The best thing anyone can do for themselves and others is to take a stand for what they believe in. Human beings have the incredible gift of being able to make actions and changes from simple words and thoughts. Time and time again, this gift is either suppressed or ignored in favor of silence and the promise of normalcy. Not using this ability is the greatest personal injustice. In the short story "On Rainy River", the main character and later author of the story, Tim O'Brien, is drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. However, it's not just about being drafted to fight in a war, he's also drafted to fight for a cause he doesn't understand and doesn't believe in. Naturally, his reaction is anger, anxiety, and fear, all emotions he has aroused. believing that he was weak and ashamed in his situation. He kept his feelings locked behind his gritted teeth, until they inevitably broke under pressure, unleashing a flood of emotions that he kept bottled up for fear of the disdain such emotions would warrant among his friends and family . O'Brien, in an attempt to keep his head above water, fled the situation literally but not metaphorically. His worries and guilt followed him wherever he ran. Guilt and shame become heavier the longer you hold them, like a glass of water, if someone were to extend their right arm and hold a large glass of water, they would hardly find it heavy. However, as time passes and the wearer's body tires, the water will stay the same and feel heavier. The guilt that O'Brien spoke of at the beginning of the story is the same one that he took with him to war, it was him who weakened and submitted, not the ever constant conscription that has strengthened. Having been degraded into consent by his own fear of shame, O'Brien fled again, this time however he fled to war, even though he knew full well that he believed that war was bad, so it ended up years later. regretting his decisions, regretting not taking the harder path and leaving himself untouched, but being bullied into a fight that left him with a bruise on his bones for the rest of his life . Once upon a time there was a student, a classmate, a teammate, a friend, who When his name is called, his high school classmates' entire hands shake and their stomachs curl upside down...