In life I always think having the courage to confront an obstacle is crucial and important to use in life. In the book, The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien had crisis of courage. O’Brien had a few options after his draft notice arrived. One option was to run away to Canada and leave his life in the United States and as an American behind. While on his way to Canada, Tim wanted to escape from the draft. But after meeting Elroy and spending almost a week at the Tip Top Lodge, he slowly began to regret his decision to cross the border into Canada because he would be labeled coward in the eyes of his family and community. Tim’s other choice would be too accept his draft notice and join the war in Vietnam. One of the biggest reasons to not join the war and except his draft notice was because he was terrified of dying and going to war which he didn’t believe in. O’Brien writes on page 38, “The only certainty that summer was moral confusion. It was my view then, and still is, that you dont make war without knowing why. Knowledge, of course, is always imperfect, but is seemed to me that when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and in imperative of its cause. You can’t fix your mistakes. Once people are dead, you cant make them undead.
Tim O’Brien’s eventual decision to join the war in Vietnam was the right thing because he knew running away from his civic obligation and fears wouldn’t work well for him in the long run. O’Brien also knew that he would develop a huge sense of guilt by not joining to fight for his country. It would damage him and his decision would be judged by his friends and family. Tim was terrified of dying as he was young and had so much life to life in front of him.
Another question related to the story is what was going on in our country at the time. The United States was requiring young men to leave their safe and comfortable lives to join a war they didn’t understand, and that many did not believe in. It’s fine for the USA to ask for willing people to joins its military ranks. The advertisements and campaigns to join the military should only result in people joining the military who want to join to protect and serve the country. There should not be a real draft. A person’s decision to join the military should be there own. It’s their life on the line. Recruits going to war should know and accept what they are signing up for before joining and leaving their homes. If the USA doesn’t have enough people in the conflicts they are involved in, they should think about if there’s enough support from citizens to stay involved. O’Brien didn’t necessarily believe in the cause and was fearful for his safety and health but in the end decided to be a patriot.