Tim Obriens On the Rainy River Essay -- Tim Obrien On the Rainy Riv

Tim Obriens On the Rainy RiverTim Obriens On the Rainy River is a true story told by a 41 year old of his life at the age of 21. The fact that Obrien is writing this 20 years later adds a new aspect to the story. He describes himself as a young man with the ground in his back pocket. Obrien has just graduated from Macalester College and has a free ride to Harvard. Unfortunately, his storybook world collapses when he receives a draft notice for the Vietnam war, a war that he has taken a modest stand against(44) in 1968. Upon receiving his draft notice, Obrien was thrown into a world of what he calls moral confusion(44). As a 21 year-old, he follows every rule put forth in front of him, even though he says he couldnt tolerate authority(45). If Obrien didnt follow authority, though, he never would have been successful. This is one of the shake ups of his moral confusion. OBrien has never had to make moral testing decisions in his life, like whether to face his family or to run to Canada. Another cause for his moral confusion was his stand on the war. He thought it was wrong for numerous reasons, such as not knowing why they were fighting. OBrien would have fain fought in a war that he believed in but the draft board didnt let him choose his war. All of these pressures came down to whether he would be the conforming of the past or believe in what he thought was right.All of the pressures built up and something inside of him cr...