On the Rainy River Allegory A story that

On the Rainy River

Allegory • A story that reveals a hidden meaning – often a moral or political lesson using symbolic figures, actions, imagery or events. • Elroy Berdahl • Pig-declotting • The Lone Ranger • Canada

Jiminy Cricket • Jiminy Cricket acts as Pinocchio's conscience • Page 49: “My conscience told me not to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting , like a weight pushing me toward the war. ” • “The man who opened the door that day is the hero of my life. ”

Pig-declotting • Why is this section in the novel? • What do you think it symbolizes? • How does it relate to Tim O’Brien’s experience in the Vietnam war, experience in Minnesota?

Not listening to your conscience • What would have happened if O’Brien did not listen to Elroy and was given the opposite advice? • How does Elroy Berhdahl “give” O’Brien advice?

O’Brien’s Conscience • Find four (4) quotes that demonstrate O’Brien’s conflict about wanting or not wanting to go to war and his definition of courage. • “I feared the war, yes, but I also feared exile. ” • “I would not swim away from my hometown and my country and my life. I would not be brave”(55) Explain in detail the internal conflict (Man v. Self) O’Brien had about going to war. Responses should be 3 -7 sentences long.