A Letter In The Mail

A letter in the mail can change a life. For me it's an acceptance letter; for O'Brien, it is a draft notice. In Tim O'Brien's chapter On the Rainy River, the writer exposes the fear of the draft. As O'Brien explains to the reader, his life was normal for a graduate of college. As O'Brien explains, he thought he was "too good for this war" (39).  I find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that if one is drafted, they are required to drop everything or every future endeavor to serve in the war. When analyzing this chapter, I agree that with O'Brien's logic that the government should implement a new system or requirement/law for choosing who should be selected to serve. I find it interesting that the government had/has such power over its people... and moreover that the government can alter a person's life. When reading the stories within The Things They Carried I tuck away in the back of my mind the thought that none of these stories would be created if O'Brien had not been drafted. In a way, his writing career may have ceased to exist, but at the same time, I wonder how his life would have turned out if he did attend Harvard for graduate school. The stories that he has shared with the reader are ones that have altered his perspective on life; they are experiences that the typical/ average person will never be able to understand fully. War evoked fear as well as an appreciation for life and death. I wonder if without being drafted that someone could understand life in this way. In my own opinion, I had grown up in society or generation where going into war is much different than when O'Brien was drafted. It is a rare occasion in today's day and age that I even hear talk of war and the experiences of the men and women serving nowadays. For me, the men and women that are serving are not my brothers or sisters or cousin, partly because they choose not to, but also because the draft is not something that is implemented at this time. For this reason, my perception of this idea of drafting is may be completely different than someone during the time of the Vietnam War.