Sunday, January 29, 2012
On The Rainy River
On the rainy river was my favorite chapter in the entire book. I thought it was interesting how O'Brien faced a tough decision and how he made the decision to go fight in the war. O'Brien explains how hard of a decision it was for him and how deeply he had to think about the decision. O'Brien would have gone to Canada if not for Elroy. O'Brien said, "I was a coward. I went to the war." I liked the irony towards the end of the chapter where he called himself a coward, when he being brave in the eyes of everyone else and going to fight in the war. O'Brien felt deep inside that if he was courageous than he would have left the country and do what he really wanted to do, but he fell into the peer pressure and fought in the war.
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It's so easy from this point of view to be able to call Tim a coward for even thinking about running off. But no one knows how they would act when faced with that type of decision.
ReplyDeleteI too felt that Tim had to make the decision of his life and how it would effect him. He had to be pretty brave.
DeleteI also liked the way Elroy remained silent through the chapter acting as Tim's conscience, and helped him through silence.
DeleteI really enjoyed this chapter as well. I liked the part about calling himself a coward and did not pick up on it until I reread it the second time through. It seems strange that someone so courageous and brave would find themselves a coward for not having the strength to say no. I still feel like coward is a really strong word for what he really was and maybe there would be a better word to describe his actions.
ReplyDeleteOh and I really like the short story in essay connections that related to this chapter and tied everything together. The power that water had in both of these stories is compelling.
DeleteThis chapter was my favorite as well. I think it was interesting how close he was to Canada but his gut told him not to jump off the boat and swim across the boarder.
DeleteI agree with this being one of the top stories. It's definitely one of my top three. Although I wouldn't say he's a coward because of all the pressure that was on him to go. If he hadn't gone then he would not have been allowed back into the country which could completely change his life.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked this chapter although it wasn't my favorite. I thought it was gutsy of him to run away but when it came down to actually running away he couldn't do it. I don't believe it was because of Elroy. I thik it was his own gut and feelings that he'd be a disappointment and a failure if he didn't go back home to go to war. He would he shamed his family and he really didn't want that no matter how scared he was or how much he thought he was a coward.
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