In “On The Rainy River,” O’Brien clearly states that he believes himself to be a coward, saying, “I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” (O’Brien 58). However, in “The Ghost Soldiers,” O’Brien doesn’t make implications on his thoughts obvious to the reader. After he scares Jorgenson his actions reflect regret and guilt. He says, “I was trembling. I kept hugging myself, rocking, but I couldn't make it go away.” (O’Brien 206). When reading this quote, the reader can assume the “it” O’Brien is talking about is his trembling, but this sentence goes much deeper than that. O’Brien is talking about the guilt, guilt that came from scaring Jorgenson, and not being able to stop Azar from throwing a tear gas grenade at him, guilt from letting himself change into a person that would hurt another person, and the guilt from actually killing a man. The reality of his situation comes flooding back to him in that second and he simply can’t handle it. Going out into the night to get revenge on Jorgenson seems brave and daring, but in reality, O’Brien believes he is still a coward. This provokes the reader to question O’Brien’s definition of cowardice, and the idea of cowardice