Archetypal Literary Theory - On the Rainy River

Observation Interpretation

“Tim O'Brien: a secret hero. The Lone  This demonstrates O'Brien setting out to
Ranger. If the stakes ever became high  fundamentally discover his fortitude. Despite
enough - if the evil were evil enough, if the  the fact that he talks a great deal about being
good were good enough - I would simply tap  humiliated, he was attempting to discover the
a secret reservoir of courage that had been  guts to get away from the war. He wanted to
accumulating inside me over the years.” abstain from battling and still be brave, which
is what the story was about. Settling on the
choice and sticking to it.

“Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in  This is demonstrating how O'Brien

finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by  communicated the term fortitude or courage
being frugal and stashing it away and letting  towards the start of the story. He accepts that
it earn interest, we steadily increase our  courage will develop all through a lifetime as
moral capital in preparation for that day  one stands by to use such a feature. He
when the account must be drawn down. It  clarifies that courage offers a plan to the
was a comforting theory. It dispensed with  "repetitive coward". In spite of the fact that at
all those bothersome little acts of daily  long last, O'Brien alludes to himself as a
courage; it offered hope and grace to the  coward and accordingly devastates this
repetitive coward; it justified the past while  purported "comforting theory".
amortizing the future.”

“Run, I'd think. Then I'd think, Impossible.  This statement explains O'Brien attempting to
Then a second later I'd think, Run.   locate the bravery and courage that he thinks
It was a kind of schizophrenia. A moral split.  is hiding inside of him, to run away to
I couldn't make up my mind. I feared the  Canada. He battled with himself in making
war, yes, but I also feared exile.” the right decision.

“I couldn't endure the mockery, or the  Here O'Brien is clarifying how he feels the
disgrace, or the patriotic ridicule. Even in  separation that he dreaded previously. He is
my imagination, the shore just twenty yards  attempting to discover the bravery and
away, I couldn't make myself be brave. It  courage that he believed he had. He wasn't
had nothing to do with morality.  being brave or courageous and explains how
Embarrassment, that's all it was.” he felt humiliated because of it.

“I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was  In the end, O'Brien says that he endured but
a coward. I went to the war.” is discontent. He says he is distraught in light
of the fact that he is cowardly because of the
choice he made in going to war. O'Brien was
attempting to discover his bravery and
courage during that time to dodge the war. In
spite of the fact that humiliation defeated him,
similar to how society crushes a notion or
opinion. O'Brien confesses to being cowardly
since he did something that others wanted
which was choosing to go to war.