Principals and conscience in conflict before going to the Vietnam War has led to lifelong shame through the moral confusion in a lot of American soldier’s mind. In Tim O’ Brien’s story “On the Rainy River”, the author himself had a hard time deciding whether to go to the war or not. Feeling more ashamed and embarrassed than ever, he had experienced this moral confusion of going to the Vietnam War as an American soldier. Like any other American soldier, going to the Vietnam War is a heroic yet cowardly act. Tim O’ Brien did not know whether to go take part in the war or not, he felt fear in a numerous things about war: “I feared losing the respect of my parents. I feared the law. I feared ridicule and censure.” (3) From this one can see how Tim is aware of how his parents and …show more content…
Tim experiences moral confusion because he is guilty of going to the Vietnam War against his principals and conscience. On the other hand, he is experiencing a lot of pressure and demands from his country and community to go to the war. He felt like a loser if he does not go to the war and he is fearful of negative judgments he had this on this mind when he was thinking about the downsides of not going: “A squad of cheerleaders did cartwheels along the banks of the Rainy River; they had megaphones and pompoms and smooth brown thighs.” (9) In a typical American high school, most guys dream to be one of the famous footballers with a lot of cheerleaders cheering for them. Guys feel heroic about that, and from the way Tim thinks, the way how he connects these two things shows us how he feels like going to the war will make him a true hero and have all the girls. Despite having all these principals and dreams in conflict, Tim was guided by his ‘mentor’ Elroy Berdahl who helped him with decisions. In the end, with courage Tim went to the war, but his mind is confused even after the war:” I survived, but it’s not a happy