"You're the one at the box of a boat on the Rainy River. You're twenty-one years old, you're scared, and there's a hard squeezing pressure in your chest.
What would you do?
What would you do?
Would you jump? Would you feel pity for yourself? Would you think about your family and your childhood and your dreasm and all you're leaving behind? Would it hurt? Would it feel like dying? Would you cry, as I did?" [page 54]
The ill-fated question that faces every hero: To jump or not to jump?
It can arise in any situation.
---Jack and Rose in the Titanic literally contemplating jumping off the boat.
---Princess Jasmine choosing whether or not to jump onto the magic carpet with Aladdin.
---Batman jumping multiple times to save the citizens of Gotham City.
---O'Brien choosing not to jump or run away from his fear.
Oh dear. The quote I chose for the beginning of this entry is exploding with rhetorical questions, as is the rest of the page. O'Brien literally goes through his entire life [past,present, and future] before he decides to stay on the boat.
When Berdahl takes O'Brien out fishing, he knows what he is doing. He is willingly giving O'Brien the chance to run away from everything he is afraid of. I believe that Berdahl knows what decision will be made. He knows that O'Brien is too strong to run away from the things that scare him. Most of all, he is afraid to disappoint.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the biggest turning point, not only in this novel, but in Tim O'Brien's life. He had the obvious choice. He could have gotten out so easily, but he faced his fear and faked his courage until it was real. Once again, my hero Elroy Berdahl, saves the day :]
July 7, 2010 at 10:24 PM
You say that Berdahl knows O'Brien is too "strong" to run away, but O'Brien later says he was too weak/afraid/embarrassed to run away.
July 12, 2010 at 11:48 AM
Elroy saw something in O'Brien that he didn't see in himself. He knew that O'Brien wouldn't actually leave because he knew his duty and what was needed from him. O'Brien thought it was a weakness that he couldn't leave when in reality it was took more strength to stay.