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On the Rainy River

On the Rainy River. This section serves as the most poignant and personal stories on the novel O’Brien discusses events that he says he has never told his parents or family about He later goes on to describe his conflicted state before the war, just after being drafted

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On the Rainy River

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  1. On the Rainy River

  2. This section serves as the most poignant and personal stories on the novel • O’Brien discusses events that he says he has never told his parents or family about • He later goes on to describe his conflicted state before the war, just after being drafted • Those who sought to escape the war by fleeing to Canada or Mexico were called “draft dodgers”

  3. June 17, 1968, • O’Brien graduates from Macalaster college at the top of his class, class president, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude… • The world is his! • He receives his draft notice in the mail and is immediately conflicted. He has heard about the Gulf of Tonkin and Ho Chi Minh but still the war seems wrong to him • As a college student, O’Brien engaged in anti-war protests on campus

  4. Summer Job • Tim O’Brien spends the summer working in a plant that processes meat • He rinses animal carcasses and sprays off the blood clots in the meat so it is more appealing for human consumption • He comes home from work every night reeking of pig.

  5. That Summer he takes a trip… • O’Brien leaves work, writes a quick note to his family, and drives to the border of Canada and Minesotta as he contemplates escaping the war… There he is assaulted my mental images of women in diners talking about him, of people from his community calling him a “draft Dodger” and

  6. The Tip Top Lodge and Elroy • O’Brien checks into the lodge run by Elroy • He never reveals his plan to escape, but O’Brien suspects Elroy knows why he is there • He spends 6 days at the lodge, taking his meals with Elroy, fishing and playing Scrabble • He eventually begins to take odd jobs around the camp to pay his bill • On the sixth day, Elroy takes O’Brien on a fishing trip. Suddenly, O’Brien realizes Elroy has piloted the boat to the Canadian border

  7. You da Man, Elroy! • Elroy says nothing as O’Brien cries in the early morning. • When he is done, Elroy wordlessly draws in his fishing line and makes for the American shore. • Later that day O’Brien packs, leaves the money Elroy has given him for his services, and leaves for home… and war.

  8. Another Interruption in Chronology… • Did this really happen? No… • The point is to explain his actual conflict about going to the Vietnam War-a war he did protest in real life and a war he did actually fight in. • In order to induce or create those feeling in the reader, O’Brien invents a fictional story designed to make you feel real emotions. The story is made up, but you are left with the actual emotions O’Brien felt when faced the conflict and shame of fighting for a cause he didn’t quite believe in…?

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