When a closed minded individual becomes too occupied with pursuing unrealistic ideas they lack the perception and awareness to face the facts or reality of the situation, consequently reducing them to hopelessness when the truth overcomes the ideal. This theme is present in the text when Tim O’Brien must put his life on the line for a war he does not want to die for. In the short story “On A Rainy River” the author develops the idea that an individual faced with ideals that dispute the truth succumbs to the futility of reality, moreover giving way to the actuality of the
