Exploration 3 from Ben Berger

        My active reading in the book "The Things They Carried" has been strong to this point. I personally bought my copy, so I've been going through each chapter carefully and highlighting important sections and ideas. There have been many sections and examples that jump out to me. For today's readings, one thing that really jumped out on me was in the short story "How to Tell a True War Story". Throughout this short story, the author explains what makes a true was story. He explains what they really are and how they are portrayed.  Many things jumped out to me but one example was when he said "To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace" (O'Brien 77). This jumped out to me because it is broad, but it makes me think deeper about what he means.

       The story that has meant the most to me so far is "On the Rainy River". This meant the most to me because I think we connected the most with the character. We were sort of placed in the same moral situation with him. Throughout this story, the moral situation about either running to Canada to escape war or to go and fight for his country is constantly fought. Pros and Cons are weighed between both sides in this story. Our character was given time alone to think and figure out what his best options were. It weighed him down and caused so much stress in his life. The use of sensory details was amazing in this chapter. I almost felt like I was there with him. "I tried to swallow it back. I tried to smile, except I was crying" (O'Brien 54). This quote explains the whole way of thinking. Him trying to be strong and face his issues, but ultimately breaking down and losing it. Another quote that explains this is "I felt a sudden swell of helplessness come over me" (O'Brien 55). The constant struggle between what to do and what not to do. I truly connected with this character in this chapter.

     In this story, we have learned a lot of information about a lot of different characters. One character that really stands out to me is Rat Kiley. The recent reading we had really went into detail about him as a person and how he connected with others. Especially with his best friend Curt Lemon. Curt Lemon died and the book went into how Rat handled himself and the mourning he went through because of it. Rat is someone who really cared for his friends. He wrote a long, heartfelt letter to Curt Lemons sister explaining how he felt and how happy he was to know him.  He stands out to me the most because we now know a lot about him and he goes through something all people in war have to face.