O'Brien's “On The Rainy River”

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to political naïveté. His perspective of the Vietnam War is not a passionate one; however, he is decidedly in opposition of the war, feeling that blood is being shed for unstable reasons. He saw “no unity of purpose, no consensus on matters of philosophy or history or law” and has defined the war simply as “wrong”. Upon receiving his draft notice in June of 1968, his emotions range from rage to self-pity. A promising 21 years of age, he angrily perceives himself as too good for the war.
“I was above it. I had the world dicked – Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude and president of the student body and a full-ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard. A mistake, maybe – a foul-up in the paperwork. I was no soldier.”

And, at the center of his reaction, existed a strong pulse of fear. O’Brien equated war with slaughter and was terrified of dying, especially in what he viewed as the “wrong war”. He felt that there were instances in which he would have willingly marched off ...

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