In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, the chapter titled, “On the Rainy River,” seemed to relate to me the most. He tells of how he was drafted into a war that he obviously did not want to partake in. He has a hard time deciding what to do, but really I believe that there were no choices. His country needed him, and that you cannot run from. He does try and run though. He spends around a week at a lodge near Canada, and has the choice of leaving, but doesn’t take it. He decides on the war that picked him. I believe this chapter relates to me the most because I was one of the kids that picked the military right after school. I was not drafted or anything, so I do not know what being forced to go feels like, but I do know what leaving feels like, especially when the country is at war. My stomach was in knots for the weeks leading up to leaving. Yes, I made the decision to leave, but a decision was one thing, and doing was another. I had moments all the time that I would just ask myself what I was doing. I was leaving the girl, the job and life that I love. However, I never regretted it for a moment, any of it. It sounds like a cold hearted thing to say, but I wanted to serve my country and that was the decision I made. When I read this story, I feel like I know exactly what the character is going through. Leaving into a future of uncertainty is by far the scariest event you can experience. The whole new way of life is frightening. You do it for the adventure and the potential glory. Mostly, you do it so people do not call you a coward. Reputation is a lot, you can dodge bullets and bombs, but you can’t run from a bad reputation. It’s the social consequences that really decide.
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