O’Brien uses a great last line in “On the Rainy River.” He
writes, “I am a coward. I went to war.” Throughout this story, he attempts to
avoid being seen as a coward. People’s opinions of him and his embarrassment
are what cause him to decide to go to war. But in the end, he admits that he is
indeed a coward for giving into that shame. This must be the reason why he
never told anyone about the Tip Top Lodge. He went through so much effort (war) to
hide his cowardice that it would be a waste to reveal to anyone that he truly
did end up a coward. It is interesting also that he knew from the beginning how
impossible Canada was. He compared his drive to a maze with no way out, but he
did it anyway. This is also precisely his opinion on the war itself; a maze
with no way out, but still he goes. Because he could either be brave in the
eyes of every important person in his life, or he could be brave for himself
and leave them all behind and head for Canada. Either way, he would have been a coward but at least this way
it is secret.
I completely agree with what you said about going through so much effort of going to a war just to conceal his cowardice! It's ironic too that he views it that way; you would think that anyone else would describe it as a surge of bravery like he was talking about in the beginning. It's also interesting to me that he even told us (the reader) the truth about it, and his own feelings. He could have glorified, that moment of realization but he didn't which is hard for me to understand, and believe, but I guess that makes it a "True War Story".
ReplyDeleteRight! He could have fooled us all into believing he was brave had he not told us this story. But in a way, admitting his cowardice is a form of bravery I suppose...
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