On the Rainy River

Tip Tip Resort

http://tiptopresortmn.com/layout/images/tip-top-view16.jpg

 

 Tim O'Brien has some interesting stories that he writes about in the book, "The Things They Carried." I will write about "On the Rainy River." In this one in particular, he recieves a letter from the government. This letter is to inform him that he has been selected, drafted, to go to Vietnam. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to him! He is just TOO good to have to go! He heads out of town, heading to Canada. He stops at a place called "Tip Top Resort." He stays there for six days, trying to decide if he should go fight or leave his life behind and start a new one with nobody. Everyone he knows would call his horrible names he couldn't handle. He ends up going to war and when he returns he thinks of himself as a "coward" that went to war. 

I feel bad for this man at twenty-two and the thoughts that ran through his mind and what he had to see. I don't think he was a very positive man to begin with. When he received the draft letter, he was working at a slaughter house and he wasn't to happy with that either. To make matters worse, he gets the draft letter to go fight in a war that he was 100% against! Elroy, the owner of the resort, spoke very little. It is amazing how neither of them said much about what he was doing there or why and while they were together on the boat Tim knew why he took him to that spot on the river. That is when Tim made his final decision of going to war.

 Here are some interesting facts about the "Vietnam War." You must check out!!
http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html

 

 

Two poems to check out



“Song of Napalm” written by Bruce Weigl

                    http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v7n2/poetry/weigl_b/index.htm

This poem really made me think about what he was trying to get across to his readers. What was he talking about and where was he coming from? He writes, “After the storm, after the rain stopped pounding” (Weigl line 1) Just by reading this, the reader would think that there was a major storm going on. But jumping to the end of this paragraph it says, “Crisscrossed the sky like barbed wire/ But you said they were only branches.” (line 13 & 14) As we can see, someone is lying. There has been mistrust from the women. “I was sane enough to pause and breathe” (line 17). Now what is making her insane and unable to breathe? Weigl picks words that are easy to understand, but the reader has to look deep into the poem to understand what he is talking about. Reading this with the mind frame of life on the farm, in the midst of a storm, watching horses and what the fields had to offer would make sense too. But reading deeper into it, I find a different meaning.  

Works Cited

Bruce Weigl, “Song of Napalm,” Poetry of Witness

For another poem of Napalm, check this one out. It's pretty neat!

"Song Of Napalm" by Gary Jacobson © 2001http://pzzzz.tripod.com/napalm.html

“Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting” written by Kevin C. Powers

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=photos+of+soldiers+writing+love+letters&view=detail&id=3224F82A2BB91DA226A234EFF2D31C5E4F89230D&FORM=IGRE5

While reading this poem, it came to mind, how thankful we should ALL be for those that have gone to fight for our freedom. There have been those soldiers that have come home and had many struggles with post-traumatic stress or whatever it may be. In the first paragraph Powers writes, “I tell her I love her like not killing her” (Powers line 1). Now what does he mean by that?  So here he is saying that he loves her while he is in war fighting his enemy. In the second stanza is says, the letter will “stink” when opened of “bolt oil and burned powder/and the things that is says” (line 4-8) He is obviously talking about the enemy territory that he is fighting in. P Don’t let fighting wound the heart.  

Works Cited

Kevin C. Powers, “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting”

February 2009- Issue of Poetry

Another love/war poem to check out if you would like.

http://poetry.about.com/od/poems/l/blfrostwar.htm

The Necessity to Speak

                                              http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/hamillview.htm

The Necessity to Speak

Written by Sam Hamill

            The Necessity to Speak is written by someone who has been through a lot of different issues through his life and while reading this, it is very obvious. He has been on both sides of the fence, from being an executioner to a victim. Just as Kung-Fu Tzu says, "All wisdom is rooted in learning to call things by the right name." What a piece of advice we should all learn from. It is very important to remember to teach our kids the difference between right and wrong, with compassionate love. Not with an iron fist or leniency. Why is it that individuals that go to jail usually return to jail or women who are battered woman go back to the ones who are battering or fine ones that will do the same thing? As a matter of fact, ninety-two percent of the men on Death Row were battered children.

            There is a difference in disciplining children. There are those that don’t discipline and those that discipline to harshly. Harsh physical discipline is unnecessary and wrong. When children do wrong, there are ways to discipline that doesn’t involve spanking. I see know wrong with giving your child a little hair pull or a pinch while in the grocery store and they are throwing a fit. I think every kid needs guide lines they have to follow and they know if the guide lines have been crossed, there will be discipline involved.

            I think a HUGE problem with society today is what is on TV and the video games children play. The stuff that is out there is horrible. They see violence everywhere on TV and video games. Men are “masculine” when they can slap or have “the MAN of the house” attitude. Why is this?

            Also I think when it comes to violence between battered women and children; most often it is because there is drugs and alcohol involved. Hamill mentioned that these kinds of acts happen in all different areas in society, rich poor, young and old. Which is true, but I do believe it is going to happen more often in the areas of uneducated, undisciplined, uncared for, lower class homes. We all chose what type of people we want to have as friends and I know for myself, I can spot from a mile away what type of person I don’t want anything to do with. Reality. We must deal with reality when it comes our direction, good or bad. It’s the true and it’s happened.

Here are some more poems of Sam Hamills, just follow the link if interested!

http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0415/2004002480.html