Analysis of Bullet in the brain

Bullet in the Brain – analysis

The short story “Bullet in the Brain” is written by Tobias Wolff. The story takes place in a bank, where we meet the main character Anders. We see the incident from an omniscient narrator’s point of view. The short story is told in chronological order with flashback. We meet Anders in the beginning of the text as a rude and sarcastic man, who has the need to be sarcastic towards a strange woman. When Anders gets shot in the head, the first thing the narrator tells the reader is the things, which did not pass before his eyes. What we hear about here is things he has experienced in his adult life. The narrator returns to Anders real thoughts, and takes the reader back in time to his childhood. In the last part we once again return to the present moment.
Anders critiques the bank robbers, as he would criticize one of the books. For example you can tell he 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 accentuate the fact that, what Anders did not remember, is just as important and telling about his personality, as what he did remember. The narrator is introducing Anders’ flashbacks by list, what the reader would assume