Exploration 5: Shelby Wade

1. The story that has meant the most to me so far would be "On the Rainy River" because this chapter shows how decision making can be at times. O'Brien has to decide whether he was going to run away to Canada or go fight in the war. Although this decision is much more difficult than anything I have been faced with, it still shows how much your conscience has to do with the choices you make. It also shows how sometimes we can't always follow what our conscience is telling us to do. "I survived, but it's not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to war." p. 58

2. I honestly do not connect with any of the characters. I feel like I have never been through this much emotional and physical distress in my entire lifetime. These young men are put through situations I pray to never have to face. The way they act is because of the war they are fighting in.

3. A convention of narrative that I would like to point out is O'Brien's use of sensory details. During  some parts of this story, I feel as if I am there sitting right next the O'Brien seeing and hearing the things around him.

4."Though it's odd, you're never more alive than when you're almost dead. Your recognize what's valuable. Freshly, as if for the first time, you love what's best in yourself and in the world, all that might be lost." p. 78

This passage impacted me the most because of its honesty. You could be alive one second and dead the next, and you never realize what means the most to you until you're at that point in your life where you could lose everything around you. No, I have never come to this point in my life, but these young men faced this feeling every moment while they were in the war. They could lose their lives at any given moment and not be able to do a damn thing to change it. This passage for me really brought out the true intensity of war. It's so delicate and yet so terrifying.