O\'Brien\'s on the Rainy River

O'Brien's "On the Rainy River" and Updike's "The a&P"

While we might always think that one day we will pass a threshold and suddenly become an adult, it seldom works out that way. Instead, adulthood comes to us in the form of small choices and most often when we do not realize it. Two stories that illustrate how adulthood arrives with a subtle whisper are "On the Rainy River" by Tim O'Brien and "The a&P" by John Updike. Tim and Sammy are young men from small towns whose choices bring them closer to manhood than they might imagine. Both young men also make decisions based on how others will perceive them. They are guided by a strong sense of community even if they are not completely aware of it.

In "On the Rainy River," the narrator struggles over his decision and part of his struggle comes from what others will think of him. He does not know nor does he care that his choice will be one that helps him become a man - at the moment, he is only concerned with what he will do about the draft. His choice is difficult because what he thinks he wants to do is in conflict with what he thinks he should do. He is pulled by his sense of community in that when he is finally presented with the opportunity to cross the border, he cannot because his mind keeps returning to what he should do. He knows that the people in his hometown, " a conservative little spot on the prairie, a place where tradition is counted," (O'Brien 45) will look at him one way if he goes to war and another way if he dodges the draft. It is interesting to note that even though he believed that those people "were sending me off to fight a war they didn't understand and didn't want to understand" (45), he still wanted to please them. In the end, he admits that by going to war he was a coward. (61) However, he did not believe that the day he made the decision. Only after he goes to war, does he realize why he did what he did.

In "The a&P," Sammy also makes a decision based on how others will perceive him. He is only concerned about what the girls will think of him. He thinks Lengel is too harsh on the girls and decides to stand up him and make an impression on the girls at the same time. A seemingly win-win situation. Sammy secretly hopes the girls heard him quit so that they might think he was their "unsuspected hero" (Updike 1420). This never happens. It is important to note, however, that regardless if the girls heard him or not, Sammy was the hero because he followed through. He knew his life would change and he knew things would not be as he had imagined but he was willing to accept that. Like the narrator in "On the Rainy River," he does not realize the impact his choice will have on his life.

Both characters reflect momentarily on their families as they make their decision. The narrator in "On the Rainy River" thinks of the slaughterhouse he worked in all summer and compared the direction of his life to that factory noting, "my life seemed to be collapsing toward slaughter" (O'Brien 43). He recognizes his lot in life stating that he was simply "an ordinary kid with all the ordinary dreams and ambitions, and all I wanted was to live the life I was born to - a mainstream life" (50-1). Sammy is also from a small town and this influences his thinking as well. His life seems to be ordinary as well. We know that Lengel knows his parents and asks Sammy if he is sure that he wants to do this to his parents. While this plays a part in his thinking, it does have any influence on his decision to quit the store. In fact, he does not give much thought to this decision at all. He is too interested in thinking about the girls and what they might have to say about him than anything else. Life is ordinary - maybe - but our choices make us who we are.