Bullet in the Brain - 716 Words

Bullet in the Brain is a short story about a sarcastic book critic, who allows his criticism to extend to his everyday life and soon learns why that is not a good idea. Anders is known for the weary elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed. He is portrayed as especially unsympathetic. He is standing in line at a bank and gets stuck behind two women whose loud stupid conversations put him in an angry mood. He engages in sarcastic, belittling repartee with the women when a robbery occurs. Two men wearing black ski masks are standing on the side of the door. He can not resist making an acid comment about the language of the robber when one of the robbers threatens the teller that shell be dead meat if she†¦show more content†¦Anders is strangely aroused, elated by these final words, their pure unexpectedness and their music. This is in contrast to the robbers language, which is slang, crude and inauthentic. The robber is portrayed as sensitive and self- absorbed with a strong persecution complex and murderous temper. The robber is also stupid and heartless. He could have just knocked down Anders with a pistol s o as not to attract the cops. Instead he shoots him. The style of eliciting non-memory and memory emphasises the lost of innocence of childhood and of life lived in contrast with life wasted, and the disillusionment that followed leading to his insensitivity and ultimate self-destruction. This information is expository, but it flashes back to Anders past. The author uses effectively the flashback to provide another viewpoint of the central character because Anders was pictured as unsympathetic in the beginning of the story. The memory itself, fittingly, is narrated in present tense in contrast with most of the storyShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Bullet In The Brain By Tobias Wolff1018 Words   |  5 Pagesliterature, so many authors use the literary element conflict to develop their stories. Conflict in the terms of literature is split into three branches, there is Man against Self, Man against Man, Man against Nature. In the short writing â€Å"Bullet in the brain†, by Tobias Wolff; the main character Anders faces all three confl icts. Conflicts causes humans to react in other ways depending on how big of conflict it is, and what the person dealing with it, is capable of doing it. Anders( The protagonist)Read MoreAnalysis Of Tobias Wolff s The Bullet Of The Brain 1289 Words   |  6 Pages Tobias Wolff uses imagery in his short story â€Å"Bullet in the Brain† provides a visual portrait that captures attention. He clarifies in an interview with Sanford University what short stories require, â€Å"You want large results from it, and you re compelled by its very shortness to using all your resources of language, form and understanding† (Schrieberg 1998). He uses language in the story offering instances of imagery to describe the media critic. Anders is portrayed as weary, and elegantly savageRead MoreAnalysis Of Henrik Wolff s Bullet s The Brain 899 Words   |  4 Pagesof your existence? What would be your very final thought to think? The short story, â€Å"Bullet in the Brain†, is a very intriguing, well-articulated fictional writing piece that captures what happens in the split second of death through the main character Anders. Written by Tobias Wolff, the story follows a man who finds the clichà © in anything and his final thoughts of his life as a bullet is moving through his brain. Saying I enjoyed this story would be the understatement of the century. The short storyRead MoreAnalysis Of Tobias Wolff s Bullet From The Brain 1973 Words   |  8 PagesP.O.V. No.27 - BULLET IN THE BRAIN Tobias Wolff s short story, Bullet in the Brain Reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. Copyright  © 1995 by Tobias Wolff. First appeared in The New Yorker on Sept. 25, 1995. Anders couldn t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper. He was never in the best of tempers anyway, Anders - a book criticRead MoreLife Is Too Short On The Brain By Tobias Wolff1608 Words   |  7 PagesRose once led a normal life, but later suffered from a mental illness that led her life to go unstable and take her life away through overdosing on pills. In contrast, in Tobias Wolff’s short story, â€Å"Bullet in the Brain† an unconcerned book critique, by the name of Anders, dies from a bullet to the brain because of his reactions towards the criminals in the bank robbery. While the setting in both stories are distinctive, both stories achieve to show that life is too short. However, whereas Bloom portraysRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book From The Brain By Tobias Wolff930 Words   |  4 Pagesflashes before our eyes. Even though our l ives are composed of countless moments to remember, sometimes we do not understand how they slowly shape who we are and how we see the world. This is what Tobias Wolff suggests in his short story, â€Å"Bullet in the Brain†. The story focuses on the internal journey of a man named Anders when his life comes to a close. A well crafted look into the memories of Anders gives readers distaste for all he takes for granted and demonstrates his lack of sympathy. TheRead MoreCommentary On The Brain By Tobias Wolff1681 Words   |  7 PagesIn â€Å"Bullet in the Brain,† author Tobias Wolff uses a non-traditional plot and a technique of zooming in/zooming out to help readers understand the difference between wasting their lives or living fully. The effect of shifts in the plot, point of view, and different perspectives of his character startle the reader while simultaneously pulling him into an expanded awareness of the story and its underlying central idea. â€Å"Bullet in the Brain† demonstrates Wolff’s profound approach to life with theRead MoreHenrik Wolff : The Dead End Of Western Civilization1394 Words   |  6 Pagesthe words they want to use by organizing their arguments or main points. In both Hipster: The Dead End Of Western Civilization by Douglas Haddow, and Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff, the authors choose to make use of intellectual diction in order to indicate the idea that an absence of spontaneit y is holding society back. In Bullet in the Brain by Tobias Wolff, main character Anders is described as being sarcastic, cynical, and argumentative. Anders is a very serious man who has been throughRead MoreTobias Wolff s Profound Literature Elements1593 Words   |  7 Pagescritical some might say. His short stories are acknowledged by many readers because of the true meaning of aspirations some people could think they can make out of it. Some say Wolff created a new thinking perspective by creating the short story â€Å"Bullet in the Brain†. The reason readers say that is because the story ends up being more profound that they would have thought when they read it from the beginning. It all starts off with a negative person who can’t keep his mouth shut. Then, that very same personRead MoreShort Story784 Words   |  4 PagesHis hands shake so much so that as time stands silent, I can hear the small metal parts inside of the pistol rattling and reminding me once again that I am dying within the next few minutes. If he were to pull the trigger at this very moment, the bullet would miss my head by miles. The more I stand on my aching feet waiting for the Lieutenant to pull the trigger, the more I just want him to end my life. I don’t deserve the life with which I was gifted with. The mistakes made are beyond horrendous