Commentary On The Rainy River 'By Tim O' Brien

Humanity has had many extremely hard decisions, and Tim O’Brien has gone through a choice that affects him . Having gone from abandoning his country, and not serving, and potentially saving himself, to coming back and serving in the war. Tim feels that some may think of him as a coward, and lets down his country’s expectations of him. Tim is one who is not a coward, he just believes serving can lead straight to death and despair. Having fled his country and potentially the law, he starts to consider the true impact he will have on society's view on him. I believe Tim was lost and confused on how society may treat him in one way or another and while travelling to isolated areas he can come to terms with who he really wants to be.

Even though Tim has left his country in a rash decision, he is in no way to be considered in my eyes as a coward. A coward is someone who gives into an aggressor without any retaliation. But in the social situation it may just come down to how much you allow people to ridicule you without even the slightest bit of resistance.Yet through the passage of “On the Rainy River” there is no way …show more content…
Just as Dante, from Dante’s Inferno, has gone about on a religious journey to truly find God, Tim O’Brien has gone on a journey to truly discover who he wants to be viewed as. Dante went through many different places including Hell, Purgatory, and finally achieving Heaven or Paradise. Tim has to travel to and from a variety of areas from his hometown, to a small lodge on the outskirts of Canada, and finally to arriving right before Canada but chooses to stay within the United States to keep his views on him in society in good standing. Without these expeditions through these places neither of the two would have truly found their meaning in the world, and more or less is about the journey rather than the