The Mysterious, Old Man Named Elroy

In “On the Rainy River”, O’Brien tells the story, or rather a secret that he has never told anyone before. This story that he tells isn’t a war story at all. In fact, it is the story about the decision that led to him joining the Vietnam War. Before being enlisted into the army, O’Brien had a nervous breakdown and drove northward towards Canada. After a long trip, he stopped at an old fishing resort called Tip Top Lodge. There he met an man named Elroy Berdahl. Berdahl was a strange old man who took care of O’Brien for six days, never asking why he was there or where he planned to go. However, the author had a feeling Berdahl already knew. On the sixth and last day, the old man offered O’Brien a large sum of money and took him boating on the Rainy River which was the small split between Minnesota and Canada. There, O’Brien had a choice to either flee to Canada or drive back home and join the army. So afraid of embarrassment and shame, the author chose to go to war. 

O’Brien described the mysterious old man as being “the hero of my life”. He didn’t literally save his life though. By allowing O’Brien to spend those six days at the lodge, Berdahl provided the young boy something that he needed most: to calm his mind. He could tell that O’Brien wasn’t thinking straight or clearly; he was scared to death and running away from home. In a way, Berdahl was also a second father to O’Brien, providing advice and life lessons.  Could he have symbolized God, a man who guides you into the right path, appearing when you need him the most?  It makes me wonder, if O’Brien had gone to a different lodge or drove straight to Canada, would he still have the difficulty of choosing to flee or go to back home?