One story that stood out to me so far would be On the Rainy River because I feel that it is so easy to relate to. The entire chapter is centered around Tim O'Brien's inner struggle over deciding whether to answer his draft notice, or flee to Canada. He struggles with what other people would think of him if he were to run away. He feared being called a coward, or judged for not fighting in a war that he did not believe in. The entire chapter encapsulates his emotions, and inner struggle as he attempts to make a decision, and really gives the reader a look into what it might be like if they had been drafted themselves. When he had finally made his decision: "It had nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that's all it was. And right then I submitted. I would go to the war - I would kill and maybe die - because I was embarrassed not to."(57) That sums up the entire chapter, he feared being judged by his community, he feared being called a traitor, or a pussy, and because of that fear, he decided to go against his own beliefs and fought in a war that he was against.
Now this may sound repetitive, but the person that I can relate to the most would be Tim O'Brien. He just seems so real, he shows a side of himself that everyone has, although you might not want to admit it. We all have insecurities, we all care about what others will think of us. Tim showed that he is no different. I'm sure many of the people that were drafted were scared to go to Vietnam, but went anyways because they didn't want the shame that would come with running away.
One specific convention of narrative that Tim O'Brien used very well would be inner monologue. Almost the entire chapter Speaking of Courage was inner monologue of Norman Bowker as he drove around a pond in his hometown. Tim did a great job showing what Norman was going through. How he wanted to tell someone his story, but couldn't. He shows how Norman struggles with the fact that he could have saved his friend, and how he would have had the won the silver star if he had, and he wants to tell someone, but he knows that nobody wants to hear. Tim does this all through inner monologue which is incredibly impressive.
A passage that stood out to me would be "War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead." (76) This specific passage stood out to me because in our modernized culture, war has been glorified. Especially with the more recent coverage of the Seal teams. People see that and think that about the glory, about how impressive it would be to be a part of the elite. But this passage shows that it isn't only glory. "War is hell" it isn't a video game, or a movie, it's real life.
Going along with what you said about "On the Rainy River," it is truly amazing the things people will do so they won't get judged negatively by other people. In modern society, some people are pressured to do things that they don't want to do by their family or their friends just so other people won't judge them badly. This makes us lose our sense of self and identity, where we are all lying to each other just so we look good in the eyes of other people. I have always wondered what the world would be like if this weren't the case.
ReplyDeleteI really like your last passage. In this day in age, people often are glorified for killing people, as far as war situations. But the soldier at the end of the day is just another man going through life. The man will have to live with what hes done for the rest of his life. If you end up killing someone it is overall just a very small proportion of what real war is like.
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