Sample Essay #3

Prompt: Does the ending of the story indicate a change in who Anders is as a person or does it indicate that his character is static throughout the story?
Bullet in the Brain

Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain” is a short story that shines a spotlight on the devotion a human being can demonstrate towards a subject. The story is about a book critic, Anders, whose passion for language and tendency to criticize is so great that it complicates his social interactions. Anders cannot hold back his opinion.  His tendency to criticize, which is a trait in his character that remains unchanged throughout the story, ultimately results in his death. Wolff excellently described the obsessive critic Anders had become.

The story’s title gives out the climax of the story. Wolff doesn’t mind. The bullet passing through the brain is the plot device he uses to deliver his message. He wants to juxtapose Anders with his past self. He uses Anders last memory to account for the first time Anders felt the urge to criticize. Wolff contrasts that memory with the ones Anders did not remember to show us a more loving Anders, capable of using clichés such as “Lord have mercy!” This comparison illustrates Anders transition from a loving man to a hardcore critic.

The story is about a bank robbery at Anders local bank. There are two other main characters in the story. The first one introduced is the lady standing in front of Anders. Wolff uses her to show us common behavior and contrast it with that of Anders. We all tend to criticize every now and then. Wolff relied on this comparison to deliver his point effectively. This is first noticed when one of the cashiers closes her register and goes to the back to chat with a collage. It irritated Anders, as well as the lady standing in front of him. Her reaction was to vent with Anders, she says “One of those little human touches that keep us coming back for more.” Instead of simply agreeing with her Anders killed the small talk with sarcasm and pessimism, by replying “Tragic, really. If they are not chopping off the wrong leg, or bombing your ancestral village, they’re closing their position. Unforgivable, heaven will take note.” She doesn't appreciate his attitude and concludes by replying “I didn’t say it was tragic. I just think it’s a pretty lousy way to treat customers.” The cashier’s actions did not warrant such drastic remarks. His arrogance demonstrates his lack of control when it comes to harsh criticisms. Anders actions indicate his inclination to treat people in a contentious way.

The situation worsens when robbers arrive at the bank, which introduces the second main character, the man with the pistol. He comes in and says, “One of you tellers hits the alarm, you’re all dead meat. Got it?” Rather than stay quiet, Anders goes on to criticize the robber by turning to the women in front of him and saying, “Oh Bravo, Dead Meat, Great script, eh?” She once again shows her disagreement with him by looking at him with drowning eyes. Anders is unable to control himself, even when life is at risk. The man with a pistol overhears Anders and asked him, “Hey! Bright boy! Did I tell you talk?” Anders ignores the robbers and says to the woman in front of him, “Did you hear that? ‘Bright boy’. Right out of ‘The Killers’.” Referring to Ernest Hemmingway's short story “The Killers.” As a book critic, he has read many stories and is extremely critical of the improper use of quoting terms from famous stories. He acts as if anyone cares to hear his opinion regarding the robber’s words. “Please be quiet,” the women in front of him replied to Anders. Wolff uses her once again to demonstrate how out of line was Anders’ foolish obsession with criticism.

 “Hey, you deaf or what? You think I’m playing games?” The man with the pistol says as he walks toward Anders. “Fuck with me again, you are history. Capiche?” He warns Anders for the last time. Anders appears fearless and bursts out laughing at the cliché replying “Capiche – oh, God, capiche.” The man with the pistol shot Anders in the head. Wolff uses this extreme example to demonstrate that criticism had become more important than his own life. He admits Anders’ tendency to criticize when he writes, “Once in the brain, that is, the bullet came under the mediation of brain time, which gave Anders plenty of leisure to contemplate the scene that, in a phrase he would have abhorred, “passed before his eyes.” Anders lost his life because he couldn’t hold back on criticism for one occasion.

Wolff uses the time it takes for the bullet to pass through his brain to explain Anders last memory. He takes the time to highlight what Anders didn’t remember to show us a different side of him. He was doting father, loving husband, and caring man. Wolff notes how criticism went from a job to a lifestyle in the passage, “He did not remember when he began to regard the heap of books on his desk with boredom and dread, or when he grew angry at writers for writing them. He did not remember when everything began to remind him of something else.” What he did remember was a simpler memory. Wolff describes a young Anders playing baseball in a field with other boys. He meets the cousin of one of his friends who upon being asked what position he wanted to play replies, “Shortstop, Short is the best position they is.” Anders is elated by those words, their unexpectedness and their music. This may seem trivial but it marks the moment in which Anders first falls in love with language. The words “they is” remained with him. Wolff showed a fitting end for Anders. Dead due to his passion for criticism, but whose last memory was about the first time he fell in love with it.