On the Rainy River - Chapter 4

This chapter was one of the more pleasant chapters for me. I liked how I could feel the emotion he was going through. When I put the book down after reading this chapter i thought about what I would do. Would I swim to Canada of would I face the world and be brave. I would like to think that I would go to war like O'Brien did but it's hard to say. The week he spent with Elroy was the most important week of his life. He was so close to throwing away one of the most valued part of his life and he had no idea. Elroy knew. Elroy was like his own guardian angel in that I don't think he would have let O'Brien throw his life away laying down."one thing for certain, he knew I was in desperate troubele. And he knew I couldn't talk about it." (pg. 47) He didn't talk to him about it but he looked at him as if to say "get your act together and do what you know has to be done."

The scene in O'Brien's head where the crowd is cheering for him put in perspective the idea of shame. He knew that if he didn't fight he would shame his family and shame himself and that was the greatest fear of all. "I would go to the war- I would kill and maybe die- because i was embarrasesed not to." Some could argue that his decision was made for the wrong reason. But either way, he was right. He would be looked at as a coward and that was simply something he wasn't going to be able to live with.

This chapter stood out to me as a flashback. He is reminiscing on the crucial decision he almost didn't make.