The man that Tim O'Brien considers to be his "life hero." Berdahl takes O'Brien in after O'Brien attempts to dodge the draft and head for Canada. O'Brien stays with Berdahl for a week at The Tip Top Lodge, where Berdahl offers him money and the opportunity to flee while they're out on a boat ride.
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Elroy Berdahl Character Timeline in The Things They Carried
The timeline below shows where the character Elroy Berdahl appears in The Things They Carried. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
On the Rainy River
...for a couple of days and settles on the Tip Top Lodge. There he meets Elroy Berdahl, the owner, a man O'Brien claims is the "hero of his life." He gave...
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...season was over. They spent all their time together: hiking, working, playing Scrabble. O'Brien remembers Elroy's deliberate silence—he never asked questions about why O'Brien was there even though it was 1968...
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...most of the six days that he spent at the Tip Top Lodge. He helped Elroy prepare the Lodge for winter. One morning Elroy showed him how to split firewood and...
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One night at dinner the subject of payment comes up. Elroy cuts down the price, but then factors in the work O'Brien did around the lodge...
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On O'Brien's last and sixth day with Elroy they go out fishing on the Rainy River. Elroy turns the boat directly north and...
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...war, where he would kill and potentially die, because he was too embarrassed not to. Elroy comments that the fish aren't biting, and turns the boat around.
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O'Brien can't recall telling Elroy goodbye. O'Brien told Elroy he would be leaving, and Elroy nodded like he knew. Later...
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