Spin and On The Rainy River

Spin was organized just like the first couple stories we read from O' Brian. It was another PTSD ridden, dark, circular story that had no moral. But thats not a bad thing its very liberating. That means man can assign whatever meaning they choose. It makes the world seem more ours instead of belonging to a higher power. 

The real question is why tell another story like this. We've already had several stories that illustrate the main points O' Brain is trying to get across, some of which are the meaninglessness of war but beautiful with human-like wherever he goes. One of the reasons for retelling the story could be to try to convey it better. He believes the reader simply did not understand the point he was trying to convey in previous stories. So he's trying a new approach with a new story. It is most likely all made up. But thats not the point, he is trying to get the reader to feel anything about the story. Another reason could be to pass the time. 

The soldiers crave familiar structured things like the checkers game. He tells war stories to his buddies not only because they need to be heard but so that he can forget reality in a familiar environment. It gives the reader, but more likely other soldiers something to ponder. The stories distract them from their own stories which they probably do not want to experience again. Each soldier wants to make up his or her mind however which is why the stories are so open ended.






On the Rainy River was distinctly different from the rest of the stories we read. This is plainly obvious because it is before O' Brian went to war, before the ptsd. He still tells stories with morals. He writes this story how we expect a story to be written, with a "normal" story structure. It has a "normal" tone even though the whole story O' Brian is in distress. Normal being a brain before PTSD, and the other mentally taxing things that can happen during the war. 

The story is also distinctly different from how someone else would have told the story. It is still embarrassing which gives it a war story feel. It seems to be the first time he submits to the notion that the world is cruel and can lack meaning unless you give it one. At the end of the story he gives up his freedom even though he sees it as the morally wrong thing to do. He didn't sign up for this war, much like many people don't sign up for the terrible things that happen to them. He cried at the shores not only because he was a coward, he was submitting to the will of the world. O' Brian accepts that whatever happens, he will continue to try to live. So he goes off to war. 

The old man represents his conscious in a way. It is silent and chooses not to address the pressing matter at hand but to try to reconcile it. In this end, his conscious already knows what decision O' Brian will make. The old man, like his conscious, is well educated on his problem. He is just trying to show him the path of least resistance without making him crack even more in the process.