Bullet in the Brain

573 Words3 Pages
Bullet in the Brain The short story “Bullet in the Brain” takes place in a bank, where the main character Anders is met. A reader can visualize see the incident from an omniscient narrator’s point of view. The short story is told in chronological order, mostly through flashbacks. A reader meets Anders in the beginning of the text as a rude and sarcastic man who has the need to be sarcastic towards strangers. When Anders gets shot in the head, the first things the narrator tells the reader are those which did not pass before Anders’ eyes. What are told to the reader are the things he has experienced in his adult life. The narrator returns to Anders real thoughts after, and takes the reader back in time to his childhood. In the last paragraph, a reader once again returns to the present moment with Anders. Anders critiques the bank robbers as he would criticize one of the books he would read for work. For example, a reader can tell Anders is criticizing them, when he says: “Great script, eh? The stern, brass-knuckled poetry of the dangerous classes.” He finds these bank robbers to be predictable in their actions, and he cannot take them seriously. “‘Did you hear that?’ Anders said. Bright boy. Right out of The Killers.” Tobias Wolff introduces flashbacks when Anders gets shot in the head to show the reader his highlights in his, now ending, life. Wolff accentuates the fact that what Anders did not remember and explaining his personality is just as important as what he did remember. The narrator is introducing Anders’ non-occurring flashbacks by list, including his first lover, his daughter, his wife, or any of many memorized written works. What Anders does remember is a sunny summer day, when he was more personable and understanding of others. He remembers a brief instant before a recreational baseball game between some neighborhood kids. He remembers being

More about Bullet in the Brain

Open Document