On the Rainy River

   This story was hard to read, and hard for Tim to talk about. In this story, “On The Rainy River,” the author Tim O’Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It’s crazy that one person can have so much impact on someone. That they can make them change the course of their life. I’ve had many, many people that has done the same for me, through my eighteen years of life. O’Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O’Brien stays at while on a journey to find himself. The experiences O’Brien has while he's there, helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. In this short story, O’Brien has to decide whether he was either going to go to the war and fight or was he going to run away and avoid the draft. I disagree with Tim and his whole idea, if a person that's afraid or doesn't go to war is a coward. I don’t think a person is being afraid or dishonorable if he or she doesn’t want to go and get killed. I think that’s smart! I would’ve considered the same thing as Tim did.   The relationship he had with Berdahl was not of friends or even regular acquaintances. Rather they were perfect strangers. That goes to show you that anyone can be a major influence on your life.