Elroy Berdahl in "The Things They Carried"

        A very interesting character in the story On the Rainy River in the book The Things They Carried is Elroy Berdahl. Elroy is the owner of the Tip Top Lodge. O’Brien, the narrator, meets Elroy when he runs away from the draft after he receives the notice. O’Brien’s plan was to flee to Canada to avoid going to war. O’Brien meets Elroy and says that this man saved him. Elroy was extremely respectful of O’Brien's privacy although he thought Elroy knew what was going on with him. He did not pry or judge or force O’Brien to make any moves about going to Canada or going to war. Instead, Elroy takes him fishing and allows him to decide on his own what he is going to do. He has the opportunity to swim to Canada from the boat but, he chooses not to. The way Elroy just lets him be is interesting. O’Brien refers to his presence as silent and watchful. He is similar to a God figure just being there and silently guiding O'Brien through his decision. Elroy does not necessarily need to be real as O’Brien says in a later story. He says that war stories do not have to be totally true. Instead, they can be crazy but make you feel the true feelings of war. Elroy could be real in O’Brien's life or, he could be made up to act as a way for the reader to see how O’Brien was guided through his decision.