Kyle Leisering
Mrs. Miller
AP 11 English
3 September 2008
A Tough Decision
Going to a war that is not believed in, or fleeing to Canada to start a new but shameful life. This was the decision that Tim O’Brien was forced to make at twenty-one years of age as he was drafted to go to the Vietnam War. In the chapter of “The Rainy River” in The Things They Carried he, being the author, used various ways of language to influence how dramatic this dilemma of his really was.
He started by talking about the surroundings of the Rainy River and the overall feel that came to him that early morning. He sped up the pace using examples that were easy for the reader to relate to. Some examples are “A stiff breeze came from the north, and I remember how the little fourteen-foot boat made sharp rocking motions as we pushed off from the dock. The current was fast.” Also, “… just the trees and the sky and the water reaching out to nowhere.” Using these techniques he made it seem like one of the worst feeling places to be, as if he did not know where he was going to end up in this unpredictable and sometimes cruel world. He said that at sometimes he paid attention to anything, like when it is a frightening moment and every little sound makes one jump, when what to do next is unknown, just as the future is. He started out talking that way to enter the reader into the truthfulness of what was starting to come over him.
