On Rainy River

In the short story “On Rainy River”, O’Brien writes about the consequences of one soldier’s actions. The story is about a young man who was drafted and was struggling with the decision of fight or flight. On one hand he could live his life and run to Canada, on the other he could do what was expected of him and follow his draft orders. This short story goes deeper than just this one soldier’s actions; it’s about having to make a life changing decision that affects everyone around you.

            O’Brien was upset that he was drafted and was afraid of going to war. He got into his car and drove towards Canada. In his stop at an inn along the way, he met a man named Elroy Berdahl. In the end Berdahl helped indirectly make O’Brien’s life changing decision. These two developed a strange sort of relationship the few days that O’Brien was there. Berdahl never asked questions about his tenant, never judged. O’Brien claims that “-the man saved me. He offered me exactly what I needed, without questions, without any words at all” (pg 46). I believe that the man’s silence showed that he already knew why O’Brien was there and knew that he needed to make this decision on his own.

            By Berdahl taking him out on the river towards Canada, he almost forces O’Brien to make his decision. The entire time though he stays near him silently showing support. I think that he understood that O’Brien needed to face reality and choose his path silently, yet not alone. When he chooses to go to war he is terrified. He knows that, “It has nothing to do with morality. Embarrassment, that’s all it was” (page 57). He’s embarrassed of not being able to do what is expected of him from everyone. I think that we all harbor this embarrassment from time to time. We all have to make decisions that may not be what we want, yet we do it because we are saving face from others. We do it because we don’t want to seem like a coward or a traitor. In the last line O’Brien says, “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to war” (pg 58).  Either option that O’Brien would have chosen would have made him a coward to someone. He thinks that it was cowardice to go to war, yet everyone else at the time would have seen him as a coward for not going to war.

            This is sad reality for anyone in that situation. They are forced to make decisions that they themselves regret all throughout their lives. I don’t feel that it was right to enforce drafts, forcing someone to choose their paths by government hands. It is a proud thing to serve your country if it is your choice to do so, but not as much if it someone forcing your hand.

Works cited from:

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. 1990. Paperback. 20 Sept 2010

Link: http://www.sss.gov/lotter1.htm

Draft Picture: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/weekly/nl082499.htm

Vietnam Wall: http://vietnamw.wikispaces.com/file/view/vietnam.jpg/34859005/vietnam.jpg

The Sand Storm Reaction

           In the play “The Sand Storm” by Sean Huze the writer recalls the thoughts, feelings and emotions of eight different Marines. He allows the characters to open up to the audience and recall the events that happened in the war after September 11^th. This play was very enlightening and emotional. It moves the audience to better understand the trials and tribulations that the men in the military are faced with.

            The Sand Storm was an eye opener for me. It showed how real the Marines are. That they, unlike the image portrayed of them, have feelings and emotions that need to be expressed and explored. When you see the commercials or the posters for the Marines, they are portrayed as hard cases, where nothing seems to break their resolve. However, they are human, they do break. By knowing what they went through over there, emotionally and physically, we are better able to understand that war affects everyone; that it causes severe stress disorders.

            Corporal Rodriguez makes a valid argument in his statement of

                    “Have you ever faced your own mortality?

                    I don’t mean in some general sense like we all know one day we’re

                    going to die. I’m talking about feeling like it was imminent.

                    Like within the hour or at most the day. Knowingly placing yourself in

                    harm’s way. It’s not a natural act. I don’t know if it’s courage either, but

                    it’s something.” (1)

This shows that they as humans are concerned with their own lives, yet they willing place themselves in the middle of chaos for their country. I couldn’t imagine waking up everyday wondering if today was the day you were going to die. If your number would happen to pop up in fate’s box, and knowing that you may never see the ones you love and fight for again.

            It enrages me that people think that they have the right to protest the soldiers and see them as the cause of the war. They curse them, spit on them, and call them names. How can these people be so naïve and not realize that without these soldiers, they wouldn’t have the freedom of speech they are so fond of invoking? I think that it’s worse for the soldiers to not only hear these ignorant outbursts, but to also have to come back to ignorant questions, like how many people they killed and such. These soldiers shouldn’t have to come back and relive these horrors over and over again for the sake of cheap entertainment. I hope that by producing this play they opened at least one person’s eye to the darker side of war for our soldiers and showed someone what it means to follow orders.

1.      Huze, Sean. The Sand Storm. Page 15 lines 10, 15-20. Play. 2004

Link to: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/ 

photo: http://www.brittanysimon.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/mil_marines_few_proud_lg.jpg

photo: http://media.photobucket.com/image/support%20our%20troops/badboi_305/support_our_troops.jpg

Compendium of Lost Objects and The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor

There were only two poems in this section that elicited any emotional response from me. Both of these poems were emotional in the sense that they were about the loss of something that couldn’t be returned. The loss of self or material possessions can be equally devastating depending on the person. One was written to show that they saw what others had gone through and tried to show their understanding of the situation. The other was written with the hope that someone would see their inner turmoil and understand what they were going through.

Nicole Cooley

In the poem titled “Compendium of Lost Objects”, Nicole Cooley tries to show that she understands what the people of the natural disaster went through and what was left behind. She writes this poem with just simple words of items that were seen. It’s not an in-depth story telling you what she saw; it was a collection of words that let you decipher the meaning. It allows you to place these items into your life and apply them appropriately. She states that all of these things left behind couldn’t have “fit in a dark wood cabinet for safekeeping” (1. line 21 and 22). I think that means that your smaller material possessions don’t seem to add up to the bigger things that get forgotten in the rush. That you can keep the materials in your life you think you can’t live without, safe and hidden from the world’s eyes, yet the things you work so hard to show people disappear. People spend their time with material objects showing everyone in the world their status and ranks, yet when everything goes bad they get left behind to wither away, just like everyone else.

Joy Harjo

My favorite poem in this selection was “The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window” by Joy Harjo. It’s about a woman going through serious inner turmoil. She is questioning everything in her life and its purpose. She tries to place herself with the other women around her when she says, “She is all the women of the apartment building who stand watching her, watching themselves” (2. line 14 and 15). She talks about all her different roles in her life and how they are all just pieces of a whole. As a mother myself I understand her when she feels torn against all her different “personalities”. I think that she passed the breaking point in her life and is looking for some sort of direction, some sign that she’s doing something right or what she needs to change.

Which way will you go?

Joy Harjo moved me incredibly with this poem. She puts in words what I have felt time and time again. I have had the feeling that I have listened to my own life break loose. She shows the world that although we women may put up a strong front, we can, and most eventually will, break. We all come to a cross road in our lives where we have to make decisions that affect everyone around us. And all of us hope that we too will be set free.



1. “Compendium of Lost Objects” Nicole Cooley. 2010. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21526>


2. “Woman Hanging From the Thirteenth Floor Window” Joy Harjo. 2006 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=180960

pictures from:
crossroads: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRkiQPUPrEgwy17iPq6miEb3qQ2OLkfdkCJhew4bax_qh_nq6XNQ8pL0BZPw8bYLN087yFTEkSee4rab68jlebJKBKnEpUz-ncWhfRB4EbPbVUNIDm7hEzQV5QSwaErrRrZdL0gtdf5hI/s400/cross-roads.jpg
Nicole Cooley:http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v6n1/images/contributors/cooley_nicole.jpg
Joy Harjo: http://www.nativewiki.org/images/b/b3/Joypress3.jpg

natural disaster link: http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/

Sam Hammil Response

In Sam Hammil’s essay “The Necessity to Speak”, he talks about the need every person has to speak and write their thoughts and ideas and how being silent is like being inside a personal prison. The way he applied his thoughts to domestic violence and child abuse was very powerful and emotional. He makes you look at something that is a very big problem in a new light, almost explaining why things get out of hand. I don’t agree however with his “explanation” of domestic violence and the reasoning behind the abuser. There is NOTHING that should permit or condone violence of any kind in a relationship. Just because a child was abused does not mean that he himself will or should become abusive nor should it be a reasonable explanation if he does. I realize that Hammil may not have meant that way, however that is the meaning that I took from it being that he chose to reiterate that explanation several times.

Hammil hit a precise mark when he states that “We can’t bear very much reality”. People in every society chose not to speak up about intolerable incidents and chose to close their eyes and walk away. I think that this has all ways been a problem in society, people “minding their own business”. I think Hammil was right when he said “Knowledge is the loss of innocence” and that this applies to the not wanting to bear reality. If people don’t know about something then they can play innocent and safe.

Poetry or writing of any kind opens a door for people to express themselves; especially people who otherwise may not have a way to do so. Coming from someone who internalizes all her feelings and tries very hard to be a sensible peacekeeper, journaling or writing is the only way to open up and be yourself, preserving your sanity and self image. When you write you can become whatever you want to be. You can be the strong, outgoing type who always says what they feel without the repercussions of the thoughts of others. Writing lowers anxiety and gives the writer a place where they can feel safe and more importantly, heard.

The following abuse poem was very emotional and moving and shows how people can be detered from wanting to speak out.

Picture from http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/see_hear_speak_1.jpg

poem from : http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/sad/poetry.asp?poem=18656