and once he's at the boarder, he decided to go back to American and fight in the war.  While I've never struggled with a decision as difficult as whether or not to flee from war, I have had to make difficult decisions that would and have  come to affect me later in my life.

The character I connect best with so far would be Tim O'Brien. I relate to him because the is the narrator throughout the book and because of this, I know him the best out of any of the characters. Throughout the book, he tells stories about his life before, during, and after the war, and through this he creates a very well-rounded image of himself.

A passage that really sticks out to me would be in the story Field Trip, in the last paragraph on page 178, "The sun made me squint. Twenty years. A lot like yesterday, a lot like never. In a way, maybe, I'd gone under with Kiowa, and now after two decades I'd finally worked my way out. A hot afternoon, a bright August sun, and the war was over. For a few moments I could not bring myself to move. Like waking from a summer nap, feeling lazy and sluggish, the world collecting itself around me." This passage impacted me because O'Brien does a very good job of giving the reader an idea of how Kiowa's death affected him.