Tim O Brien On The Rainy River Summary

Tim O’Brien begins his account of ‘On the Rainy River`by admitting that his prior knowledge of how he defined what a hero looked like in his early twenties was questionable. He confesses to being uncomfortable in even writing the story he is about to embark on as he knows that upon divulging his true inner character he must confront the young man he once was. Through his honest account he must face the brutal truth of his emotions and actions.

Throughout the story we see a battle of intellect versus heart. Originally when Tim looked subjectively at the Vietnam War, he determined that it was inane and a waste of human lives. He could make no sense out of America’s need to engage in a battle that even the townsfolk around him could find …show more content…
He drives to the point of exhaustion; the scenes around him are blurred by his fractured state of mind. He becomes aware of his surroundings once he stops at an old fishing resort on the peninsula of the Rainy River – a boat ride away from the Canadian coastline. Tim meets an old man at a run-down fishing resort – unbeknownst to him at the time; he would one day define this man as his ‘hero’. The old man was conversationally mute, yet his lack of words screamed loudly by his imposing presence. What few words he did speak cut Tim to the core in a profound way. Tim found himself in a quandary yet again… no amount of running could silence the echoe of chaos in his mind. For six days Tim’s mind raged as his emotional state continued to be assaulted with hurricane-like velocity. He could find no peace. He was still on the edge of a moral praecipe. The old man sensing Tim’s dilemma takes him fishing out on the Rainy River. The ride was almost surreal to Tim, his senses on hyper drive. As the old man neared the Canadian coastline he stopped the oatboard motor and dropped his fishing gear in. The deafening silence forced Tim to deal with the emotions that had held him a moral prisoner for months. He had to face his demon, as his demon was now facing him. The flooding of emotion versus intellect came out in torrential waves of sorrow and Tim found himself crying, his heart in a vice. His intellect and emotions come careening to a head-on collision with each other and Tim faced his reality. He is ashamed and too embarrassed to not go to war. Tim submits to this reality and in so doing great heaves of sadness come out of him. He weeps bitterly. He would not be brave. He would kill or be killed only because he was too embarrassed not